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Each week, we take a look at our archives for boosts to propel you into the weekend.

What happens next?

Today, as usual, I woke up in the predawn darkness to diligently blog and saw “the news”: President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump contracted the coronavirus. Many people had already spun out, spewing a slew of predictions, fears, jokes, sorrows, prayers, and vague twitches—both online and I am sure in random half-sentences in homes across these United States. All of that boggled my brain. So I read this Barefoot Contessa profile. It’s nice. 

Then I started to wonder what I’d want the president to read right now from our archives, as he, potentially, finally—if he is the narcissist I believe him to be—is grappling with the implications of the coronavirus.

It was pretty obvious. I think he should read our fantastic Pandemic-Proofing America series. It’s not what will happen next, but it lays out many things that should happen.

This is good news: It’s clear that experts have ideas. And it is clear that, in another world (or another country, under another administration), there are—and were—ways to combat this virus. Would the solutions have been perfect? No. But we can prepare for the next. Sorry to sound like a hopeful hack, but that’s pretty fantastic news. I, and I’m sure others, have moments of pure nihilism. It’s important to remember that all this death is not required.

Start with Andy Slavitt and the three things we need to do for next time, and keep reading all of them.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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