MAY 8, 2020: How much could we get done if we didn’t try to do everything at once?
I’ve been hearing the president and his gubernatorial buddies talk about the importance of “reopening” for a month now. It sounds something like, “People need to get back to work and save the economy”. First of all, that sounds an awful lot like “You’re all goldbricks, get up and go back to work!”. Thirty million people are out of work right now, through no fault of their own. Trust me: people would be working if they could.
But of course, there are the repercussions of taking such a rabbit-like approach. We’re seeing those repercussions, in the form of markedly increased rates of infection in places like Georgia, which opened nail salons and barbershops; and in Iowa and Nebraska, where meatpacking plant workers are once again facing the catch-22 of show up for work sick or be fired.
Among those who don’t have a direct monetary incentive to reopen but still support reopening anyway, many will sigh and tell you that we can’t solve every problem out there, and we’re just going to have to deal with it and kick the economy into gear again.
But I wonder: what if we were more like turtles?
What if, instead of trying to solve every problem, we just tried to solve one or two at a time? Maybe three if we’re feeling feisty that day? Perhaps we could work on just a nationwide plan to secure and distribute PPE and ventilators one day, and the next day put that plan into action?
What if we just worked on a plan to keep nursing homes and VA hospitals as safe as possible one day, and then implemented that plan the next day?
What if we worked on a plan to keep workers at meatpacking facilities safe one day, and the next day implemented that plan?
Do you see where I’m going here?
To my mind, the solution to all this really isn’t a solution at all. Instead, it’s a series of small steps that when completed, allow us to say: things are better today than they were tomorrow.
Wouldn’t we all dearly love to say that right now?
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