I haven’t mentioned it before, but my home state has also participated in supporting not only New York, but other states that need ventilators by loaning out 500 to those states that need them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Early last month, the San Francisco Chronicle’s article, California lending 500 ventilators to distribute to hardest-hit states<\/a> by Alexei Koseff (April 6, 2020), had some good quotes about states doing right by each other, including a report on Oregon’s loan of 140 ventilators to NYC, and Washington’s return of those it borrowed from the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The quotes I like are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wish I could solve that for everybody, and to the extent we can, we will,\u201d Newsom said. \u201cThis is the state of California. We have an abundant mind-set and we\u2019re a well-resourced state.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n I like the implication that, because we do well, we SHOULD use our position to help others. (The article notes that our early prevention efforts have been successful enough for us to step in for the later-acting states.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re Americans, first and foremost,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a nation-state, we can do certain things, where we can punch above our weight. We carry a big weight. But to the extent that other Americans need our support, our largesse, to the extent that we have the resources, we\u2019re going to be there for as many people as we possibly can.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n This acknowledges our size and strengths – we are a state with a bigger economy than the UK, India, or France the last time I checked (2018 in Business Insider<\/a> and currently in Wikipedia’s Economy of California article<\/a>), and this gives us the opportunity to be a force for good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The world needs more forces for good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I haven’t mentioned it before, but my home state has also participated in supporting not only New York, but other states that need ventilators by loaning out 500 to those states that need them. Early last month, the San Francisco Chronicle’s article, California lending 500 ventilators to distribute to hardest-hit states by Alexei Koseff (April … <\/p>\n