Hi ,

I hope you are safe, healthy, able to stay at home, and that your loved ones are safe and healthy, too. If you have a job, I hope it remains secure and that if you are going to work, you have the personal protective equipment and safety protocols you need.

With the onset of this COVID-19 virus, reforms that the Greens have been advocating for, like Medicare for All and a guaranteed income above poverty, have become all the more necessary. The coronavirus economic depression has already begun and we will need a full-strength Green New Deal to get out of it.

The crisis is laying bare the fact that capitalism cannot provide for the basic needs of all. It is profit-driven, not need-driven, and therefore has no reason to provide for and protect human life. The crisis has also laid bare the fact that the two-corporate-party government cannot solve our problems, even in this crisis, the most basic problems.

Trump says he wants to send us back to work, school, and public and religious services by Easter Sunday, even though the big liar has no power to make that happen. Biden seems to be hiding out at an undisclosed location.

The slow-moving Congress is finally the verge of passing at a relief package. But it is a rich man’s relief package that provides a generous bailout for big businesses who will not have to maintain payrolls, barebones relief for small businesses if they do maintain payrolls, and insufficient funds for unemployed workers, medical equipment, and state and local governments, which are going broke paying for emergency expenses that the federal government should.

Our first line of defense in this health and economic crisis is mutual aid. We need to take care of ourselves and each other.

We should follow the advice of the public health professionals:

Wash your hands: The COVID-19 virus has a fatty layer around it that just soap and warm water break down and prevent the virus from attaching to human cells. Of course hand sanitizer works, but in this period of shortage, you can take relief that plain soap and water will do the trick. Wash thoroughly, under nails and between fingers and on backs of hands, for at least 20 seconds.

Observe social distancing: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Vietnam have been able to “flatten the curve,” or slow the rate of new virus infections, by either enforcing or strongly suggesting social distancing. Here in the United States, we can get the same effect with a little self-discipline, where possible. Let’s observe the advice to avoid large gatherings, stay in the house except for required work and errands to support life and safety, and keep the recommended six-foot social distancing from other people when out and about.

Use face masks when you’re sick: Face masks available to consumers are not very effective in blocking the intake of airborne pathogens, but they can be fairly effective in keeping you from spreading pathogens when you are sick. Here is a listing of how-to videos with some tips on how to make your own.

Strengthen social bonds with others around you: One of the ways capitalism undermines community is by atomizing us from one another. It fosters dependency on the individualized and commodified satisfaction of needs rather than collective responsibility for the satisfaction of many needs through cooperatives and public goods and services. With the public sector emaciated by decades of neoliberal austerity policies, it is a good time in this time of crisis to get to know your neighbors and find ways we can help each other make it through in the absence of the public sector we ought to have.

Build relationships with fellow co-workers: With much of the economy on lockdown, our notions of “essential personnel” have expanded. We are seeing workers objecting to the lack of protection for their health and safety at the workplace, like the sanitation workers in Pittsburgh, and chicken plant workers in Georgia. These actions are only possible where workers have built relationships with one another and are communicating. If you are still working, organize among your workmates to demand what you need for safety. We can all help workers by speaking out for the right of all workers—from non-unionized minimum wage workers to unionized workers with decent contracts—to healthy, safe workplaces. We can contribute to the strike funds of workers fighting for their safety.

And what about our campaign?

Our campaign is also doing its part to stop the spread of the virus. We have suspended in-person petition-gathering. Instead, we are working with state Green parties to petition their governments to place the Green Party on the ballot—and to seek relief in court where state governments are not responsive. Visit our Ballot Access page to find out more.

The coronoa virus health and economic crises are exposing more than ever the utter failure of the Democrats and Republicans to solve our problems. A central goal of my campaign is to help build the Green Party into a major party and force in American politics. My campaign just released my ebook, The Case for an Independent Left Party: From the Bottom Up. Click here to read more about it.

Please do everything you can to maintain safety and health. The World Health Organization (WHO) website has reliable information based on the best practices around the world. Let’s all work together to get through this.

In solidarity,

Hi ,

And what about our campaign?

Howie Hawkins