A more cynical and satirical view (and not wrong)
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Good news, front-line worker: You are essential. No, more than that: You are a hero.
Look, some jets are flying over!
Here is your salute! Here is your banging of pans! Look, your employers have made you — with their own dollars! — a commercial with gentle piano music, in the tenderest possible tone, to say thank you. We salute you.
No, we do more than that: We owe you a debt of gratitude. No, wait, let us not introduce the word “debt,” which might imply monetary compensation of some kind. You are a hero, after all. You are beyond all that money nonsense. We are beyond all that.
Look, here are some more jets!
We cannot hope to thank you for this sacrifice you are making so we can be fed and entertained and comforted. But we will offer you this word: essential!
Do you not feel better? Is the word itself not better than any kind of safety gear? Okay, here are some masks — not to wear, but affixed together into a big collage, as a symbol! As the vice president has shown, masks are optional.
But symbolism — that is essential..........
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...you-your-sacrifice-so-we-will-make-no-effort/