Ways the US economy will change post-Covid 19

Things will be different whenever the hell that is the coronavirus pandemic ends.

That may be overly cliche, but it is true. The pandemic will fundamentally ch

ange work, education, government and journalism in ways good and bad.

Arguably, the biggest change will be work.

Many employers and employees have come to the realization that traditional workspaces are redundant. As we are seeing with the coronavirus, or COVID-19, it is possible for many to work remotely, at least for those still with jobs.

Remote work was already trending. Just think of the so-called gig economy. However, the pandemic has shown employers across multiple sectors that tremendous sums of money otherwise spent on the overhead of physical workspaces can be saved by shifting more employees to remote work.

Then there is business travel, though the hotel industry will surely offer generous incentives to stimulate meetings and events after months of cancellations. But many road warriors accustomed to crisscrossing the country by plane for meetings will be reduced to endless video conferencing, which will impact the way airlines recover from COVID-19.

Likewise, technology will transform education post-pandemic.

Some K-12 schools are fully online while others canceled the remainder of the school year as the logistical challenges and financial costs of shifting to remote instruction are insurmountable in rural or impoverished areas. At the same time, many colleges transitioned to virtual classrooms literally overnight.
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Political leaders at the state and federal levels would be wise to pressure institutions into not returning to the old model of higher education, which is both broken and simply unaffordable. Remote classes could and should cut the expense of a college education.

The same technology that enables remote work and education is also transforming the way in which government conducts business for the people.

Townships, school boards, city councils and county commissioners are holding virtual meetings purportedly to flatten the curve. Yet, this is really quite bad for representative government as it poses a direct threat to transparency, accountability and public access.

The reason why federal and state constitutions stipulate a central capital as the seat of government is simple: It prevents, in the words of the Declaration of Independence, the calling of “legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant.”

Thus, it is troubling when Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and others use questionable authority to suspend open-meetings or access-to-records laws by decree. These actions create a precedent that will surely be abused in the future by government, which all too often is loathe to transparency in the first place.

The coronavirus could also be the death knell for print journalism, notwithstanding #newspapersstillmatter on Twitter.

To be fair, the obituary for newspapers has been written before and yet print is still here. But the economic collapse caused by the country’s ongoing shutdown has killed off what remained of newspaper advertising.

Many voices in the chattering class welcome this as they believe the future rests not with commercial publishers, but rather nonprofit journalism. While there are examples of success, it is impossible to see how this model can replace local daily newspapers outside enclaves of gentry liberals

March Saw the Biggest Gun Sales on Record

March saw the biggest gun sales on record. And with many states and local governments shutting down gun stores in March, there were

clearly many people who wanted guns but couldn’t get them. The true demand for guns was undoubtedly even much higher.

The 2.3 million background checks completed during March were 29 percent higher than the busiest month in 2016, the previous yearly high, when people were fearful that Hillary Clinton’s election would lead to gun bans.

The run on gun stores has overwhelmed the gun background-check system. Licensed dealers have told me that they are getting busy signals whenever they try contacting the relevant federal and state agencies. They say that they are having an “impossible” time completing background checks. If the system worked correctly, gun sales would have been still higher.

There may not be any apocalypse in store for Americans, but people have legitimate concerns about the limitations of police protection amidst a pandemic. More than 6,100, or 17%, of New York City’s police officers called out sick on Wednesday. At the same time, 911 calls in the city have hit record highs. Some people have to wait a long time for help.

Meanwhile, a fifth of Detroit’s police force is quarantined and not able to do its job.

The Philadelphia Police Department went so far as to order officers to stop making arrests for many non-violent crimes.

Many departments are issuing masks, goggles, and gloves to their officers. But in the often rough-and-tumble process of making arrests, police come in very close physical contact with offenders.

Some criminals with the coronavirus are actively trying to infect police officers, for example by coughing in officers’ faces. “I don’t think it’s too far to say that officers are scared out there,” said Sgt. Manny Ramirez, president of Fort Worth Police Officers Association.

Telecommuting isn’t an option for police, and their jobs are now even more dangerous than usual. Many departments across the country have understandably scaled back policing in an effort to limit officers’ potential exposure to the disease.

Thirty-four states are releasing some prison inmates early to try to prevent spread of the virus within the close quarters of jails. 1,700 inmates have already been released from the Los Angeles County jail, and another 2,800 cases being reviewed. Jails across California are making similar releases.

