Why have the decisions to return to some semblance of normalcy after we have taken such extraordinary measures to dampen the spread of the coronavirus evolved into partisan debates? Normally when the people of this country are faced with life threatening situations they in unite to defend against the common “enemy”, but this time is different.
Republican leaders have put much of their emphasis on eliminating the damage which stay at home orders have inflicted on the economy. Democrats, on the other hand, have focused primarily on slowing the spread of the coronavirus and eventually eliminating it in order to keep it from overwhelming our medical facilities. They likewise want to prevent the unnecessary suffering of tens of millions of Americans who would otherwise succumb to the nasty symptoms of this virus and, most importantly, to insure the most vulnerable among us are not left to die a lingering death alone, without their families around them.
So why have the decisions in the various states as to when and how to reopen business become partisan issues? There appears to be two factors which contribute to the two diametrically opposed approaches for dealing with this virus. The first stems from the two different belief systems which tend to separate people into liberal and conservative camps. The second factor involves leadership, or lack thereof, at the highest level in this country.
While conservatives often appear to be selfish and centered on the welfare of themselves, their families, and others like themselves, more progressive individuals almost universally show more concern for others, even those that they do not know personally.
Among fiscal conservatives there has always an emphasis on big business and the belief that if the economy in general does well they will proper. They try to convince others less fortunate then themselves that resulting prosperity generated will “trickle down” to them as well. (It rarely does.) To many of them the possibility of many more dying is simple a risk that must be taken. Liberals tend to be more concerned about the people whose hard work drives the country’s economy, those unable to work for whatever reason, and those who have worked all of their lives and are now retired. So there is little wonder why many Republican leaders have emphasized getting the economy moving again as quickly as possible while Democratic leaders have emphasized keeping people safe.
On the other hand, many conservatives, especially in the South and rural area around the nation, are mostly oblivious to higher level financial matters. All they care about in that respect is having a job that pays decent wages or that their small business are reasonably profitable. These are the social conservatives. Among their primary concerns are their distrust and sometime even loathing of anyone who does look like they do, a desire to have the criminal code mirror their religious beliefs, a distrust of any science which isn’t compatible with their political views, and their ability to buy any weapons and ammunition that they want to own.
For these people Donald Trump is their hero because he has catered to each and every one of their political concerns. He has made the reduction of illegal and even legal immigration the centerpiece of his policies. He has packed the courts with conservative judges and justices, promised to veto sensible gun control legislation, and he gone to great lengths to obliterate our country’s previous efforts to slow global warming.
Anything that Trump wants becomes his supporters’ objective as well and they are dedicated to ensuring that he is reelected for another four years. So when Trump pushes to “reopen the economy” because he is afraid that the economic downturn associated with stay at home orders will spoil his reelection chances, they are with him 100%. Their mistrust of science allows them to set aside fears generated by the warnings of medical experts that reopening business too soon could lead to an overloading of our medical facilities and result in hundreds of thousands or even millions of unnecessary deaths.
When Republican governors are faced with demands from business owners in their states to allow them to reopen their establishments and those demands are backed by the Trump supporters that elected them, the weakest among those governors are caving to those demands almost immediately. Other more responsible Republican governors must be seriously considering how their decisions will impact their political future.
No one is fooled by Trump’s lukewarm support of the newly released federal guidelines for Phase 1 of reopening the economy which he himself has issued, guidelines that no state currently meets. The Republican governors and Trump’s supporters all understand Trump really wants to return to business as usual as quickly as possible, the costs be damned. And every Republican elected official knows that not supporting Trump on this issue is tantamount to political suicide.
As a result what we now have in a few states is the makings of unethical experiments, experiments which gamble with innocent lives. With far from adequate testing we have absolutely no idea who is infected and but are still of few days away from showing symptoms. We don’t know who is infected and may never become symptomatic. However, we do know that all of these people can pass the disease to others without with either the party being aware. We don’t even know who has previously been infected, has perhaps has been immunized, and who can perhaps safely return to work.
Where governors who are willing to risk unnecessary deaths for political purposes, there is only one possible safeguard, the good sense of the people of their states. The governors cannot force owners and managers to reopen their businesses if they don’t believe it is safe. Others may may force their employees to come back work whether they think that it is safe to return or not, but they can’t force their customers to patronize their businesses if they are concerned for their safety.
On the other hand, the states reopening too early are Ruby Red. The majority of their populations is made up of Trump supporters so I am not at all sure that we we count on everyone in those states having good sense.
Cajun 4/25/2020
The underlying yet undeniable glaring lack of logic here is astonishing. No government control these people shout yet they are all in favor of government rulings that put them and their families in grave danger, rulings that enrich the already obscenely wealthy, leaving them poorer, more lacking in essential services and now in grave peril of their very lives…Yeah Trump you betcha!
This article is most welcome and I thank you for it, but still solutions escape us. We have a two party system in which one party, ostensibly on the side of working folks, maintaining a deafening silence. The facts here seem plain enough, one would hope that a policy of speaking to those facts publicly and continuously might awaken, if not the worst of these racists and white supremacists then surely those who maintain some vestige of sanity .
But, instead, what opposition is there to the rather public plans to make this next election a farce, and in so many ways? Polling places in poorer neighborhoods close, mail in ballots rejected for farcical reasons, last minute requirements as ID’s and other such negate peoples ability to vote. Are we so far gone to so willingly accept this fascist dictatorship growing like a cancer here?