I think it is a valid concern. A bad economy kills. The so-called diseases of despair[1] kill more than 150k a year in the US. And much suffering is caused by limited opportunities and limited hope. These limited prospects can and have have taken down many governments in the past. And regime change is rarely a bloodless process. There are no perfect solutions when it comes to governance. We must do our best to promote good outcomes and mitigate the bad. I very much want my government to worry about the economy, just as I want it to worry about the virus.
Let's be honest with ourselves. The real reason many are worried about the economy is because of their rich lifestyles and stock portfolios.
If they cared about "diseases of despair" they wouldn't continue to support paltry minimum wages, lack of social safety net, no universal medicine, constant tax breaks at the expense of the budget, etc.
They didn't care about "diseases of despair" in 2008 either. It's simply a bad faith argument.
I am not them. The real reason I am worried about the economy is so that it can provide as good as a life to as many people as possible. I am not arguing in bad faith, and I do not want any of the things you list. I know our society has problems distributing wealth and I will always support distributing it more fairly. We need to have an economy for there to be anything to distribute. I do care and I am not your strawman.
> Why can you accept people dying, but not accept the economy not doing well?
In the grand scheme of "the economy", my portfolio is up something like 8% for the year last time I checked. My job is stable.
In the locality of "the economy", I have heard multiple businesses in my area say that they are barely hanging on by a thread and will be forced to close permanently if the state forces them to shut down again.
People might not be dying from the shutdowns, but it sure is an uneven load we're asking people to carry. Particularly from this high pulpit of HN, where we nearly all have cushy tech jobs where we don't have to interact with anyone to get paid.
> People might not be dying from the shutdowns, but it sure is an uneven load we're asking people to carry. Particularly from this high pulpit of HN, where we nearly all have cushy tech jobs where we don't have to interact with anyone to get paid.
Seems like a perfect opportunity for the government to continue supporting people. Perhaps some taxes on your high pulpit would do some good.
But heaven forbid we do that - because the real answer isn't "oh people die in a bad economy." It's "I'm unwilling to support my fellow americans in a proper way, I'd rather them risk their lives instead of providing some support during difficult times."
e.g. "my taxes!". It's a bad faith argument. The economy has been bad before and we never cared about the poor then.
The economy goes up and down. It's a fact of life. Why worry about it?