Photo by the National Park Service
COVID-19 has taken the spotlight in national and global news, halted economic activity, left recent college graduates questioning their future careers, and turned the focus onto what policy makers are going to do about it.
With graduation peeking over the horizon, finding stability in a career I can stand behind seems like a distant dream. The inability to support myself post graduation idles in the air with such uncertainty. There’s a hovering fear that our society, our nation and, most importantly, our political leaders will focus only on these economic disparities and not recognize this pandemic as a wake-up call to do things a bit differently post-quarantine.
Now, with some states lifting restrictions on stay-at-home policies in just a couple of weeks, it seems the havoc COVID-19 has caused is not even close to ending. Pennsylvania’s stay-at-home orders were issued officially on March 23 with plans to lift these orders on May 8. Nevertheless, Governor Wolf has allowed businesses that support outdoor activities to begin reopening starting Friday, May 1, 2020. In a Washington Times article, Wolf was quoted as saying these reopenings will “help the economy and be good for mental health,” but it all seems a little too soon.
Perhaps now is a time for our nation to consider leaving our business as usual and look towards a greener path quite literally. The Green Stimulus Plan was written by a group of U.S. economists, academics and policymakers that believe the COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity to fix the economy — and the planet — for the long term. Medium offers a breakdown of this plan, outlining eight policy interventions.
When asked for her opinion on this topic, West Chester University fourth-year Paige Vermillion believes we are capable of this type of economic reconstruction. “With this pandemic, people have shown they are able to change their lives drastically if they are really pressed to, and I think we’ve seen that our country can actually be quite flexible when it needs to be,” said Vermillion.
Paige, like many other University students right now, bears the burden of virtual classes. Although she will be graduating in December, West Chester University officially is maintaining its higher education curriculum via Zoom through the summer and potentially fall semester. Vermillion admits she is anxious to see how university life will be affected once things go “back to normal” or, perhaps, back to an improved normal. When it comes to her work in environmentalism, Vermillion is no stranger. As an intern at WCU’s Gordon Natural Area on south campus and leader in sustainability, Vermillion has an optimistic outlook for our path as a community after the virus recedes. “As a backer to the Green New Deal, I have seen that many are apprehensive of making such commitments because it’s ‘too much too fast’ for the country. I think one of the benefits of the virus is that it has shown us just how capable our country is of making large-scale changes in short periods of time.”
The New York Times well known podcast discussed in its well known podcast, The Daily, which interviewed Donald G McNeil Jr., a science and health opinion writer, on why the American way is failing. “Doctors, nurses, people who work in the healthcare field. Police, fire(men), the people who keep the water mains open and the electrical grid running and Wi-Fi reaching houses. And food delivery and medicine delivery,” McNeil Jr. said. “That’s the ideal. Those are the only people who are allowed out and that keep the country functioning.” This means those “essential businesses” like Starbucks and McDonalds don’t remain open. Maintaining this air of convenience is not going to ensure our nation pulls forth from the bottom up. It will ensure that this pandemic stays around much longer than we’ve been told, according to The Daily. McMeil Jr. predicted that if the American way continues, as it has been, then this won’t be a short term battle. So far, his predictions have been correct.
I might be somewhat ignorant when it comes to the gravity of national debt, but I am also a student with a large amount of debt because of a degree that our culture “promises” will land me a stable job after graduation. As of now, those odds aren’t exactly in graduates’ favor.
From a Houston Chronicle article posted on March 26, 3.3 million individuals applied for unemployment. Just one month later, those numbers have increased by 10% according to another Houston Chronicle article posted on April 30. Older generations continue to exclaim that this economic downfall will be similar to the one seen in 2008. This is not technically so, for our generation’s financial disposition and opportunities are at a far less advantage comparatively to our parent’s generation, “Going into the financial crisis of 2008, Generation X was roughly the same age as millennials today, but had on average twice the total assets that millennials have now when all bank accounts, stocks and loans are added together” according to an analysis done by economists at St. Louis Federal Reserve for The New York Times.
So, how will political leaders show up for those who are “destined” to lead this country economically if jobs aren’t readily available and how can we do it in a way that doesn’t abuse the resources we have? These questions have led many to seriously consider this Green Stimulus Plan, that offers a handful of jobs promoting not only economic growth but environmental integrity. Those who birthed this plan state a green-economy will “create millions of family-sustaining green jobs, lift standards of living, accelerate a just transition off fossil fuels, ensure a controlling stake for the public in all private sector bailout plans, and help make our society and economy stronger and more resilient in the face of pandemic, recession, and climate emergency in the years ahead.” The next couple weeks are crucial for evaluating our own habits and behaviors; asking ourselves how we will utilize our time, what we will deem as socially urgent, and what behavior changes we are willing to make in order to produce change. It will be a time to evaluate how our government officials continued to proceed with handling a crisis only when it hit them right between the eyes
Maybe this is what we need, as a country, as a globe, as a planet, to re-root in order to re-boot. To grow from the ground up like the forest floor during the first weeks of spring. It’s not the first time we’ve been given this chance — every natural disaster, every community catastrophe, every bailout, every disparity. This is not our first wake up call and won’t be our last. Until our behaviors in work and towards our neighbors, internationally — change.
Abigail Kennedy is a fourth-year Professional Studies Major with a focus in Communications, Geography, & Sustainability Education. AK898853@wcupa.edu