You’re right, of course, but I couldn’t address every issue in a mere 1,000 words. Essential workers are just that: essential to the functioning of our society. I’ve long believed that no job is of less value than another. The nation couldn’t operate without workers at every stage. To “look down” on workers such as restaurant employees, retail clerks, those who work on garbage trucks or any other job that can be imagined is short-sighted. No job would exist if it wasn’t needed. Businesses don’t “create”” jobs out of the goodness of their corporate heart, they hire those upon whom the business depends for its existence. Yes, some jobs require more training, education or skill and those should pay better. But no one job should pay less than necessary to have at least a modest lifestyle. I’ll say it again: no job should pay that little. Nor does raising the minimum wage mean fewer people will have jobs, as has been proven in cities/states that have higher than the Federal minimum wage. Within a year of the increase, there are actually more jobs than before the increase. National healthcare is needed, as well. Even our Founding Fathers understood that and created a system of hospitals and doctors to keep seamen healthy because even the lowliest ship hand needed to be healthy in order to work. Teddy Roosevelt pushed for National healthcare but the “robber barons” of his time put a stop to that. FDR pushed for it as did Truman (I think) and Ike. All Republicans but not the Republicans of today.

I’ve never bought into the idea of “trickle down” economics. In that “voodoo” economic belief (George H W Bush’s term for it when he ran for the Republican nomination against Ronald Reagan) is just that: magical thinking from greedy people. Trump’s “tax cut” went mostly to the wealthy and big business on the “voodoo” claim that if they only had more money they’d invest it in creating new jobs. That clearly didn’t and doesn’t happen. Rich individuals invest in stocks and bonds to grow richer or offshore it to evade taxes, big businesses buy their own stock to make their shareholders wealthier. Neither group creates more jobs unless and until they have to do so in order to make more money for themselves.

The Supreme Court is now so far to the right that it will be literally generations before that’s corrected. In the meantime, many of their most odious decisions can be worked around with the right legislation from Congress. So, corporations are “people” and money is their “freedom of speech” because SCOTUS decided that to be the case through their twisted, convoluted interpretation of the Constitution?

Fine, each corporation gets one vote and Federal elections are publicly funded, no outside cash allowed beyond the same low limit individuals have. One person, one vote. ExxonMobil gets one vote, you and I get one vote. A lot of lobbyists will be out of work but they could use their skills to find another job. And will get a living wage, at the least.

Lifetime appointments for Federal judges- why? Term limits should be imposed on them as well as on Congresspersons and Senators. Presidents face term limits, why not judges?

I can “walk in another’s shoes” in so far as I’ve held jobs such as busboy, dishwasher, shop cleaner, contractor but not during a pandemic. I haven’t, of course, worked as a healthcare worker. Even those who clean hospital rooms and mop the floors are essential to a hospital remaining in business and should receive a fair wage for their work. Not as much as a doctor or nurse since those positions require far more training and skill but employees other than them they deserve a living wage.

I’ve managed multi-million dollar companies and stared my own business on very little savings and made it successful. But I recognized that it wasn’t just me that brought the success, it was also the worked of those whom I employed. As such, I always paid more than minimum wage because that’s the fair, the right thing to do.

You’ve given me a lot to consider and I will write a part 2, from a different perspective but I doubt it will be written before the election.

Thanks for your reply.