4 ms·
This isn't really a political point as much as an observation, but... the people in this country who have the worst compensation and benefits are the ones who a
by MisterBastahrd 7y ago
This isn't really a political point as much as an observation, but... the people in this country who have the worst compensation and benefits are the ones who are involved in the harvesting and preparation of our food. To this point, the supply chain hasn't been too badly affected because poor people need to work to survive and so they'll go to work sick. But now COVID has spread all over the place, and people who are in those fields and slaughterhouses and factories are starting to fall ill. Smithfield just shut down a massive pork processing plant. What happens to our food supply when those people finally say they've had enough? Lack of healthcare, lack of pay, lack of sick days... would YOU willing subject yourself and your family to the possibility that you will catch it and die when your co-worker comes to work with a fever?
In my opinion, we haven't even begun to feel the economic shock of this thing, because we've been able to ignore the foundations of our society for so long.
- devchix 7y agoYes, just so. Some days ago I posted an NPR Planet Money article about the effect of COVID-19 on farm workers, who are mostly immigrants, and the replies to my comment was so cavalier I could not engage. "The food will be fine", no thought to the harvesters who would likely fall ill. There is a swatch of disposable workers unseen by people like these. Our local grocery was out of chicken parts for a while but now it's mostly back to normal. I'm surprised there's a run on toilet paper, yeast, and flour, but meat and produce are back on the shelves.
- bruceb 7y agoThere is not a shortage of people who have very little money and will take risks.
- kyleee 7y agoOne of the reasons why it is so unethical to rely so heavily on streams of undocumented immigrants
- MisterBastahrd 7y agoThere are plenty of people who have an extra $600 a week to take their chances at home.
- pessimizer 7y agoI think that maybe a worse (or at least more widespread) part of this is that these are the people least likely to have good or any health insurance, and if they get sick enough to get hospitalized, they're probably facing a $20K bill. There's a lot of media lip service about non-medical essential personnel (a lot of horrid "thank you for your service" to people who have no choice in the matter but to starve) but no state effort in the US to (at a minimum) cover their bills or (additionally) to supplement their pay for risking their and their families' health. While we're ignoring them, we're passing stimulus bills to help bail out stockholders.