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Nevilledog

(50,659 posts)
Sun Aug 9, 2020, 04:45 PM Aug 2020

Our nation has never been less American than in 2020, when 'freedom' is used as an excuse...

Our nation has never been less American than in 2020, when 'freedom' is used as an excuse to ignore the common good, says NYU professor Scott Galloway

https://www.businessinsider.com/scott-galloway-our-nation-has-never-been-less-american-than-2020-8

America's involvement in WWII lasted three years and nine months, and 405,399 Americans perished (297 per day). US forces have been fighting in Afghanistan for 19 years, and we've lost 2,285 service members (one every three days). In WWII, almost a third of fruits and vegetables were harvested from "Victory Gardens" planted in people's backyards. You couldn't find chocolate or nylons. Diapers and food staples were rationed, and you could be kicked off a plane to make room for servicemen.

Despite the formidable financial stress of wartime, households were asked to dig deeper and buy war bonds. Within three weeks of December 7, 1941, Ford, Fisher Auto Parts, and Goodyear Rubber were turning out B-24 and B-25 bombers, using fabricated auto parts. Kelvinator, which made refrigerators, was told by the government to stop and start making propellers and army helmets.

Fast forward to 2020: Americans don't want to wear masks and expect the government to send them more money. We've been unable to produce cotton swabs and personal protective equipment. Most COVID tests still take 5-7 days to yield results, while other countries have had rapid tests since March.

Since the first recorded US case in January, we have lost 159,588 Americans, or 806 people a day. The economic cost of the stimulus will likely surpass the conflict that reshaped the world order. However, we're not spending this unprecedented amount of money on fighting the enemy, but ensuring the NASDAQ (the net worth of the wealthy) doesn't decline. Our leadership seems to think a return to school should be doable even though our COVID-19 testing is extremely slow and below need. University leadership is convinced the virus received the memo that the nobility and business model of education should be an immunity, cauterizing spread.

*snip*
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