#BLM

Looks like some countries decided to pretend the pandemic is over, and all is going peachy, time to reopen. UK and USA being the main developed examples - still riding strong on the first wave. Poland is, in an odd way, in this camp as well - roughly constant number of infections daily (well within health service capacities), but not managing to get a drop - and deciding to open up anyway. People got to earn money somehow, the saying goes.

And in terms of people earning money, the US statistics/predictions are that 30% of the companies that closed down will not, in any shape, recover. What's more, about a third of people who lost jobs because of coronavirus layoffs, are not going to be re-employed in the same jobs, ever - those positions will be lost, or automated. Which is in line with what was seen after 2007/2008 - still, it's grim news for those affected. The initial wave of stimulus money runs out soon, what happens next?

Three weeks ago we saw how most serious protests and revolutions start. It's not enough to be oppressed, people put up with a lot. Get used to it. And - in words of Black celebrities - the racism in the USA isn't getting worse, it's just that it gets documented more. Still, this wasn't enough to blow the fuse. What ignited the truly massive protests was being scared, on the basic level, about putting food on the table. About meeting your very basic needs. Those conditions had pushed thousands of revolutionary movements before, they've also pushed BLM this time, for the people in USA (and some other countries) to take to the streets in hundreds of thousands.

Will things change? The administration is even more openly aligning itself with KKK; the dog whistles are more like fog horns now. Though it's worth to remember, that by demographics numbers, the previous presidential elections were already ones where GOP would not have won in a democratic country with proportional representation, those numbers have moved even more in the four years of Trump's first term. Various methods of voter suppression can only go so far - at some stage, GOP would lose the presidency - will Trump actually leave the White House?