Not-so stimulating
With 535 members in the U.S. Senate and House, one would think there would be some common sense.
They are busy giving away a trillion dollars of “stimulus” money. Much of this is going to people who have a household income of $150,000 a year. They don’t need stimulating.
Nothing can stimulate the economy at this time except getting control of the virus.
So, give the money to those who will be impacted the most by the mass layoffs we are seeing — those in the lower income bracket who are on unemployment so they can pay rent and buy food. Then beef up the medical system with dollars to help control the virus.
The only way the economy will be stimulated is when people can return to their jobs, not by giving $1,000 out to many people who do not need it.
James Lehner
Keaau
Fortunate so far
I don’t think Mary Serion (Tribune-Herald, Your Views) is crazy, but I do think she is missing something.
This graphic of how pandemics spread might aid understanding. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/.
Or, look up the messages from people in Italy, who are telling the world what they wish they had done 10 days ago.
Current measures are intended to prevent the worst-case scenario. Thousands of people dead in a matter of weeks — isn’t that reason enough to follow guidelines of social distancing?
This virus is more deadly than flu, spreads easily, and asymptomatic people can spread it. Droplets in the air, caused by simply breathing, are infectious for hours, and it survives on surfaces for days.
We are fortunate on the Big Island so far. Let’s all try to keep it that way.
Deb Scrivens
Hakalau
Live pono
Wow! This response is regarding the March 8 letter from Adrienne Dey, “Mills Beach tales.”
I believe that the entire context of this imperialistic diatribe can be summed up in the last two sentences of her letter. To paraphrase: “Those of us who live here now…” and “take an example from Switzerland… .”
The first is simply a rehashing of the Manifest Destiny doctrine.
As a retired educator, I applaud the educational, health care system and other endeavours of such nations, but we would be remiss to simply disregard those same nations’ attitudes toward immigration and particularly brown-ish folk. Definitely not as welcoming to “others” as the United States of America — that is, until recently.
Peace is not abdicating and allowing other nations to stop things that are completely unethical, and then allowing those current right-leaning individuals to gain power and espouse similar beliefs/actions. No other nations stood up for Queen Lili‘uokalani as she allowed corporate America and our U.S. military to relieve her of sovereignty (but that’s another story… ).
If you live here now, live pono; can’t you see that this idea and aloha are what brings people to this special place? Native rights totally exist, whether you live here or not!
Michael Pacheco III
Ninole