Those checks better start showing up. No doubt they will be far too little and for many people, far too late. The clueless US government did not prepare for a pandemic; in fact they took apart the preparations already in place. So we have to doubt they’ve thought much about what people will do when the money runs out.

People will not sit home quietly and starve. They will keep going to the grocery store and shopping for food. They just won’t pay for it.

Will the underpaid, overworked, barely protected grocery clerks stop people from leaving with their groceries? Will they be too afraid of losing their jobs to let their hungry neighbors eat? How can we avoid food riots and looting without much more help from the government?

So far, in the absence of sane federal leadership, we have seen governors, mayors, and millions of untitled US residents step up to show the way forward. We have seen numerous, startling examples of everyday heroism, generosity, kindness, and creativity. People are standing up for one another.

But soon the worst of the epidemic will hit, and the worst of the financial consequences will follow. What will happen when the money runs out?

The government should set up massive food banks and delivery systems. But given the fascist tendencies of the Trump administration, it seems possible that instead they will send the National Guard to enforce the cruel laws of capitalism. It is also possible that the National Guard believes in democracy, not capitalism.

It is possible that the zillionaires who have been running America do not really understand us at all.