Dakota Beacon

Today I’ll go back to the theme of what kinds of things can our federal government can realistically to relieve the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus.  That first, and then a word about terminology.

Yesterday I proposed that the federal government should declare a mortgage holiday.  This would have a broad effect in relieving the extreme financial distress of people suddenly thrown out of work.  To recap, in case you missed yesterday’s post, a 12-month break from mortgage payments on all existing mortgages could help keep businesses alive and people in their homes in the interim.  This crisis does have an “end point”. That fact is essential in making this a workable interim solution. Lenders can reasonably rely that they will receive 100% of the amount anticipated on a loan, just 12 months later, as if 12 months were just cut out of the term of the mortgage with no penalties or interest.  You can figure out the ripple effect of benefits from this.

So, here is another idea.  I think everyone should try to think of one idea and if you get a good one send it to your congressman and tell your contacts about it, discuss it with them.  Here is my second idea:

2.   The federal government should not require any payments on student loans for 12 months with no additional interest accruing to the loan and no impact on the borrower’s credit history.  Student loan payments are often a large part of young people’s budget. People in entry-level jobs or with very young families to support could find it impossible to meet this obligation and as we all know, the interest which piles up on these loans is staggering.  Just as with the mortgage holiday, this temporary relief could act as though 12 months were just cut out of the term of the loan.  

Again, the key to finding solutions to this dilemma is that we are simply buying time for people so that they will be positioned to pick up the pieces again as soon as they can return to work.  No one wants to be out of work and default on loans. It could mean permanent damage to one’s credit, loss of a business, loss of a home and social consequences such as broken marriages and children whose lives are upended.   Much of this can and should be alleviated with minimal impact in terms of federal “programs”. Neither of my suggestions would mean another bureaucrat on the public payroll or another new office of the federal government which will never close.  I have suggested the mortgage relief to my congressman, Collin Peterson. I think it might be worth suggesting it to your congressman as well. I have also forwarded my letter to the office of Senator Ted Cruz. He serves on the Senate Commerce Committee, so perhaps he could give it some thought if he sees it.  You might have other ideas and ideas about promoting good ideas.

Now.  The matter of terminology.  President Trump has been unreasonably criticized for honestly referring to this pandemic virus as the “Chinese” virus.  It is from China. It was spread by China rather than contained by China, for weeks, while it infected (yes - infected is the right word - that is what it means to “acquire” the flu) the rest of the world, from Italian factories to world-domination conspirators in Tehran to businesses throughout the world.   Only when they could no longer keep their own economy going did they admit to at least part of the truth. It may well be much darker than this. There is a good case to be made that this virus originated in a bioweapons lab in Wuhan and accidentally escaped. So it might be Chinese in terms of its origin as well as that government’s failure to contain it.  Calling this something else is pointless. Calling it the “Chinese virus” puts the blame where it belongs - on the communist government of the People’s Republic of China. That is constructive because when we get past this crisis we need to hold that government and those leaders responsible and we need to adjust our future relations with that rogue government.  After spreading the disease in silence for many crucial weeks, they have stopped export of medical supplies and have threatened to stop export of prescription drugs. We need to remember this. It is time now to recognize that we are the author of much of our grief right now because we have opted for cheap goods from a country which employs slave labor rather than buy goods from manufacturers who pay a living wage to Americans or other free workers in other free countries.  This is not about “protectionism” and it is not about racism or xenophobia. It is about human values and about preservation of the American way of life we cherish - life as we know it in our country - and the American nation. I submit that those are both worthwhile objectives. Perhaps it is finally time for the people of China to reject their totalitarian and inhumane government at long last.  

It has even been suggested, and not without reason, that the limited rebellion in Hong Kong last summer might have had something to do with the crisis we are all experiencing at the moment.

So I agree with President Trump on this one.  It is a Chinese virus - that does not mean anyone blames the decent people of China.  It means that the Chinese government is responsible and has even added insult to injury by falsely and maliciously accusing American soldiers of causing it.  Enough of this kind of preposterous behavior on the part of China. And I hope that we have come to the end of congratulating their communist leaders on their successful 70-year-long reign of terror over their people.

This kind of word policing is getting to be a bad habit by the press and by social media - it is even bleeding into our personal communication.  Everyone is tiptoeing around, trying to find euphemisms for everything they say. The British are not allowed to call Pakistanis who practice the Islamic religion “Muslims”.  That is because the people they would be referring to are criminals and terrorists. They must, therefore, call them “Asians”. For some reason it is okay to tar “Asians” with crimes and acts of terror but it is “hate speech” to call them Muslims even though they are.  We are cautioned not to call this flu “Chinese” because someone in the media thinks that we will all go out and punch an innocent Chinese person. How stupid is this? We have “German Measles” and no one that I know blames the Germans when they are infected with the disease - and it’s a very nasty disease, too. 

We should all recognize the current pandemic as having originated in China by officially naming it the Wuhan or Chinese flu.  And we should not blame the innocent people of China or of Chinese origin for it. But to forget where this came from or hide it in a fog of euphemisms or political correctness would be to forget that we need to make some changes in how we deal with an unscrupulous government which acts immorally and unethically on the world stage.  

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