Pandemic revealed new priorities. It’s not defense spending and corporate welfare.

Shift priorities

This pandemic will be a woefully missed opportunity if we don’t learn from it and use those lessons as a catalyst for overdue societal changes. First, we must change how our lifestyles are contributing to climate change. Second, the pandemic has shown many of us just how close we are to living on the edge, in some cases only a paycheck or two away from falling off. It’s funny how when welfare and public assistance are framed as “stimulus,” it suddenly becomes OK to accept government handouts.

Rather than expecting the government to bail us out next time, if we shift priorities from excessive defense spending, corporate welfare, reducing incarceration, and unequal taxation, to things like universal health care, living wages, better public education, free college, free daycare, and a few other reforms, we’ll all be better equipped to face the next catastrophe.

Let’s change the benchmark from economic prosperity to something more along the lines of a wellness/ wholeness/ happiness index.

Robert Grove, Raleigh

Economic solutions

The federal government can well afford to pay for raising an army for virus testing. It can afford to subsidize states to pay wages to those forced into unemployment. States are losing income taxes. Obviously, they should raise revenue with property taxes, but that’s not in plutocrats’ interest.

The economic part of the coronavirus crisis bolsters the Democratic socialist agenda. Unemployment crisis - solved with federal job guarantee to do real work in the public interest. Health care costs too much for individuals and health care industry - solved with universal health care. Universities and colleges going broke because students can’t attend - solved with free college. This agenda holds the solutions to most national economic problems.

Dan Metzger, Cary

Use common sense

I get a chuckle every time I see in the media that we must “trust the scientists and the experts.” I am a PhD chemist with more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. I have learned that scientists and experts are wrong as frequently as anyone else, perhaps more so, due to our general arrogance.

Common sense is a much more useful tool than expertise. My advice is to listen to as many sources as possible, then use your common sense and make up your own mind. Be skeptical of all experts.

Thomas K. Morgan Jr., Raleigh

Silence from Forest

Regarding the recent protests about social distancing standards, I’m reminded that two years ago my wife and I participated in a peaceful, gun-free protest of actions by our General Assembly. Lt. Gov. Dan Forest castigated participants in that march, saying they “don’t have a hope in God” and that protesting was their religion.

Now that we have raucous protests of measures to keep us safe from coronavirus, Forest’s silence is deafening.

Mike Jennings, Cary

Medicaid expansion

Over the last decade, thousands of North Carolinians, myself included, have spoken out about the dire need to expand Medicaid in our state. Expansion would provide residents greater access to health insurance, infuse money and resources into our health care system, and support hospitals and job creation in rural communities.

As an HIV advocate and AIDS Action Network volunteer, I’ve heard directly from residents living with HIV that Medicaid expansion will improve their overall health, reduce chronic illness and the need for resource-intensive care, and provide increased access to testing.

The COVID-19 crisis makes the need for coverage even more urgent. There are more than 1 million uninsured people in North Carolina and that figure will rise dramatically as more people lose their jobs. Regardless of what some legislators felt before, there is now no excuse not to close the gap. As the N.C. General Assembly holds regular virtual meetings to address the pandemic, Medicaid expansion must be part of their response.

Margot C. Lester, Carrboro

NC drinking water

The EPA just finalized a rule that leaves N.C. waterways, like the Cape Fear River, more vulnerable to pollution and puts our drinking water at risk. The move strips federal protection from thousands of N.C. wetlands and streams, an unprecedented weakening of the Clean Water Act.

We’ve made such progress in cleaning up and protecting our waters. But that progress will be at risk if nearby streams and wetlands become degraded and polluted. The Dirty Water Rule removes Clean Water Act protections for many streams that help provide drinking water to North Carolinians and millions of Americans across the country.

The Dirty Water Rule defies common sense, sound science, and 50 years of bipartisan support for clean water. This is just plain wrong. Clean water is vital for our health, our way of life, and for nature itself. We cannot rest until protections for N.C. waterways are restored.

Krista Early, Raleigh