We are in the teeth of this crisis. It is natural we are seeking solutions to immediate problems. But should this go on longer than expected none of the current approaches (lockdown, stopgap measures from Congress) will be sustainable. We need to ask now...
...How do contain the disease if it takes many months without triggering a depression?
...How do we care for Americans without savings, jobs or healthcare in a protracted crisis?
...How do we handle the likelihood of a recurrence next winter?
...How do we care for Americans without savings, jobs or healthcare in a protracted crisis?
...How do we handle the likelihood of a recurrence next winter?
...How do we revamp our healthcare and social safety nets to be able to sustain such crises in the future?
...How do we ensure our health care system always has the resources it needs to combat the public health challenges we might face in the future?
...How do we ensure our health care system always has the resources it needs to combat the public health challenges we might face in the future?
...How can we prepare for another such crisis should it hit us before we have fully recovered from this crisis? (And how to we prepare if a different kind of crisis challenges us while we are recovering...like consequences of hurricane season or a terrorist attack?)
There are other such questions. It is clear that one of the reasons we are in such dire shape now is that the current president was so dismissive of the long term planning we had done, of experts, of building capacity to manage problems we night face in the future.
This is a public health Pearl Harbor. But it is more than that, it is an indictment of our health care system, our social safety nets for the unemployed, our ability to coordinate effectively with state and local governments & those who dismiss foresight & expertise.
Certainly, a new government must address these issues and repair the damage done by Trump and Co. But it is essential to deal with many of these issues in advance of that election. Our Congressional leaders, state & local leaders, and policy community must accept this challenge.
One of the great risks of a crisis is that it distracts from the medium and longer term challenges we face. Another is that we do not learn the lessons that helped create or exacerbate the crisis in the first place. Yes, we must stop the spread of coronavirus...
...but we must also prepare for what might come next if our solutions are inadequate, what might come next in any case. Take care of the present, yes. But don't forget about the future.