On Saturday, the US Department of Homeland Security updated its list of “essential” businesses to include gun stores. Twenty states are now using the list to determine what industries should be exempted from stay-at-home orders.

Many places that have banned gun sales have moved to at least somewhat relax restrictions. Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Tom Wolf reversed his original order that gun stores must close, though operations are still severely restricted. Gun stores are permitted "to complete only the portions of a sale/transfer that must be conducted in-person under the law," and only by prior appointment. New Jersey Democratic Governor Phil Murphy also rescinded his previous ban after the new federal guidance was issued, but adopted similar, strict regulations on how gun stores can operate. Citing the federal memorandum, Los Angeles County has also reversed a previous ban.

But gun control activists aren’t happy with the increase in gun sales. “This is a contemptible and exploitative move by the gun lobby to put industry profits over public safety,” said Kris Brown, president of the Brady Campaign. “There is no constitutional right to immediately buy or sell guns and there is certainly no right to spread coronavirus while buying or selling guns.” As to the Department of Homeland Security recommendations, she said, “There is no way politics isn’t playing a role in this.”

Ms. Brown doesn’t really explain how people can have a right to own a gun but not have a right to buy them.

When police can’t be there to provide protection from a criminal, people are far safer if they have a gun. That is particularly true for the most vulnerable citizens, such as women and the elderly. With a gun, a defender’s physical strength doesn’t really matter.

This surge in gun sales is likely to continue, and may even increase, at least if the government fixes bottlenecks in the background check system. With police cutting back their efforts and prisons releasing criminals, Americans have every right to be cautious and get ready to defend themselves and their families. They should not hesitate to do so

Things to Be Grateful for

1. I'm grateful for private enterprise and American business. There is none better anywhere. Our news is filled with stories of companies such as Under Armour, Ford, GM, JoAnn Fabrics, My Pillow, and Vera Bradley that are pitching in to help make hospital gowns, ventilators and masks. According to the trade association Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, nearly 600 distilleries in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are making hand sanitizer. And then there are the countless smaller local businesses providing meals for students who cannot attend school, first responders, health care workers and others on the front line; making charitable donations; or just continuing to pay their employees as long as possible.

2. I'm grateful for factory employees, truckers, warehouse workers and all others instrumental to keeping the supply chain intact.

3. I'm grateful for our big-box stores, grocery stores and pharmacies that have stayed open, and for the employees who work there and have kept needed items in stock.

4. I'm grateful for the authors, artists, musicians, actors and other entertainers who are using all forms of media to perform for us, our families and our children as we "shelter in place" for what will likely be several weeks.

5. I'm grateful for the teachers, administrators and staff members -- especially the information technology professionals -- who have made it possible for our preschool, grade school, high school and college students to transition from live instruction to online learning.

6. I'm grateful for the incredible dedication of all our health care professionals, many of whom are working long hours day after day with little sleep, few resources and far too many terribly sick patients.

7. I'm grateful for our form of government -- a democratic republic -- and for federalism, which allows the smaller governments of our states and territories to respond to the unique challenges they face while our federal government coordinates national and international efforts.

8. I'm grateful for leaders who have the ability to make needed decisions in a crisis, and to pivot quickly as the most up-to-date information arrives.

9. I'm grateful for our Constitution. It hovers like a silent blessing over all of us. It ensures that our liberties will remain when this disease has run its course, and that the extraordinary measures now in place will no longer be needed.

10. I'm grateful for Western medicine, scientists, information and knowledge, and the technology that enables that information and knowledge to be more widely disseminated.

11. I'm grateful for social media and the technological innovations that enable us to remain connected even though we are separated.

12. I'm grateful for the fact that those of us inclined to call upon God in prayer need not feel embarrassed for doing so.

13. I'm grateful for charitable organizations that are working hard to meet the ongoing needs of the people they serve -- the poor; the homeless; those with disabilities or other unmet needs; veterans; single parents; orphaned children. When we are all needy, we can better appreciate those for whom illness, unemployment or isolation is not a temporary situation.

