An Economy Without Workers

How COVID-19 shows us what “The Economy” is (and what our leaders think it is)

By Isaiah W. Ogren

When we look back on the recession caused by COVID-19—a recession that we are surely already experiencing—one can only hope that we do so from a new vantage point, such that the ways we viewed the labor and livelihoods of our friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens before this crisis seem strange. At present, the emphasis is on tiding over corporations without accountability, goosing the stock market, and at some point in the future “opening” the economy back up as if it was as simple as popping open a can of Summit. Nevertheless, the present moment provides some insight into how the powerful in American society REALLY view the economy. 

Take the suggestion, made in a variety of ways by the President, seemingly daily, that we should swiftly move towards lifting shelter in place orders. This would, by all epidemiological accounts, be a macabre disaster. Some estimates place the death toll at 1.7 million if social distancing is abandoned. Nevertheless, we know that rising unemployment and economic recession also have adverse health effects. So, is there a real balancing question to be asked here? 

The proposition above fails to consider the catastrophic consequences that 1.7 million people dropping out of the workplace due to death would have. The position in favor of easing social distancing in the name of “putting Americans back to work” is so divorced from the simple notion that workers, and the value they produce with their labor, remain the key to economic growth. If the labor force is decimated by COVID-19, the economy will not grow. Of course, this reality does not apply to many in power. Their money is made through investments and capital gains. They are insulated, and they can tolerate and even profit immensely from an economy that limps along.

This has never been about workers or about preserving people’s jobs. It has always been about witless bullies and hapless punks trying to pull the wool over our eyes in order to squeeze more out of their portfolio. Even at the expense of the lives of working people across the nation. Let us hope we have the moral clarity to see through their attempts.