“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.”

Thirty-four years have passed since Ronald Reagan summed up the conservative view of government’s role in American life. In that time, corporate forces and conservative politicians have captured legislatures and regulatory agencies, rewritten rules on political spending, and lowered taxes on corporations and the wealthy. Unfortunately, in a historical development known as neoliberalism, they’ve often been joined by liberals in privatizing public goods and services and cutting the social safety net.

It’s long been obvious that the unregulated “free market” can’t provide everything we need. A glance at statistics on health outcomes or exploding housing costs, or even a fleeting memory of the Great Recession in 2008, will remind you. But in the past days, as the COVID-19 outbreak has brought the global economy to its knees, we should remember Reagan’s words and how absurd and coldhearted they sound now, at a time when even Republican senators are calling for the federal government to provide direct cash payments to all Americans (incredibly miserly and insufficient as such proposals are).