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Comment by surge | Hacker News Reader

We need non-essential trade, since if you shutdown all non-essential trade suddenly all non-essential people are excluded from the economy, and people have to eat and pay bills. If we're still selling goods online, non-essential manufacturers/workers at least have some economic movement.

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There's also a debate to be had as to what's essential or not, which will depend on your perspective as well as the time scale.

Is Best Buy essential? No? What if my laptop breaks and I relied on it to work remotely?

Are electricians or climate control technicians essential? What if the air conditioning breaks in the middle of a texas summer? How can I self-isolate when it's even hotter inside than outside? What about elderly people who could easily have a heat stroke?

Are psychologists essential workers? They might be even more essential now that so many people are facing complete isolation and job loss.

I think longer this goes on, the more essential basic roles become needed. Dentists can close offices for a few weeks or a month, but after several months cavities go untreated, cavities are created because teeth aren't cleaned/maintained, preventable issues go unaddressed etc.

For a week or two sure essential is very narrow, but after several weeks that can expand.

I will say though, my state at least deemed most of the roles you mentioned essential. I can still get my computer repaired, get construction/maintenance done, and at least consult with my medical professionals over the phone/video chat for now in terms of basic consultation. I know betterhelp.com is a service (there are others) my spouse has used.

Unfortunately this is not applied evenly. Amazon is selling all its non-essential stuff, while other vendors can’t sell their non-essential wares even online. I can buy kid workbooks and mechanical keyboards on Amazon, but School Zone and WASD Keyboards are closed.

Have they been told they have to close? In the UK half the population is under the errant belief that unless you are a nurse you shouldn’t be working.

I've actually been buying food through Amazon (canned goods, protein bars, nuts, etc). Normally, I order online from a local grocery store, but the local grocery store, every time I go to the website, tells me that there are no available delivery slots in the next two weeks.

You gotta get on at midnight, order two weeks out, and get a weekly pipeline going. I used this method to get a bag of flour the other day, it was amazing.

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