Corona Virus

[John Harper]

heartless ghouls here in the USA too. Just turn to one particular channel on TV

CNN or MSNBC?

Oh, so close, but no cigar. Want to try again?

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, take your chances and spin the wheel of fortune! I've got a certified US made (well, maybe China made) Rush Limbaugh PEZ dispenser for the right answer! I know you can be a winner!

John

[rlown]

I dare anyone to mention any news org that doesn't mention Corona by the third word.

[John Harper]

I dare anyone to mention any news org that doesn't mention Corona by the third word.

Dead and dying Americans seem to draw the national news attention. Go figure. Got a better explanation?

John

[rlown]

Flu wins every season. Now talk about underlying health conditions.

[TahoeJeff]

What is a Rush Limbaugh? Never heard of it.

[TahoeJeff]

China made

Speaking of:
Anyone want a big serving of Wuhan wet market bat?
Didn't think so....

[franklin411]

Although we old folks bear most of the health impacts, this "lock-down" impacts day-to-day life for my children and their families a lot more than me. Frustrates me that I cannot go and physically help them.

It's definitely true that age doesn't tell the whole story! One thing that nobody's talking about is how the economic collapse is going to permanently retard the careers of millions of young people. Economists have shown that people who graduate into a bad economy earn less than people who graduate into a good economy, and that this effect lasts for decades. The reason is that your first job sets your salary foundation, and subsequent raises/higher salaries you earn as you move up the job ladder are based on that foundation.

To illustrate, imagine that Student A graduates into a good economy. We can compare this to setting up a ladder on a hill. As he climbs the ladder rungs, he's going to end up higher because his ladder started higher up.

Imagine Student B graduates into a bad economy. We can compare this to setting up a ladder in a hole. As he climbs the ladder rungs, he's going to end up lower than Student A because his ladder started lower.

Add to that the massive cost of fighting the Coronavirus Depression. Ever see Gone with the Wind? There's a scene where Scarlett drives their horse so hard in her drive to get back to Tara that the horse dies of exhaustion. That's anyone under 50. They're never going to get to retire, or know what real economic security is like. It's easy to say "we have to stay home" when you're already retired and well off (compared to younger folks).

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/ba ... s-of-2008/

[Wandering Daisy]

I do sympathize with the economic impact on young people. The economic impacts need to be considered. Right now we are in a holding pattern. IF this continues into June or July or August, the impacts will be severe. Right now we just need some patience.

I also graduated from college in an economic downturn. We lived on $3,000 a year with two babies. Could not afford a car or phone- walked to the grocery store, limited to $20 a week. Survived on wild game, fishing for carp (no season on them), even ate Coots. Friendly farmers gave us potatoes. We grew a garden. Used 2 dozen cloth diapers for two kids, without a washing machine. Carried a bucket of diapers half a mile to the laundro-mat. I also lost a good job during the oil crash in the 80's (living in Wyoming, this was a severe impact), and a house I owned went from $48,000 value to $15,000 in 3 weeks, lost my house, took a deed in lieu of foreclosure, lost everything. Moved several times to cheaper places to live. What I had was hope, college degrees and time to catch up financially. All worked out in the end. Had the skills to be poor, no debts (they would not lend money to poor folks then), degrees to get good paying jobs when they finally opened up. Housing and college was definitely cheaper then. I also knew if it came to it, I could go live with parents. My parents, children of the depression, taught my how to pinch pennies. Backpacking taught me what was truly necessary. Luckily, I was able to get a lot of scholarships instead of needing loans. I am just elaborating on this to show that some of we "boomers" were in the same place the current young people are now, so we DO know how it is.

[schmalz]

America is not setup for a long term shutdown. We have, by design, no safety nets or government given health insurance for the masses. Asking the working class to sit things out indefinitely when they were already living paycheck to paycheck, is insane.

On a lighter note, does anyone want to take a guess on when the Sierra will open up this year? I have a Whitney permit for mid june, was hoping to do a Memorial Day trip etc...

[balzaccom]

Nice post, Daisy.

I remember having a conversation with a childhood friend of mine back in the 1970's when we were both in our early twenties. We remarked about how amazing it was that our parents had bought homes for $15,000, and ten years later sold them for nearly $50,000. "That kind of boom will never happen again," we said to each other. We clearly missed that one.

Like you, back then I lived for a few years on virtually no income at all--never even filed a tax return, because I never reached the minimum amount that was required to file. My wife and I are now retired, and financially stable--even in these hard times.

But I have two daughters, both of whom have large student loan debts, and both of whom are somewhat worried about work in the future. They have jobs, and they make enough money to get by with those jobs. But neither has complete confidence that her job will continue...

Economic downturns affect everyone. They affect the elderly and the retired. They are often on fixed incomes, and can't respond to increased prices, rents, or shortages. And being elderly, they have no resource to rejoin the job market and earn more money. For most, those days are over.

And younger people face limited financial success in the future. No question.

And people in the middle face the prospect of having to support the other two groups, their parents and their children, until this gets better.

It's not easy for anyone. And we all have to pull together to pull ourselves out of this. That doesn't mean leaving elderly patients to die. It doesn't mean leaving poor people with no health care. It doesn't mean leaving young people with no future. It means pulling together, sharing, and working to solve this together, as individuals where we can, or smaller groups where we can, and the whole damn country wherever we can.