COVID-19 Crisis Memory Bank

So much went wrong with the COVID-19 crisis response. So many decisions were made years and decades earlier that made it far worse than it should have been. This page to keep track of what went wrong so we can be sure to remember and learn from the decisions that killed so many and left so many unemployed and destitute.

How we got here

Decades of bad decisions

• Decades of Hospital Closures Led to This Disaster
• Doctorow on scams, CDOs and PE firms & Private equity looting public health in a pandemic
• The Tea Party killed pandemic preparedness
• Trump admits voter suppression

The Failed Response

• Trump Administration Uses Wartime Powers To Be First In Line On Medical Supplies
• Using the private market to distribute pandemic supplies
• Food Shortages? Nope, Too Much Food In The Wrong Places

Profit Uber Alles

• Leaked Amazon Memo Details Plan to Smear Fired Warehouse Organizer: ‘He’s Not Smart or Articulate’
• Private equity titan squats on empty hospital
• Alteon cuts covid-fighters' pay
• American employment exceptionalism

The Effects

On People

• Rich sheltered, poor shafted amid virus
• Location Data Says It All: Staying at Home During Coronavirus Is a Luxury
• In Chicago, 70% of COVID-19 Deaths Are Black

On the US empire

• Washington’s reputation for expertise has been one of the greatest sources of its power. The coronavirus pandemic may end it for good.

What worked

• A German Exception? Why the Country’s Coronavirus Death Rate Is Low

What to fix

• Unavailable (677-1424-2-PB.pdf)