I think you're thinking of this in a binary sense, like we can either pay the business owners and they will <maybe> pay their employees and then it will be forg

I think you're thinking of this in a binary sense, like we can either pay the business owners and they will <maybe> pay their employees and then it will be forgiven OR we let those people lose their job and go on unemployment. Those aren't the only options, but even if they were, in the semi industry it was fairly common for the whole company I worked for to shut down for a week or two if the semi economy isn't cranking. We all went on unemployment or took vacation, and came back to our jobs when the company opened again. But, unemployment isn't the only thing we can use, because it does have strings. We expect you to be looking for another job every week, and proving it. The social security system is setup to distribute money to every American with a social security number, in a far more streamlined system. There are also nice systems in place that limit the amount you get from social security in the case that you're earning more than a limit. I think social security being extended to all Americans, letting them stay "at" their job even if it was shut down, and setting a floor for income at this time which would make sure the business owners were also able to buy their basic essentials, but not Lamborghinis, would have been the right move. I understand this would require something to help businesses with rent while they were unable to operate. A national rent holiday to cover the emergency of the pandemic would be one idea, or bailing out the banks that were effected. The way this was implemented isn't the only way it could be implemented is all I'm saying, lots of countries did it other ways, and they didn't collapse in on themselves at the end of covid. The PPP program is not the only solution to keeping workers connected to their jobs, but it sure did create a lot of opportunities for fraud. There are podcasts that took hundreds of thousands of dollars of PPP money. A podcast.