To the editor:

It seemed like such a good idea at the time; a fool-proof way to maximize profits for investors hungry for never-ending, ever-increasing rates of return. Why pay American workers to produce products in domestic factories when you can afford to move their machines to China, hire eager workers for pennies on the dollar, and increase profits? Now, we know why.

Why can’t the wealthiest, mightiest, and most technologically advanced country in the world rapidly get enough medical masks, gloves, and plastic gowns to protect critical medical personnel during a pandemic? Because, in the case of masks, for one example, China effectively nationalized the 3M company’s mask manufacturing plant in Shanghai, according to President Trump’s manufacturing and trade advisor, Peter Navarro. Masks produced by this American-owned company, would stay in China, Beijing ordered.

Moreover, while the CDC tells us we don’t need to wear masks as we shop for food or visit the pharmacy unless we are sick, in China the police require anyone who goes out in public to wear a mask. News footage from Beijing shows everyone wearing surgical or N95 type masks while they go about their daily business. Think about it. You’re being told you don’t need a mask, not because you don’t need one, but because we don’t have any.

Turns out, the real truth might just be that the very best guidance is for everyone to wear a mask when in the presence of potentially infectious people; that’s the real truth, that is, if you have an endless supply of masks. We swell our chests out when we hear “America-first” rhetoric, not so much though when American workers raise their voices to lobby for a livable wage.

Ask yourself…Why have we hesitated to immediately retool the few remaining domestic manufacturing facilities that remain here to make these critically needed supplies? Why have we hesitated to immediately enact laws to prevent the financial ruin of working Americans and the small businesses that provide them with the jobs they will need to recover from this crisis? Maybe it’s time to move our gaze away from our plummeting 401K balances and our dwindling bank accounts.

What we are reaping are the fruits of fifty years of cumulative greed to assure increasing dividends at any cost. Now, we will have to reckon with waves of disease spreading through homeless encampments, the over-filled prisons, the underserved communities without protective gear, and healthcare professionals going into harm’s way without the protective equipment they deserve.

Editor’s note: This letter was submitted to the Daily Mining Gazette before the CDC made their initial recommendation that Americans where masks during their everyday activities. At the time of printing, that recommendation has been finalized. We will work hard to keep you informed in the future of where the recommendation falls.