As usual.
What has me head scratching this time is something that a lot of people have been scratching their heads about as well. It’s this; How have not been able to get a better handle on this pandemic and everything that is associated with it?
I wonder, and I don’t think I am alone in this either, but how is it possible in this day and age for a country (or countries) to totally miss the mark on something, given the resources we have at our disposal? How is it possible to have supply shortages 16 months after the development of a product that is crucial to dealing with Covid-19?
I am talking about testing kits, testing supplies, anything to do with testing. This didn’t just sneak up on us. Federal, state and local governments have completely dropped the ball on this and they all go on and on and on about getting the vaccine numbers up yet the most crucial element in fighting this virus is in short supply.
As I have said repeatedly, people who are going to get vaccinated have gotten vaccinated. People who haven’t yet been vaccinated may never do it. It is their choice and they have chosen not to. I get that leadership in this country is still pushing for it and thats ok, but the bigger concern and the bigger issue is that people need to test and probably test frequently and the availability is just not there.
President Biden made a huge deal about getting 500 million tests produced and in private citizens hands and that’s a nice start but why now? Why not the first day in office? Why not put in place the Wartime Powers Act that Donald Trump used and get manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies on this from the beginning? 500 million test kits is substantial for sure but let’s do some public school math here. There are 325 million people in this country, roughly 30 million are probably too young or at very low risk so you have around 295 million people in this country that could use a test. That works out to about 1.7 test kits per person. Uh, that seems a little low don’t you think? If you have been in a potential position to catch Covid, you test. You are negative, you may test two or three days later to be sure. If you are positive, you will test again to be sure, then you will test maybe in five or six days and then possibly at the ten or twelve day mark. In addition, family and friends will test multiple times as well. Just like Covid having a multiple so does testing. 500 million tests may work for a very short time but this country should have been producing the various test kits non stop from the get go. Billions should have been produced with billions more right behind that.
Again, we got it wrong. Again, it’s leadership that is to blame.
It is just a collapse in leadership. What it shows is that our leadership is not up to the task, period. I don’t really know if any one person would be up to the task in this day and age but I firmly believe that if you had a decisive, strong leader like Ronald Reagan in charge, things would have been handled differently, that is for sure.
I have been scolded by a few people who think I may be too harsh in my criticism of certain institutions over the last 14 months but I actually feel I haven’t been harsh enough.
Corporate America has failed us as well. From rising prices to the absolute abomination that is customer service in this country. They have taken advantage of their customers in ways seen and unseen and I truly believe that when things get back to some sort of normalcy, people will remember who did what to whom and I know that corporate America will not look the same in five years. A reckoning will come and it won’t be pretty. But for now, they are enjoying record profits and their share prices are through the roof.
This goes without saying to everyone and anyone who will actually listen; It has been long enough. You have had plenty of time to understand the environment we are now in and you have managed to get pretty much everything wrong.
I am not smart enough to have an actual working solution but to me, I still believe there are some very smart people out there who do have ideas and they should be listened to. The fact that not one person from any organization has gotten anything right is appalling and maybe, just maybe, we need a different approach.
I would suggest having someone completely in charge. Someone who only answers to the President but that could be a very scary thought because he might actually appoint Kamala Harris to be that Czar and you saw how well she worked out that border situation.
I'm Perplexed
Once again, You ask the questions, that we poor mortals ask and never get answers from this administration. In two words, Incompetent and Greed. The government is and has been Incompetent, and business sees a way to fatten the balance sheet.