5 Things That Might Help Us After The Coronavirus Outbreak

This isn't a political post, I promise. It's just a few things I've been thinking about for after this outbreak is over, and eventually, it will be over. There are going to be millions of people out of work so just a couple of questions about what we should do when everything gets back to "normal".

Should we:
1. Train people how to make medical supplies? Gowns, face masks, gloves, face shields, surgical shoe covers, ventilators, etc. We need to stop using other countries for these items. People who are out of a job can be trained and we’ll have our own supply source and jobs for those who are out of work.

2. Do mandatory national service? Should high school kids be required to do 2 years national service before college? Basic medical training, military service, infrastructure maintenance, things the country needs and a sense of ownership in the United States. We all pull together no matter race, creed, or color. As per a friend's suggestion, no exemption for bone spurs or income. Everyone has something to offer.

3. Fine corporations who put their headquarters in other countries? Lots of them do this, cruise ship companies come to mind, and it needs to stop. I don’t care if you develop a company that makes a lot of money but if you duck taxes you should have to pay through the nose. If you are an American company and you hold yourself out to be an American company, your money and your taxes stay here.

4. Raise the minimum wage? Clearly we can see workers in grocery stores, restaurants, delivery services, etc. need to be compensated. So do teachers, LEO, and people in the medical support fields. Can we afford to raise the minimum wage? We need to find a way.

5. Rein in Big Pharma? Multi-billions of dollars in revenue a year. Most of our meds come from China. Why aren’t they manufactured here? Because BP will have to sacrifice a few billion a year in profits? They need to manufacture here. Now. They sell us a ton of meds and have convinced us we need them. Ok then, let us make our own meds. Move those plants to the US. Right now.

We need to get our stuff together. We’re all in this rowboat together. I hope we can do it.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.