ADDRESSING PANDEMICS
ATLANTA -- How very horrible is it that here we are almost a year into this covid-19 'lockdown' & our city's policy regarding pandemic safety measures are still extremely basic / performative. Germ mindfulness; social distancing & masks are well&good common sense steps to tackle viral spread, but what is lacking in our society's response to this sick is addressing the many fundamental systemic barriers we as a city have betwixt us & something we could reasonably call healthy.
A truly healthy society, after all, might have things like universal healthcare, top of the line well staffed public hospitals / clinics & stuff like dental care, mental health & other wellness services/activities too covered by a public fund for barrierless access to top quality care. It too would certainly provide for anyone with contagious sickness the tools to properly quarantine, so the community can be safer in the form of some sort of 'sick package' which would cover paying for missed wages, wellness supplies & protect our workers from being laid off because they want to be responsible & not spread virusii. PPE would be available to pick up as needed from somewhere neat at city hall.
This new 'muh bubble' vibe we got going also demands addressing the barriers all this lockdowning introduces. We must make our city systems & personnel all available no matter where one is. A transparent, accessible government is one which can best serve its citizens; virtually or in person. The alexb4mayor campaign & modest handsome candidate for mayor Alex Barrella wish very much for city hall / other government facilities to open back up; but only once it is meaningfully proven by scrupulous independent scientists that it's safe to do so. We need to make sure all city services are available as best as possible by modernizing dealings to be done using the internet, a phone call or an in person visit.
Revisiting how bullplop it is that healthcare is currently largely profit driven, which is extremely detrimental to the health of our society at large, but more-so towards those vulnerable many in our city who cannot afford treatment under these horrific normals our establishment finds to be working fine. Our healthcare services should be paid for by a public fund to create a more holistically healthy society..we just have to beat the wants of big capital & their well-paid propaganda to realize such.
Anyway; feels like this desk is constantly plugging such as a magical fix-all but it rolls into so many things; the Universal Basic Income program the alexb4mayor campaign has envisioned could be expanded for *PANDEMIC PAYMENTS* where in states of emergency & such; extra money is added per pay period(like woah)! Those fatcat clowns in DC largely seem to almost get off not providing for direct pandemic relief fund distribution, but this city will not be so stingy & knows that under hard times relief checks can be the difference between homelessness or not.
We as a city could/should be so radical to-hear us out now-have themed vaccination events where healthcare workers hunt (consenting!!)participants in city hall with vaccine blow-darts, dimmed lighting & loud loud nature sounds. This campaign thinks such events would enrichen the community's sense of fantasy-n-wonder & hopefully we could do it in a way where no one would be seriously injured too.
~sick sad world~
✊🏼💚-ALEX BARRELLA