If you live in a “progressive” state or commonwealth with an equally soft governor, you may have heard a proclamation concerning deadly coronavirus, that ended something like this: “We can get through this. When times have been tough in the past Americans have pulled together and that is what will get us through this today… together. We are all in this, together.”
What was being meant, in fact, was everything including the next-to-the-last “together.” The last sentence really wasn’t “we” are all in this together – it was “YOU are all in this together.” You know what you thought you heard, but that’s because you haven’t recognized until right now, that when a state official, or even a minor state functionary, says “we,” he or she means “YOU,” the person with the target on your back. So it is with coronavirus and the ‘stay at home’ and business-cessation directives. There’s an “us” and “them” equation at work. If you’re a state official, or a political hack who works for the state, or a unionized state employee, or the otherwise unemployable cousin of a judge or court clerk, “us” means yourself and every other person on the state payroll or receiving a generous state pension, and includes every welfare recipient and illegal entrant. That’s who “us” is.
“Them” is you, me and every other tax-paying zhlub who actually, in reality, DOES work for the state, supporting every paycheck that “us” cashes. See how it works? Only people in the dreaded private sector are hurt – possibly destroyed financially – due to the absolutely essential shutdowns and lay-offs. We are “them,” vis a’ vis the state. We are not the people who don’t lose a penny of pay, benefits or pension; we are the ONLY people in all this togetherness who DO lose a lot, if not everything. “You are all in this together, you saps.” (Okay, okay, I added the “saps” part.)
Massachusetts is one of those squishy, “progressive” states with a soft, “progressive” Governor. These kinds of states are typically one-party ruled, not Republican, although that line is blurry. An observer can spot the squishiness thanks to a few shared qualities of how those states are governed. Payroll is a big one. State employees are comparatively highly paid compared to private-sector employees, sometimes egregiously so. Massachusetts, an obvious example, has 930 or more employees making over $200,000 per year, a large number making $200K to $900K, and two who make over $1 Million per year. Despite being on salary, many earn overtime which gets paid at a much higher rate, especially for state police officers, for whom total pay can easily exceed $300,000. Of course, unlike the dreaded private sector (DPS), there are automatic raises for “public” employees. All one need do is avoid murdering someone to see steady increases.
Recently a host of state police officers were “convicted” (admin slap on the wrist) of defrauding the state and its taxpayers, by claiming overtime hours not worked. The amounts were in the thousands and tens of thousands of dollars, and the fraudulent activities extended to supervisors with higher ranks. All of those found out were making a lot more than the average income of the citizens they are “sworn” to protect. They lost their jobs but – and here you’ll want to hang on to the arms of your chair – they didn’t lose their pensions! Our beneficent, democratically elected governors, and THE governor, who purports to be a Republican, and the shadowy boards and commissions they have placed between justice and state-employed criminals over many years, decided to not actually punish the criminals who have stolen from their ostensible bosses (pesky private sector taxpayers), unlike what the consequences would be if any of those civilian citizens had similarly defrauded the state or other citizens.
“You’re all in this together,” the Governor meant to say. “You have to stay home; you can’t gather in groups, even with family; you can’t go to the movies, to a barber, or to the gym; you’ll have to stop working in most industries and occupations; you’ll have to file for unemployment. Even though your customers will stop buying from you or mailing you checks for past work performed or products delivered, you will just have to suffer economic ruin even though you committed no crime except to be susceptible to a disease you only recently heard of. Have a nice day. Hunker down and we’ll (you’ll) get through this together. We in state government will, at the same time, look very concerned while sacrificing none of our pay or benefits and enforcing the statewide shutdown on you, our beloved supporters.”
“(You’re) all in this together.”