Protesters gathered this week at the Illinois Capitol building to demand that Gov. J.B. Pritzker reopen the economy, as an area financial blogger said it is "great" that citizens are protesting.
A crowd of approximately 150 people shouted, “"Freedom Over Fear" and "Reopen Illinois" outside the Illinois Capitol this past week, while carrying signs reading, “Free Illinois”, according to the Week.com.
Jeffrey Carter, financial blogger of Points and Figures and Illinois resident, said by email that he did not take part in the protests nor did he know of anyone who did.
“I think it’s great people are protesting. Civil disobedience is a cultural hallmark of the United States and everyone ought to read and understand Thoreau,” he said. “I think people also ought to read Emerson’s Self-Reliance Essay and understand that government is not the great provider for you or your freedom.”
Carter said that “unfortunately, civil disobedience in the United States has been falsely equivocated to just marching on behalf of various victim classes today. It’s really about our rights endowed to us by a creator, and not the government. Hence, protesters are walking against Pritzker’s totalitarian edict on behalf of all their citizens and the Bill of Rights.”
Carter said he is disappointed in the actions of the politicians in the state.
“Instead of being open with data and assumptions, they are running roughshod on the population. Instead of watching the changing data and changing policy to match the data, it’s become a political fight with Trump.”
He pointed out the state and the city of Chicago and all counties in the state have had large fiscal problems “going back to before the Rauner administration. The only clear out is bankruptcy which would be great for taxpayers, would not impact the national economy, but would have a large impact on bondholders and public union members.”
According to Carter, a look at the data shows the virus, though highly contagious, is not deadly for most of the population. “Most of the deaths in Illinois are people in nursing homes, or people with prior conditions.”
He pointed out that as a result of the economy being closed and the stay-at-home order there are many others suffering.
“Domestic abuse is up. Child abuse is up. Suicides are up. Substance abuse is up,” Carter said. “The opportunity cost of keeping the economy closed at this point is greater than the cost of closing. Government has not laid off one employee and the state is going to follow through with a $216 million wage increase while the private sector is out of work suffering. It’s cruel.”
Carter said it's time to open certain parts of the local economies.
“What works in Du Quoin might not be the best policy in urban Chicago. Shouldn’t local politicians who are accountable to their local voters have control over their economies? We can take temperatures and we can limit how many are in a store. We can trust that people will accept personal responsibility to act rationally.”
As for schools, Carter said that they should be in session as children are not dying and are not at risk.
“Politicians do not like to be challenged in Illinois. Unfortunately, the major part of the press regurgitates their talking points without examining or questioning,” Carter said.
Carter’s comments were his personal position and did not represent those of his firm or any firm he’s invested in.
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