COMPARISONS

What I'm going to say here is based largely on information lifted from a left-leaning news-gathering and disseminating organization known as

POLITICO

. I'm dealing with a situation with many familiar aspects, but is based on events far, far from here. There is a number of shared interests involved; such as agriculture, migrant labor, and Corona Virus. There may be more, that we'll pick up along the way.


Anyway, as corona virus cases became more and more numerous in San Joaquin County back in June, the Mayor of Stockton, California, Michael Tubbs spoke out loud about the advisability of his requiring citizens in Stockton, to wear masks. Shellie Lima in a June 9

th

letter to the Mayor expressing opposition to the proposed mask ordinance, asking, “Why would our elected officials feel they have the medical understanding to do so?” That little scenario is what decided me – -this is my column for this week.


(repeat) “Why would our elected officials feel they have the medical understanding to do so?” Medical understanding!! Great Scott!! Like Mayor Tubbs in Stockton, California, knowing as little as I do about the medical considerations that might go into such a directive, I doggone well know this much – – – Mask-wearing makes absolutely good sense. And if I were Mayor, or Governor, or an executive at some other appropriate level, and if, under those circumstances the medical advisors were to recommend curfews, masks factories opened or closed, public gathering places opened or closed, all because people are going to get deathly sick from a contagious disease for which we have neither vaccine nor effective treatment and therefore many will die, especially the weakest among us, you can just bet I would recommend – – heck, I might even order at least the wearing of masks. That makes so much sense, and there's nothing to argue against it!


It's not clear to me whether Mayor Tubbs actually ordered the mask- wearing, but, county-wide, in San Joaquin County, the Covid-19 count was so overwhelming that military medical teams were sent to two local hospitals. ICU beds were scarce, and farm workers are hit especially hard.


Now – – the Governor of California, Gavin Newsome, acknowledges that Latino farm workers, making up 93% of the state's agricultural workers, are carrying the heaviest part of the California Covid burden. Farmworkers, he noted,often live in crowded housing, sharing space with other families; and, of course, many are transported to job sites in packed vans. They have little access to to healthcare. If I'm wrong, I'll apologize – – – but we all know we have a billion dollars worth of agriculture here in Michigan; we have an incredibly valuable run of specialty crops, generally along the Lake Michigan shoreline; and, those croplands are well-served -many parts of it- by migrant labor. Never mind the size disparity- I still say we're doing something very different.