Weathering this Storm
DAY EIGHT
I haven't been posting, mainly because nothing has changed for me. I am still skulking around my home, waiting to hear whether I am safe from elimination or will I be put out. I have sent applications in for various services, food stamps, and jobs. Waiting to hear back. I have not left to take advantage of Kenny's generous offer to drive me around in search of id, because I am terrified to come back to a lock on my door.
What I have been doing, is a lot of reading, and thinking.
There are soooooooo many people, stressed out and trying to make sense of the relief checks, angry about the low amounts their checks are, hoping that this next round of stimulus votes will change something for the better.
I get that, I do.
But as a nonperson, who will never qualify for any of these stimuli, I have the opportunity to look at this from a way different perspective. And it reminds me of Katrina.
After hurricane Katrina, the feds told us, "It's ok, stay calm. Be patient. We are working on it. Help is coming, we just need to sort out a few things."
Sound familiar?
I watched as thousands of people from the greater New Orleans area heeded these statements. Sat, waited. Had faith in fema, in our govt.
And we watched as New Orleans rotted.
Mississippi got hit bad by Katrina, too. They were told the same thing.
I watched, as town meetings sprung up in coastal Mississippi towns. People weren't waiting. Somebody stood up and said, "Hey y'all, I'm a licensed electrician!".
And another one stood and said, "I'm a general contractor!".
"Cool, I'm a plumber!"
"I'm a Mason!"
"I'm a landscaper!"
And they went, one by one, to each house, each business, each house of worship, each hotel... And rebuilt their town. Together. Without worrying about profits or losses, without waiting for fema money or govt say so. It was Their town. And they took it back.
We have an opportunity here, to learn from our fairly recent past. We can get creative. We can list our assets and our resources, our limitations and our capabilities, and we can come up with ways to sustain ourselves through this apocalypse. Maybe even thrive.
Or we can sit, and wait.
"The full details have yet to be released. But over the last 24 hours, the elements of the proposal have come into sharper focus, with $250 billion set aside for direct payments to individuals and families, $350 billion in small business loans, $250 billion in unemployment insurance benefits and $500 billion in loans for distressed companies.
The stimulus bill also has a provision that would block President Donald Trump and his family, as well as other top government officials and members of Congress, from getting loans or investments from Treasury programs in the stimulus, according to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's office.
The package, if it passes Congress, would be the most significant legislative action taken to address the rapidly intensifying coronavirus crisis, which is overwhelming hospitals and grinding much of the economy to a halt.
Schumer called it "the largest rescue package in American history," in remarks on the Senate floor in the early hours of Wednesday morning. "This is not a moment of celebration -- but of necessity," he said."
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/25/politics/stimulus-senate-action-coronavirus/index.html
I haven't been posting, mainly because nothing has changed for me. I am still skulking around my home, waiting to hear whether I am safe from elimination or will I be put out. I have sent applications in for various services, food stamps, and jobs. Waiting to hear back. I have not left to take advantage of Kenny's generous offer to drive me around in search of id, because I am terrified to come back to a lock on my door.
What I have been doing, is a lot of reading, and thinking.
There are soooooooo many people, stressed out and trying to make sense of the relief checks, angry about the low amounts their checks are, hoping that this next round of stimulus votes will change something for the better.
I get that, I do.
But as a nonperson, who will never qualify for any of these stimuli, I have the opportunity to look at this from a way different perspective. And it reminds me of Katrina.
After hurricane Katrina, the feds told us, "It's ok, stay calm. Be patient. We are working on it. Help is coming, we just need to sort out a few things."
Sound familiar?
I watched as thousands of people from the greater New Orleans area heeded these statements. Sat, waited. Had faith in fema, in our govt.
And we watched as New Orleans rotted.
Mississippi got hit bad by Katrina, too. They were told the same thing.
I watched, as town meetings sprung up in coastal Mississippi towns. People weren't waiting. Somebody stood up and said, "Hey y'all, I'm a licensed electrician!".
And another one stood and said, "I'm a general contractor!".
"Cool, I'm a plumber!"
"I'm a Mason!"
"I'm a landscaper!"
And they went, one by one, to each house, each business, each house of worship, each hotel... And rebuilt their town. Together. Without worrying about profits or losses, without waiting for fema money or govt say so. It was Their town. And they took it back.
We have an opportunity here, to learn from our fairly recent past. We can get creative. We can list our assets and our resources, our limitations and our capabilities, and we can come up with ways to sustain ourselves through this apocalypse. Maybe even thrive.
Or we can sit, and wait.
"The full details have yet to be released. But over the last 24 hours, the elements of the proposal have come into sharper focus, with $250 billion set aside for direct payments to individuals and families, $350 billion in small business loans, $250 billion in unemployment insurance benefits and $500 billion in loans for distressed companies.
The stimulus bill also has a provision that would block President Donald Trump and his family, as well as other top government officials and members of Congress, from getting loans or investments from Treasury programs in the stimulus, according to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's office.
The package, if it passes Congress, would be the most significant legislative action taken to address the rapidly intensifying coronavirus crisis, which is overwhelming hospitals and grinding much of the economy to a halt.
Schumer called it "the largest rescue package in American history," in remarks on the Senate floor in the early hours of Wednesday morning. "This is not a moment of celebration -- but of necessity," he said."
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/25/politics/stimulus-senate-action-coronavirus/index.html