By Robert Reich
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| By Michael de Adder |
With 4.25 percent of the world population, America has the
tragic distinction of accounting for about 30 percent of pandemic deaths so
far.
And it is the only advanced nation where the death rate is still
climbing. Three thousand deaths per day are anticipated by
June 1st.
No other nation has loosened lockdowns and other
social-distancing measures while deaths are increasing, as the U.S. is now
doing.
No other advanced nation was as unprepared for the pandemic as
was the U.S.
We now know Donald Trump and his administration were told by
public health experts in mid-January that immediate action was required to stop the spread of Covid-19.
But according to Dr Anthony Fauci, “there was a lot of pushback”. Trump didn’t act until
March 16.
Epidemiologists estimate 90 percent of the deaths in the U.S. from
the first wave of Covid-19 might have been prevented had social distancing
policies been put into effect two weeks earlier, on March 2.
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| Don't worry. Jared will save us. |
In no other nation have experts in public health and emergency
preparedness been pushed aside and replaced by political cronies like Trump’s
son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who in turn has been advised by Trump donors and Fox
News celebrities.
In no other advanced nation has Covid-19 forced so many average
citizens into poverty so quickly. The Urban Institute reports that more than 30 percent
of American adults have had to reduce their spending on food.
Elsewhere around the world, governments are providing generous
income support. Not in the U.S.
At best, Americans have received one-time checks for $1,200, about
a week’s worth of rent, groceries and utilities. Few are collecting
unemployment benefits because unemployment offices are overwhelmed with claims.
Congress’s “payroll protection plan” has been a mess. Because
funds have been distributed through financial institutions, banks have raked
off money for themselves and rewarded their favored customers. Of the $350
billion originally intended for small businesses, $243.4 million has gone to large publicly held
companies.
Meanwhile, the Treasury and the Fed are bailing out big corporations from the debts they accumulated in recent years to buy back their shares of stock.
Why is America so different from other advanced nations facing
the same coronavirus threat? Why has everything gone so tragically wrong?
Some of it is due to Trump and his hapless and corrupt
collection of grifters, buffoons, sycophants, lobbyists and relatives.
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| This is Trump's big bragging point, except it's too little, too late. It's also not true. |
The coronavirus has been especially potent in the U.S. because
America is the only industrialized nation lacking universal healthcare. Many
families have been reluctant to see doctors or check into emergency rooms for
fear of racking up large bills.
America is also the only one of 22 advanced nations failing to give all workers some form
of paid sick leave. As a result, many American workers have remained
on the job when they should have been home.
Adding to this is the skimpiness of unemployment benefits in America – providing less support in the first year of unemployment than those in any other advanced country.
American workplaces are also more dangerous. Even before
Covid-19 ripped through meatpackers and warehouses, fatality rates were higher among American workers than European.
Even before the pandemic robbed Americans of their jobs and incomes, average wage growth in the U.S. had lagged behind average wage growth in most other advanced countries. Since 1980, American workers’ share of total national income has declined more than in any other rich nation.
In other nations, unions have long pushed for safer working conditions and higher wages. But American workers are far less unionized than workers in other advanced economies. Only 6.4% of private-sector workers in America belong to a union, compared to more than 26% in Canada, 37% in Italy, 67% in Sweden, and 25% in Britain.
So who and what’s to blame for the worst avoidable loss of life
in American history?
Partly, Donald Trump’s malfeasance.
But the calamity is also due to America’s longer-term failure to
provide its people the basic support they need.
Robert Reich's latest book is "THE SYSTEM:
Who Rigged It, How To Fix It," out March 24.
He is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center. He served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time Magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written 17 other books, including the best sellers "Aftershock,""The Work of Nations," "Beyond Outrage," and "The Common Good." He is a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine, founder of Inequality Media, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentaries "Inequality For All," and "Saving Capitalism," both now streaming on Netflix.
He is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center. He served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time Magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written 17 other books, including the best sellers "Aftershock,""The Work of Nations," "Beyond Outrage," and "The Common Good." He is a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine, founder of Inequality Media, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentaries "Inequality For All," and "Saving Capitalism," both now streaming on Netflix.