Austerity is Deadly

So... Grenfell Tower (London.) I'm horrified, but not surprised. My hope is that no more residents die and that the survivors get whatever they need in order to recover both medically and financially. My hope is that the owners of the building who opted to save 2 pounds per square foot (I understand that's about £5,000 total) by not using regulation fire proof materials during the recent remodel are prosecuted and sued. They chose to risk murdering people in order to save £2 per square foot. The fact that the people at risk were poor was most definitely a factor.

This is why regulations are important. It's why regulations must be enforced. Business must comply. Cutting financial corners until they squeak is not something that should be encouraged. It isn't admirable. Combine a miserly perspective with the "Free Market" and it results in disaster. It isn't good business. In fact, such thinking kills economic growth dead. Business grows via investing. 

Greed is a killer. Humanity has known this for quite some time.[1] 

Americans shouldn't breathe any sighs of relief. More stories like this one are in our future because the austerity mindset is at work here too. It's being used as an excuse to cut government programs, lay-off government workers, and gut what few advances we've been able to make in healthcare. Our infrastructure is crumbling as a result. When healthcare is cut, people will most certainly die. Largely, the entire GOP platform is about racism right now. They don't care who they hurt as long as they tear down everything Obama did. They don't care about anything else. Straight up. That's their motivation: racism. It isn't really about doing what their constituents want or saving government money. It's that they can't stand that a black man became president and did a brilliant job. It's why they can't seem to put any energy toward building--only destroying.

We're definitely living in an era which will usher in positive changes. Eventually. My hope is that those positive changes come sooner rather than later. May we all learn the lessons we're here to learn, faster. Please. Because so many people are being harmed. Too many.

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[1] You've heard of the Seven Deadly Sins, right? How about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire? Businesses can and do kill their customers and employees, given the opportunity.