I’m ending my 3rd week in isolation and I’m listing some ideas and thoughts developed during my time stuck at home. I hope political and business leaders and society as a whole consider some of these thoughts once the virus epidemic passes
- The United States needs to migrate away for a consumption-based economy to one that domestically produces everything critical to the country’s well-being. It is borderline criminal to see governors begging China and India for critical items to protect medical personnel and first responders. We don’t ask China to make military hardware for us, why should we rely on them for critical medical supplies. A side benefit of repatriating manufacturing is it would create new jobs for America’s working classes.
- Put public health on the same pedestal provided for national defense and energy policy. The United States needs to understand that Public Health is not a welfare program but is essential to protect people and the economy. In this globalization age with easy worldwide travel, it doesn’t take long for a minor virus flare-up in a remote part of the world to explode into a major pandemic.
- The country needs legitimate and objective news reporting. All the mainstream media outlets are ratings focused to drive advertising rates. There must be some middle ground between CNN, Fox, and MSNBC that can report the news objectively and intelligently.
- Corporate America must acknowledge the needs of the company stakeholders, aka the employee. Too often they are sacrificed to meet some arbitrary number for the shareholders. Think of all the cash spent on stock buybacks that could have been invested in enhancing employee skill sets that would improve productivity and retain staff during the virus-induced economic downturn. People leave firms because they are not respected.
- Hopefully, the virus forces us to reconcile our political differences. Too many people are judging each other by who they voted for, not their actions. The ongoing tribal warfare is inhibiting the country’s ability to fight the virus and wastes energy need to enhance the welfare of its people.
Be safe and help where you can.