14. I'm grateful for the innumerable kindnesses of people too many to count across America -- and, indeed, across the world -- who are doing whatever they can for anyone they can as long as it is necessary

America Still a Global Leader Even in a Time of Crisis

bal myth alleges that America under the Trump administration is not leading the world fight against the coronavirus in its accustomed role as the postwar global leader. Yet the U.S. was the first major nation to issue a travel ban on flights from China, with Donald Trump making that announcement on Jan. 31. That was a bold act. It likely saved thousands endangered by Chinese perfidy and soon became a global model. None of the ban's loud critics are today demanding it be rescinded. In typically American fashion, as we have seen in crises from Pearl Harbor to 9/11, after initial shock and unpreparedness, the U.S. economic and scientific juggernaut is kicking into action. Already the U.S. is transitioning from a long, disastrous reliance on Chinese medical supplies and pharmaceuticals. In ad hoc fashion, companies are gearing up massive production of masks, ventilators and key anti-viral supplies. The number of known deaths from the virus -- for now the only reliable data available -- shows a fatality rate of about 7-8 per million people in the United States. That per capita toll is analogous to Germany's and one of the lowest in the world among larger nations. The U.S. economy in 2019 -- with its near-record-low unemployment, inflation and interest rates -- was the most robust in the world. It will soon be the key to rebooting global production and trade. Confronting China over patent and copyright theft, technological appropriation, dumping and currency manipulation was not just in the U.S. interest, but for the global good. A reckless and disingenuous China poses an existential threat to countries across the globe. The only world bulwark against Chinese propaganda and bullying remains U.S. economic and military power. Despite accusations of growing isolationism at a time of a worldwide pandemic, the U.S. still stations 200,000-250,000 troops abroad. Those assets ensure that no hostile power in the present crisis will opportunistically threaten European and Asian democracies. Record U.S. natural gas and oil production have helped lower global home heating and transportation costs. Among the biggest beneficiaries are Europe and Japan, the largest customers for Russia and the Middle East's unreliable energy production. The radical increase in American natural gas productions helps explain why the U.S. has made more progress in reducing carbon emissions than the signatories of the Paris climate accord. That voluntary agreement has had little success in curbing the planet's largest carbon emitters. Even as the U.S. registered robust economic growth of nearly 2.5 percent, it nonetheless reduced its carbon emissions by 0.5 percent in 2017 (the latest year for which data is available), which was the largest reduction in the world. The truth is that the free world would be a safer and more secure place if Europe, not the U.S., acted more responsibly. Individual European Union countries have junked their utopian EU brotherhood and are reverting to nationalist self-interests. Fracking natural gas, with less reliance of coal-fired power plants, might have allowed European nations to meet their Paris climate accord promises. Italy and other European countries have been especially vulnerable to Chinese mercantile pressure and have mortgaged their economic futures to Beijing, with disastrous results. If the European Union produced more of its own gas and oil, it would not empower Moscow and the Middle East through its colossal importation of their energy. And if NATO countries just met their obligation to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense, then the West would not be so vulnerable in such times of crisis. NATO nations could more effectively draw on their military and health resources to fight the virus. Nor has the United Nations been much help. Its World Health Organization simply parroted Chinese propaganda in the key initial weeks of the virus. WHO claimed in mid-January that there was no human-to-human transmission, then suggested weeks later that a travel ban on Chinse flights would have little value in combatting the spread of the virus. Both were lies but were welcomed by the Chinese government. Where the West is deficient is in the current lack of imagination of its most hallowed institutions. Universities in the United States and Europe are in suspension. They currently have hundreds of thousands of empty dorm rooms. Why not offer them as temporary refuges to the vulnerable homeless and poor? Given the epidemic of misinformation, millions need accurate data. But poor readers are barricaded from major news websites by expensive firewalls. Required subscriptions to the New York Times and Washington Post, for example, could be temporarily waived -- at least for any articles that offer key information concerning the coronavirus. Throughout the outbreak, the media have promulgated sensationalism and helped fan the hysteria. It could better use its muckraking journalists to police itself. Any laxity in fighting the virus is not to be found with the U.S., but rather with its loudest and most opportunistic critics

Are Democrats Channeling Their Inner Lenin?

