Yesterday I had one of my standing informal chats with a coworker; it’s always interesting and great to hear his take on work and life and everything. He asked a very good question of me, one that stuck with me: “Let’s say I grant you magic powers. What would you do about this pandemic?”

In the context of our conversation we were talking about the US (and how we have a federal government that completely abdicated any responsibility whatsoever, holy shit, can you believe that and it’s true), so my responses were in that direction. There were three main ideas I came up with, partially based on fears and perceived fears that are out there.

First, assuming that this magical power also gave me the ability to just do stuff or make stuff, I would test everyone in the U.S. No exceptions. We don’t have enough data; we need more.

Second, universal basic income would happen. The obvious inequities in our society have been made plain by this crisis. We’re at the point where we are about to force people to work at meat plants and give them no legal recourse in the event that they suffer or die from COVID-19. Give people $2,000 a month for at least 6 months. Just give it to them, directly. None of this “you need a Social Security number” bullshit that’s a loophole to save the administration money. Just give it out. Be done with it.

Third, universal healthcare. Knock it all down. The last thing people need to be worried about now is paying for medical bills or care – not just access to care. If there is a time for free healthcare for all, this is certainly it.

This, of course, doesn’t solve everything and the better answer would have been, “Eradicate the whole virus to start with.” But maybe it should have been, “Travel back in time four years and ensure Donald Trump doesn’t get illegally elected.” Almost too many options, honestly.