His comments are ignorant and frankly careless. Gates will have zero problems with a nationwide shutdown: he's the second-richest man in the world. He doesn't seem to realize that tens of millions of people will lose their jobs, businesses will collapse, crime will rise, and all sort of other unpredictable bad things will happen if the country shuts down. This isn't fixable with a paltry $1200 check that comes in a month.
"Conveniently" this virus will not affect Gates either, he can just shut himself in and ignore the world in one of his mansions for a few years.
We need to put UBI in place immediately and shut down the economy as we know it, so that our parents, grandparents, and friends don't die at horrifying rates. I know you really need to get your Whopper, but there are more important things than "the economy."
This kind of response just further proves that our "economy" only serves to enrich wealthy VCs. We can provide enough food, and housing, and other necessities that people in the country need. Where will the money come from? Where did the money for this $2T bailout come from? It can come from the same place -- just instead of funneling it to rich corporations, we should give it the American people so they can eat.
Conveniently, none of this will affect Gates.