Washington’s handling of the pandemic has been by any measure bumbling and dangerous. How is it, then, that Donald Trump is seeing his approval ratings rise? Luke Nathan Phillips, freelance writer, and editor with bipartisan civic organization Better Angels spoke with Misfits Bob Schlehuber and Jamarl Thomas about the very different media environment media and establishment insiders inhabit, compared to that of most other Americans, and how that disconnect affects perceptions of Trump’s COVID-19 response. Americans often fail to recognize the grand structural narrative underpinning disparate events, to the benefit of some and the detriment of others.
Sarah Polito, an Instacart worker who is working with the strike organizers, and Matthew Telles, an Instacart driver since 2015 who’s worked with organizers for several years, discussed the working conditions at Instacart and the strikers’ demands. Shoppers and grocery store workers were excited about doing the necessary work of bringing food to vulnerable populations, but that enthusiasm has waned as protections for workers and customers failed to materialize. The workers discuss trends in worker solidarity, particularly in the gig economy, and some effective ways they’ve used to reveal their collective power to fellow workers. The three also broke down the possibilities of larger collective actions at this moment, including a general strike.
Artist and activist Alessandra Mondolfi explained how art can continue to serve as a rebuke to power, even in a period of distance and isolation. It’s a time of exploration and reinvention, she says, and although the losses and postponements are frustrating, creative people should be able to overcome these new barriers. And with the world’s ills suddenly brought into such relief, artists can and should respond powerfully.
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