Every day I see the news that our country has reached new heights in the number of new COVID-19 cases and hospitals are filling up across the nation.  Can record daily deaths be far behind? And we still haven’t really gotten into the normal seasonal flu season which will further contribute to hospital and ICU overcrowding.  According to medical experts, the worst is yet to come.

It is common knowledge that despite our supposedly superior medical technology, the US leads the world in both the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. As of December 13th, we had 16.3 million COVID cases in this country while India was in second place with 9.9 million cases.  India’s population is over four times larger than our own and while our daily case count is still rising dramatically, India’s has been dropping since the middle of September. Thus far we have suffered 299K COVID related deaths while the runner up, Brazil, had 181K.  To date, the US has had 23% of the world’s COVID cases and 19% of the deaths despite having only 4.2% of the world population.

Why has our country done the worst job by far in fighting the spread of the virus? The easy answer is to lay the blame at the feet of Donald J. Trump. For selfish political purposes, he downplayed the danger of the virus, publicly contradicted the advice to the nation’s top medical experts, and did little to set up a national effort to detect and stop its spread. Then again while Trump failed to leverage the entire power of the federal government to combat the virus and set a terrible example for others to follow, much of the blame for our current situation must also be assigned to the stupid, selfish, uninformed people who blindly followed his lead.

We can blame Trump all we want, but his blame must be shared by millions of people all around us who followed his lead.  No one forced them into refusing to take the simple steps that almost certainly would have saved many tens of thousands of lives. While the rest of us knew Trump was lying through his teeth to keep businesses going and thus keep his reelection chances intact, and that he was doing as little as possible to combat the virus so he couldn’t be blamed for any failures, his supporters bought into his narcissistic approach hook, line, and sinker.

In our Republican controlled state, the governor’s Safer at Home order mandates that everyone wear a mask when inside public places except when they are eating or drinking.  Enforcement is left up to the businesses involved.  Luckily for us, the vast majority of Trump’s disciples in this state are also big rule followers so that in the Publix Supermarket and Home Depot that I sometimes visit most people wear masks.  However, there are always those who are walking around those stores who wear their masks under their noses, around their necks, or worse yet not at all.  Comments such as “Did you forget your mask” are met with indifference or hostility.

The governor’s order also forbids gatherings of any kind, but there is no enforcement mechanism to stop people from congregating in relatively small but significant numbers in private homes.  Public health officials are warning that these small gatherings are the prime spreaders of the virus during this COVID-19 surge. However, it isn’t unusual to see six to ten cars parked in front of a house in our neighborhood on a weekend evening and I am willing to bet they are not socially distancing or wearing masks inside.

Again according to state-wide orders restaurants and bars are supposed to ensure that their customers maintain at least 6 feet of distance from other customers. Obviously in these establishments the people inside cannot wear masks when they are eating and drinking, and if enough people are present there is a good chance that aerosolized particles of the virus are floating around in the air.  Apparently many of these establishments are not enforcing this rule. The parking lots in front of local restaurants and bars are as full as they were before the pandemic.  Groups of people sitting side by in indoor restaurants can’t be socially distancing or wearing masks. That might be good for business, but it is also an excellent way to spread the virus.  

Then there are the scenes on TV of millions of people at our airports traveling to gather for Thanksgiving with their relatives and friends.  Millions of others traveled by car for the same reason.  Hundreds of thousands of college students headed home for the holiday.  Health officials expect millions of new COVID cases and many tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths as a result. I can’t imagine what it will be like for the Christmas holidays unless something is done. 

The people most responsible for spreading the virus are either stupid, selfish, uninformed, or more likely some combination of the three.  They are often uninformed because they chose to listen to news media which provides them only what they want to hear.  That might leave them under-informed which contributes to their attitude, but it would be difficult for them not to have at least heard about the rudimentary measures necessary to prevent the spread of the virus.

That means that they are also either too stupid to follow these easy to understand procedures or they are more likely to be too selfish to employ them.  In the former category we have those who are stupid enough to believe the lies of politicians over the sound advice of reputable scientific experts. In the latter category we have business people and some of their employees who value their financial welfare over the lives of our most vulnerable citizens. Young people who “just want to have fun” also fall into this category.  Then we have those who are both stupid enough and selfish enough to prioritize their political views above all else.

This entire debacle has ignited a low, simmering anger in me that I simply cannot put out.  While my wife and I are doing everything “right” and doing our best to keep ourselves and others safe, stupid, selfish, and uninformed people are going about their lives like the virus doesn’t exist.  Frankly, other than the chance that they might take up space in our hospitals which should be reserved for more deserving people, I don’t give a damn how they endanger themselves.  It is the innocent people that they are likely to infect that I worry about.

It is more than obvious that these stupid, selfish, and uninformed people will not comply with simple rules which are necessary to slow the spread of the virus if left to their own devices.  Just like the laws which are intended to keep us and others safe on the roads, when necessary those in positions of authority must enact the rules necessary to keep most of us safe from the virus and enforce them with adequate penalties, at least until enough people have received vaccinations to keep COVID-19 under control.

Of course, many state and city officials are too afraid of losing their political careers to take the necessary steps to try to control the pandemic, but that is another factor that I am too angry to address right now.

Cajun   12/13/20