We want to save the economy from destruction, but we don't want to save it just for its own sake. We want to save it BECAUSE we want to save people. Helping people is the point. When we make an argument for "stimulus checks," our language distances us from the human element. People don't need to be "stimulated" right now. And as our K-shaped recovery has shown, stimulating markets does not necessarily help people with their immediate, emergency needs.

When we use the word "survival" in our argument, we tell a story about the most basic human needs. Human survival also helps the economy, but that is not the reason we do it. We do it because we are humans and helping each other survive is the human thing to do. ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿

It's not that hard to vote against economic "stimulus" since it sounds like a boring matter for dry intellectuals to debate. It's harder to vote against "survival" because that word touches our deepest motivations. Voting against survival makes one's inhumanity clear. As it should be.

Thanks to the people who I have seen popularizing this term in recent days: Cori Bush, Peter Kalmus, Francesca Hong, Ilhan Omar, Pramila Jayapal, Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Mark Pocan, Marie Newman and Michael Tubbs.

Thank you for the original photography, Cottonbro.