Somebody once observed that while non-profits only make up about 5 percent of the country's GNP, they account for 95 percent of its social conscience. Legions of farmworkers and food handlers get sick and die every year while getting our food planted, harvested, packed and shipped to our tables.
Capitalism is not about compassion, of course, it's about generating profits. And in the process the free-market system generates all kinds of what economists call externalities, like environmental damage and health impacts.
Left to its own devices, capitalism in truth creates a lot of collateral damage.
When we formed the Center for Investigative Reporting in 1977, we were aware that our work would challenge many entrenched economic interests, and that did happen on many occasions.
One of our earliest and long-running investigations was called the Children's Environmental Health Project. We had determined that the regulatory standards established by such agencies as the EPA and FDA were based on what was good for an average-sized man, not a woman or a child.
For example, the amount of pesticide residues allowed in food products -- despite lab evidence that they caused cancer or birth defects -- was determined by assessing the threat to (say) a 32-year-old man weighing 160 pounds and living in Kansas City. Such a person, BTW, was among the *least* likely to be affected by pesticide poisoning.
At the same time, this process neglected the unique vulnerabilities faced by an 8-pound baby growing up in Birmingham, Alabama. Infants are born with immature organ systems and are therefore much more vulnerable to environmental insults than a fully grown human being.
Our stories were essentially a regulatory critiques and a call to action. We argued that environmental health regulations should be based on the potential damage to the most -- not the least --vulnerable. Over time, we had some positive impacts though today much work remains to be done on this issue.
I often think back to those early investigations we did in the 70s and the 80s when stories turn up now of official concern about the weakening immune systems detected among each succeeding generation living in our highly industrialized, polluted world.
Many problems like food allergies, reduced sperm counts, autism, rare diseases, and the inability to withstand pandemics could reasonably be traced back to the continuous chemical assault on the bodies of our children and their children.
Of course, humans adapt to their environment and have some native abilities to fight off new bacterial and viral threats, but our massive difficulty with Covid-19 causes an old journalist to wonder:
What in the world have we done to ourselves?
***
The news:
* In the Stimulus Bill, a Policy Revolution in Aid for Children -- The $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package moving through Congress advances an idea that Democrats have been nurturing for decades: establishing a guaranteed income for families with children. (NYT)
* U.S. proposes power-sharing plan to Afghan and Taliban leaders -- Along with the proposal for an interim power-sharing arrangement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that a U.S. departure remains under active consideration and could lead to “rapid territorial gains” by the Taliban. (WP)
* Americans are likely to continue to suffer from more psychological issues after the pandemic subsides. (WSJ)
* Review of Capitol Riot Urges More Police, Mobile Fencing (NPR)
* President Joe Biden signed two executive orders Monoday -- International Women's Day -- to establish a Gender Policy Council and to review Title IX policy guidelines, which regulate sexual assault investigations on campuses. But it could take years to undo the damage that former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos did to the Title IX rules. [HuffPost]
* Study in Brazil indicates Sinovac vaccine works against P1 variant found in Brazil (Reuters)
* In 2018, Diplomats Warned of Risky Coronavirus Experiments in a Wuhan Lab. No One Listened. -- After seeing a risky lab, they wrote a cable warning to Washington. But it was ignored. (Politico)
* Alaska’s Remote Villages Race Against Time and History -- The coronavirus has spread into the most remote villages, a reminder of earlier pandemics that ravaged the state. Now there is a rush to deliver vaccines in time. (NYT)
* 9.6% of Americans are fully vaccinated (CNN)
* The top five news web sites are Google News, CNN, NYT, Fox and Yahoo. (Drudge)
* Boarded up and lined with barbed wire, Minneapolis braces for murder trial in George Floyd’s death (WP)
* U.S. House Democrats demand IRS to extend tax filing deadline to July 15 (Reuters)
* Former President Donald Trump spent four years stoking anti-federal land zealots and prioritizing natural resource extraction. This doesn't bode well for Rep. Deb Haaland as she proceeds through the nominating process to take the reins of the Interior Department. Experts are worried about repeats of 2014's armed standoff between federal agents and militias at the Bundy ranch. [HuffPost]
* Yellen Expects U.S. Economy to Return to Full Employment in 2022 (WSJ)
* U.S. Supreme Court dumps last of Trump's election appeals (Reuters)
* Bay Area weather: Biggest storm in five weeks coming, but still not a drought-buster -- Tuesday and Wednesday, coastal hills will see up to 2 inches, cities half an inch, with 1 to 2 feet of new Sierra snow (SJMN)
* Health experts worry about variant-driven surge as states lift restrictions (WP)
* Health Experts Recommend Against Getting Zapped By Any Sort Of Futuristic Space Gun (The Onion)
***
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the flowers gone?
The girls have picked them every one.
Oh, When will you ever learn?
Oh, When will you ever learn?
-- Pete Seeger
-30-
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