For those who are confused about why the government is...¶

For those who are confused about why the government is refusing to give us even a modicum of assistance during the worst surge ever, it's pretty simple.

They can't help us during an acute crisis, because they can't risk us feeling entitled to help during a chronic crisis. Remember when the idea was floated to make all COVID treatment free? The response was "What next? Making cancer treatment free??" Because they know the obvious answer is yes.

So instead, it's a provider-by-provider patchwork. It falls to you to find out if you will be charged. So why can't they give us free healthcare? Why can't housing be guaranteed? Why do we have an endless series of sub-par, means-tested programs instead of a universal floor to keep us all out of poverty?

Because this whole thing only works with the implicit threat of destitution. It's less about money, and more about unimpeachable power. They need your well-being to be inextricable to your usefulness. Giving even an inch on this would reveal just how much they need you. They need you to live at their whim. They need you desperate. If that seems myopic, like they're begging for people to get fed up and tear the whole thing down, ask yourself: why hasn't it happened yet? If allowing a pandemic to ravage our society largely unchecked isn't enough, what is? That gets at a larger issue of propaganda.