To the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors:

It is time for you to end the lockdown.

The people of the County of Los Angeles (your constituents!) are not criminals for going to the beach, or going to parks, or hiking.  It seems to have escaped you and your colleagues that sunshine, fresh air, and exercise are a great way to prevent COVID-19, or any other virus such as the flu or the common cold.  Jogging around the neighborhood is not the same thing. 

The people of the County of Los Angeles (again, your constituents!) are not criminals for wanting to work. While I am an essential worker, many people I know are not considered essential. Their jobs and their livelihood are in danger.  Wealth can only be created through work. Government redistribution checks are not the same thing at all. Those can only be funded by drawing down on wealth that was already created, or by going into debt.  That is not sustainable. I don't know how you expect to address the homelessness crisis by telling people that they can't work.  Poverty is a public health problem as well, in case no one ever told you, and locking down the County is creating poverty by government fiat.

If you persist with the notion that only some people (such as yourselves) are essential workers, and if you persist with the notion that creating a police state and teaching people to live in fear is the proper way to respond to COVID-19, the people of the County of Los Angeles might decide at the next election that you aren't essential workers either.

Regards,

Michael Jabbra