Experts Call on More Grants for Virus Relief

• Author: Michael Bordonada
• Posted: 2024-01-02

America, like much of the rest of the world is really struggling with the virus pandemic, even after all these months. In over 15 American states, cases of Covid-19 continue to climb, with a few states receiving their biggest spikes ever per percentage. America is also strictly a capitalist nation, that is currently overextending itself in innumerous ways in order to attempt to stem the suffering caused by the global virus pandemic. Because of so much stress being placed on America's economy, financial system and with its debt increasing, many economic experts have started calling for more rounds of privately funded grants to be handed out in place of another round of stimulus spending.

While it is true that no single entity can provide grants that would even come close to totaling what America can generate through its debt-based currency, many are starting to urge more of a togetherness of private enterprise to poll their funds, in a way, so that they can increase the numbers of grants and the awards offered in those grants.

When government hands out stimulus money, it's basically a loan. Although unofficial for most people, the fact is that inflation will set in, and taxes may rise on numerous things, and government will be returning money to their coffers one way or another. It's like we are witnessing with the George Floyd protests currently, some of which have devolved into riots, where people who just happen to live in a neighborhood will bear the brunt in paying for that neighborhood to be rebuilt. This will come in the way of higher utility bills, higher costs for trash pickup, and increased property taxes. So anything government pays for, government will try to reclaim through the hard-working men and women of America.

Grants, on the other hand, are basically gifts that do not have to be repaid. So there are a lot of economists around the nation right now trying to urge rich private citizens and charitable organizations to step in privately to handle things so that government does not have to step in again. The feeling is that if America's economy is ever expected to fully recover, we cannot burden America's working class with higher costs of living as soon as the economy just starts to get back on its feet. This will curb economic spending, encourage savings, and may in fact bring about another recession. Which could then prompt more government spending, which creates a cycle that gets worse each time it goes around.

The Case for Grants Against Loans

America's elite, such as its billionaires and celebrities, have been seemingly absent during this crisis, other than making some viral videos from their expensive mansions trying to tell other Americans how to live. One random economist claimed that if one million of the richest Americans gave $1,000, that's a billion dollars in grant spending that would be given to small business to save literally tens of thousands of business, which could potentially end up saving millions of existing jobs, or even creating new ones. This allows the economy to work on its own, where wealth is created, and government would not have to step in to intervene. They could instead just back out of the way and allow the wheels to turn.

Though, for right now, it seems as if America's richest celebrities are more interested in donating a mere $50 in a virtue signaling attempt at notoriety, aimed at bailing arrested rioters out of jail. For the men and women who simply work to keep the economy going, and buy these celebrities' movie tickets and songs to keep them rich, there isn't much in the way of a charitable thought, much less charitable action.

This is what ultimately leads to the government having to step in time and again. Some people have argued that because most popular celebrities identify as progressive Democratic socialists, what they do is empower government to hold their proxy. In other words, these rich and powerful people probably do care about other Americans. However, they want government to care in their stead, with no direct involvement. This is a phenomenon we see constantly with immigration. America's rich and powerful clamor for more and more immigrants, yet want government to put them elsewhere, away from the hills of Hollywood and the schools to which their children belong.

Grants would be a great thing, but it appears as if government will again have to step in.