As we approach November 2020, Democrats are having their “October 1917” moment.
Just as the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party back then was divided between the moderate Mensheviks and the more radical Bolsheviks, so too the modern American Democratic Party is divided between the moderate socialists like Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar and Steve Bullock and the radical socialists like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
Based on what happened during the Russian Revolution a century ago, I would strongly advise Bullock and Klobuchar (and especially Tim Ryan and John Delaney) to buy bulletproof vests or seriously consider relocating to Mexico. That bought Leon Trotsky an extra 10 years before he was finally dispatched by Comrade Stalin to socialist heaven.
Biden is doing his best to rally the moderate socialists (isn’t that an oxymoron?), but his willingness to shift positions on fundamental moral issues suggests that he lacks all conviction, while the worst of his Bolshevik opponents like Kamala Harris and Sanders are full of passionate intensity that threatens to overthrow the moral order altogether.
But maybe that's the point.
Communist agitator Michael Moore, who is in large measure the theorist of the American left, told Brian Williams on MSNBC following the second debate, “Only revolution at this point is going to defeat Donald J. Trump. Only people rising up, and doing the work that needs to be done, is going to remove him from office. Our side needs to treat Trump seriously. He’s not a joke anymore. He’s the real deal and he humiliated all of us by losing the election and then being given the keys to the Oval Office.”
In case you didn’t figure it out, Trump is playing the role of Czar Nicholas II in this replay of the Russian Revolution, but he’s proving much more resilient than the czar, having outwitted and outlasted the Democrats at every turn so far. Back in 1917, the czar was forced to abdicate during March. That was the Democrat plan for March this year too. The Mueller Report was supposed to send Trump into exile or house arrest or at least into an impeachment trial, but the president stubbornly refuses to cooperate with his own demise.
Meanwhile, just as in the period between the February Revolution and the October Revolution in 1917, the “Social Democratic Labour” forces (hereinafter “the Democrats”) are turning against each other in a contest of ideological purity. That was on full display on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, when even the previously sainted Barack Obama was under attack. By the end of the second night, if he were still a saint, it must have been St. Sebastian, pierced by multiple arrows. Turns out that the signature achievement of his presidency — Obamacare — was a gift to the big bad insurance industry, and his immigration policy was a heartless betrayal of the working class. Or something like that.
What is ironic about how the Democrats want to depose Trump is that, whereas Nicholas II oversaw the collapse of the Russian economy in World War I, Donald Trump has led the United States back to prosperity. Whereas the czar oppressed the lower classes in Russia, this president has helped African Americans and other minorities achieve greater economic independence.
A few of the endangered species of moderate Democrats on the debate stage last week were willing to defend President Obama, but that just meant they had to be even more vicious in their hatred of President Trump so they could establish their bona fides as legitimate revolutionaries. In case there was any doubt, they could just call Trump a racist or a criminal thug and that settled the matter.
Whoever said the revolution will not be televised must not have heard about CNN. “The most trusted name in news,” as CNN bills itself, happily played the role of Pravda in promoting this mindless march toward dictatorship of the proletariat (don’t worry — it’s temporary!). The decision to let radical leftist Don Lemon play a neutral journalist during the debates added insult to injury. It was the equivalent of asking a shark to host a beach party.
Of course, President Trump took all of this in stride. In fact, he has encouraged the Democrats to embrace their inner communist (Marianne Williamson may have taken this a little too literally!) as they march in lockstep toward their landslide defeat in 2020. Republicans have been a little slow to recognize Trump’s political genius, but remember that he was the one who established the coming election as a battle between capitalism and socialism.
As he said Thursday at his campaign rally in Cincinnati, “Tonight we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country --- never ever ever will it be a socialist country. No matter what label they use, a vote for any Democrat in 2020 is a vote for the rise of radical socialism, and the destruction of our great, our beautiful, our wonderful American dream.”
Is that too much? Is that divisive rhetoric? Yep, it divides the patriots from the globalists. This is war, but it’s only revolution if it succeeds. Trump is “all in” to prevent that from happening.
The hand-to-hand combat that Trump engages in with the enemy on a daily basis is a bit too much for some dainty Republicans, but he’s been loudly defended by loyalists such as Sen. Steve Daines of my home state of Montana, who recently introduced a resolution to condemn socialism.
It’s hard to believe we have reached the point, nearly 30 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, where we need to take a vote on whether or not communism sucks, but sadly we do. And even worse, in some states the outcome of such a vote would be in doubt. It might not even be able to pass muster in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives.
I will wait eagerly to see how many Democratic presidential candidates have the audacity to vote against the resolution. If they do — if Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Cory Booker refuse to vote to condemn socialism — then Trump has already won. But don’t tell him that. Watching him campaign is too much fun