Shock Doctrine and What We Can Do
If you have not yet read Naomi Klein's book, "The Shock Doctrine," then you need to do so right now. What is happening with the mismanagement of this crisis absolutely mirrors the mishandling of Hurricane Katrina. Folks of Louisiana warned the rest of us that they would do to us what they did to them, and no one listened.
Then came 2011 with Scott Walker's "Emergency Budget Crisis" which Republicans actually caused by passing sweeping tax cuts to corporations and millionaires then declaring a crisis when they came up short on their budget. All the while, in reality, it was a direct attack on unions. Other states followed suit: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Florida. Michigan alone under Rick Snyder passed an Emergency Budget law where he could declare an "Budget Crisis" anywhere in the state, disband the locally elected governing body and appoint an "Emergency Budget Manager" of his choice to run things. Public parks were sold and turned into private golf clubs among thousands of other sell-offs. Meanwhile, Flint's water is contaminated and public schools are crumbling. Folks out of Louisiana said, "We told you so."
Currently, Michigan has a Democratic governor who's also a woman. Something Trump certainly can't tolerate, so she has become one of his main targets. Now, he's ramped that up even further by inciting insurrection in Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia.
Then the Senate Republicans have slipped a 90 Billion dollar tax cut for millionaires into the CARES act, and the Small Business Loan program has already hit its 350 Billion dollar cap. In addition, the three months of mortgage payments relief includes an incredibly tangled web of rules. Many will have to pay back the 3 months of mortgage payments in one lump sum at the end of the 90-day forbearance. There are no requirements that require lenders to move these payments to the end of the loan like commonly done for deferments. At best, this program is extremely confusing for homeowners. With Americans already struggling mentally, emotionally, and economically during a global health crisis, realistically, this program could also spark a dramatic increase in foreclosures. In the aftermath of the last real estate crash in 2008-2009, we all saw who benefited from American families losing their homes.
We need to be clear here: This is the looting of America.This is the Shock Doctrine in action.
So with a pandemic in full swing, and all of us social distancing and sheltering-in-place, what can we do about it?
Well, let's take a look at a few years ago with the White Supremacist protest in Charlottesville. Afterwards, the Nazi protesters' pictures were posted all over the internet, so they could be identified. Some of them were disowned by their families and others also lost their jobs. Regardless of what their president said, they faced real world consequences.
Now, we have a bunch of MAGAts protesting shelter-in-place orders and right-wing evangelicals still attending services large and small. One such Revival meeting in Kentucky led to the spread of the COVID-19 throughout the county it was held in. Among others, it impacted a nursing home, and we all know just how deadly COVID-19 is in nursing homes. How would you feel if it were your parent or your grandparent in that facility?
Here's what I suggest:
These MAGAts are so proud of themselves for their actions that they're posting it all over social media. With very, very few wearing masks, all these pictures and videos have lots and lots of easily identifiable faces. I suggest we start identifying them just like the Nazi protesters were identified. These people may have the right to protest, but the rest of us also have the right to make informed decisions about our associations with them - whether at home or at work. These types of choices with friends, family, and employees or coworkers won't be easy just as it wasn't for a father who didn't allow his Ft. Lauderdale partier son return home after spring break. It was not a decision he wanted to make, but one that was necessary for the health of the parents and the grandparents living under one roof.
As callous as this sounds, these protesters and church-goers are going to contract and spread the virus, and a certain percentage of them will develop complications. For the rest of us, as we fight this pandemic together, we must continue to minimize the spread of the virus and limit the number of us who are exposed to it.
Who knows, maybe if these MAGAts and evangelicals start facing real-world consequences, like the Nazi protesters in Charlottesville did, some of them might actually turn off the FAUX news and start getting real information about this pandemic.
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I don't do Facebook, Twitter, or anything else ( DU is it for my personal "social media" ), but I do like the idea of posting the MAGAt's faces for purposes of public shaming. I'd love to see it catch on. 
