Beyond the broad impact the COVID crisis had on society, it feels like it kicked the one-percent’s authoritarian instincts into overdrive. I have a theory that they saw their extreme wealth was not the impenetrable bulwark they thought it was, and it shook them to the core:
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Before broad adoption of reliable vaccines, they were conceivably vulnerable to the same indiscriminate illness as everyone else.
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It demonstrated that the government can and will shut down your business with the full regulatory weight of the US government, in the interest of public safety over profit.
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For the first time it demonstrated that a universal income model is not only possible, it is completely affordable and can be quickly implemented.
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The luxury services that their money had always effortlessly bought could be quickly ended by decree, scarcity, and the loss of human labor to illness.
What do you think? Did COVID deeply terrify the rich? Or was it just another opportunity for them to make money and maximize hegemony?
It did nothing of the sort for the universal income thing. In every country where they started printing money to hand out, inflation skyrocketed and everyone is still feeling those effects today, and likely will forever. Debt for those countries absolutely exploded.
I want a true universal income trial, long term, where all of the necessary tax changes are made as well. Covid didn’t do that. If anything Covid made people think a universal income will never work.
Throwing money around has never been a problem for the government. Doing it properly without negative consequences is the thing they never seem to be able to understand.