@god wtf?

They shoved herbs in their breathing hose because they knew the air was bad and hoped it would help, and *they were right* in theory. The plague itself was not an airborn virus, but they couldn’t know that and it wasn’t the only thing killing people at the time anyway, and they covered *all* their bases. If they’d had the technological knowhow to make air tanks, or even better air filters, they would’ve. They just made the best air filters they could.

What we think they wore isn’t exactly what they wore, and what they actually wore would later be repurposed into scuba suits (and thus spacesuits too) and *actual hazmat suits*, because the theory was sound, the materials were just lacking, and honestly what they did with the materials they had was hardcore.

they wore full face protection which avoids the most obvious mucosal transmission routes

INCLUDING GLASS IN THE EYEHOLES. They invented safety goggles before most of the world had nailed down corrective eye glasses yet

they wore additional head protection to cover seams in their mask/hoods

they oiled and waxed all their clothes to make it fluid-resistant

they wore separate but tight fitting equally if not more fluid-resistant gloves and/or armcuffs so they could keep hand contamination to a minimum even when dressing/undressing AND they only wore the suit in areas they thought was contaminated and took it off before entering uncontaminated areas

they may have used herbed vinegar to clean, and if the stories are true this was clever because 1) it’s available and portable 2) pretty effective as far as medieval disinfectants go versus the damage it does the the user (as opposed to what they had for bleach at the time, and the actual percentage level in alcohols at the time which was mostly insufficient for task as well as being needed for more important things); vinegar is *still* a decent disinfectant even now

It honestly took doctors well into the twentieth century to get that level of obsessive attention to hygiene and cross-contamination back. A whole lot of babies and mothers wouldn’t’ve died, for instance, if a plague doctor instead of an obstetrician supported the birth because A PLAGUE DOCTOR WOULD KNOW TO WASH THEIR GODDAMNED HANDS.

Actual plague doctor’s outfits:

Biden’s rambling justification of the status quo was peppered with straw men, invocations of false scarcity and non-solutions. He pitted working-class Americans against each other, implying that people who attend private schools aren’t worthy of relief, as though poor students don’t also attend such schools. He said that money would be better spent on early childhood education instead of debt cancellation, as if educators aren’t themselves drowning in student debt, and as if we can’t address both concerns at once. He suggested relying on parents or selling a home at a profit to settle your debt, a luxury those without intergenerational wealth or property cannot afford. And he touted various programs, including Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), that have totally failed borrowers: over 95% of PSLF applicants have been denied.

In contrast to Biden’s smug comments, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley recently revealed that she defaulted on her student loans. Similarly, at a recent Debt Collective event, congressional hopeful Nina Turner said that she and her son owe a combined $100,000. Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has, of course, proudly confessed to being in debt, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said that becoming a congressperson was easier than paying off her debt. Philadelphia councilmember Kendra Brooks (who is planning to introduce a city resolution calling on the Biden administration to cancel all student debt) has also spoken out about her own struggles as a borrower. Their experience and candor – and commitment to real solutions including cancellation – demonstrate why we need debtors, not millionaires, in our public offices.

Let’s be clear about another thing. Biden ABSOLUTELY has the legal authority to use executive power to cancel all federal student debt. Congress granted this authority decades ago as part of the Higher Education Act. It’s even been put to the test: in response to the Covid pandemic, Donald Trump and his former education secretary, Betsy DeVos, used that authority three times to suspend payments and student loan interest.

Biden owes this country debt relief not only because he campaigned on it, but because he helped cause the problem. A former senator from Delaware, the credit card capital of the world, he spent decades carrying water for financial interests and expanding access to student loans while limiting borrower protections.

Instead of acknowledging this generational disparity, Biden reiterated a common criticism of more generous forms of student debt cancellation – that it would help the privileged, specifically the minuscule subset of debt-holders who attended the Ivy League. But as Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in response: “Very wealthy people already have a student loan forgiveness program. It’s called their parents.” As things stand, poor and working people typically pay more for the same degrees than their affluent counterparts due to years or decades of monthly payments and accumulating interest. Our debt-financed higher education system is a tax on poor people who dare pursue a better life.

This is not the first time I’ve gotten a message like this. I always find it curious. Because if you have this attitude you are either invincible, rich, or a fool.

I used to be in this tech nerd community and there was this older fella who slowly revealed himself to be a super right wing asshat. He complained about immigrants mooching, black people mooching, poor people mooching… everybody was mooching his taxes. Meanwhile, he was 65 and working hard. Paying his own way. Doing things proper like a good American. 

He was no damn moocher, that’s for sure.

Then he got sick.

He could not work anymore.

Lost his medical insurance.

His savings ran out in about 3 months.

And he became a fellow moocher.

He had to sign up for Medicare and disability.

But then he realized that wasn’t enough to live on. Boy, was he mad. ALL CAPS POSTS about how he can’t afford rent. He can’t afford food. He started posting links to his Paypal asking people to donate. He got furious at people because no one would give him money. Called us all bad people for not helping him in his time of need. He had to move to a smaller place. Sell a lot of his tech.

He was so very angry.

“I WORKED HARD.”

“I DID THINGS THE PROPER WAY.”

“I DESERVE MORE THAN THOSE MOOCHERS!”

Even after his experience, he viewed himself as different than other people trapped in the safety net. He deserved more because he had a bootstrap attitude. It didn’t occur to him that a lot of people on welfare or disability probably worked hard too. That he was no more or less deserving than them. It was sad to see his experience didn’t instill any empathy.

He’s a lost cause. But maybe you aren’t. Maybe you should think about how long you could last before you’d have to mooch. Are you set for life? If you were in an accident and unable to work ever again, would you be able to live comfortably and manage your expenses? Think about that. And think about the fact that disability pays less than minimum wage. Could you live your life on $750 per month? What changes would you have to make to accomplish that? Use your imagination and really try to put yourself in those shoes.

$1200 is not a windfall for me. It is maybe 4 months of having slightly less financial anxiety. That anxiety is a part of my life. It is inescapable and I have conceded it will always be there. It is the dread of seeing $14 in my bank account towards the end of the month and hoping I didn’t forget about an automatic payment. It’s the fear of looking in my freezer and wondering if two bags of frozen chicken nuggets are enough to last until I get my next payment. 

But now I am getting $1200 and for a few months maybe I don’t have to feel some of that anxiety. I can reallocate that anxiety to the world being on fire and worrying about my dad getting sick.

But you want me to send it back?

What’s even sadder about your attitude is you are focusing on the wrong people. I’m not a moocher. I’m an insignificant financial speck in the grand scheme. I’m probably a percentage of a penny on your tax bill. But then you look at companies like Amazon who used loopholes to pay no taxes. They also got cities to subsidize offices and warehouses. So not only did they not pay taxes, we paid them for the honor of giving people low wage jobs with poor benefits and dubious working conditions. 

What about our F-35 fighter jet program? For years they didn’t even work properly and they still haven’t even been used for anything and they will probably rarely be utilized because of drones. But we will spend a trillion dollars on them anyway. 

What about oil subsidies? About $20 billion of our tax dollars goes to the fossil fuel industry every year. An industry that has never struggled to turn a profit. Just look at pictures of Dubai and ask yourself why we are giving them subsidies. 

We give corporations billions upon billions of dollars even though they are making record profits. And then we find out they were operating so close to the edge that they can’t even last a month without us giving them billions more. 

But my $750 per month makes me the moocher.