Tuesday, August 04, 2020
Breaking Faith
If there's one fundamental duty upon elected officials that rises above all others it is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the public.
Covid 19 has shown that our elected officials serve many masters and, in doing so, too often compromise that paramount obligation. They break faith.
Nowhere is this more evident that in the United States where, after months of dithering, outright lies and shameless manipulation, the most powerful nation in the world with the largest economy in the world and the highest standard of living in the world and just four per cent of the global population has amassed fully one quarter of the global Covid-19 death toll. Yes, America, once again you are indeed Number One, incontestably so.
Even at this late stage, with a federal election just three months off, Donald Trump is falling back into his old ways, renewing his discredited pitch for hydroxychloroquine, proferring the claims of a doctor who believes that people are having sex with aliens or, worse, demons. Trump is now on the attack, ridiculing both of the White House Covid experts, Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, the latter having finally found the courage to stray from Trump's nonsense.
NPR/IPSOS polls show that, when it comes to the pandemic, the American people are not on the same page as their president. The coronavirus is shaping up to be Trump's Hurricane Katrina.
The American people believe the White House has bungled the emergency. 66 per cent of respondents say their governments management of the pandemic has been worse than other countries (41 per cent say "much worse.") Trump's triumphalist message is falling on deaf ears.
Some 70 per cent believe it's time to start over, to put the nation into lockdown again for at least two weeks. A solid majority want a mandatory directive compelling everyone to wear a mask while in public.
Healthcare experts are saying that America has lost control of the virus.
Next up will be the anticipated horror stories as "in person" classes re-open. In some states, August 17 is the opening day. Will grade school kids be any better at social distancing, handwashing, etc. than young adults have been over this summer? If not, what awaits? Will this dominate the news in the weeks before the November 3rd election?
Senate Republicans, meanwhile, are balking at extending emergency benefits even as many Americans are out of work, without healthcare insurance and now without means to pay for groceries or their rent.
From a purely cynical point of view, I have never understood why authoritarians don't understand that the surest way to pacify a population is to provide universal health care and social programs that enable basic comfort and security for all. Add in some public infrastructure and the people will follow you anywhere.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time they did understand such things, Toby. Just go back to Otto von Bismarck who established the first 'social safety net' to steer Germany's working class clear of communism.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.history.com/topics/germany/otto-von-bismarck#:~:text=Although%20an%20arch%2Dconservative%2C%20Bismarck,groundwork%20for%20both%20World%20Wars.
As noted, he also put Europe on the path to two world wars but, hey, nobody's perfect.
The schools thing.... Grade/Elementary school kids will follow the teacher's instructions, and senior/high school students will understand the reasoning behind masks/screens/ect, but the danger is junior/middle school students.
ReplyDeleteThat's usually the point where students are brought out of their communities (as elementary schools are usually small and locally centrally in their communities) whereas middle school students tend to bussed in to towns and cities. So, a bit of freedom mixed with still being a bit too young to understand the why's and why nots of PPE.
It may be better to keep Grades 7,8, & 9 locally in their communities. Build some modulars at the local schools. Find some way of spreading the students out. Keep them away from confinement in tight quarters. And upgrade the AC systems of school buildings. HEPA filters are expensive, but necessary in schools and workplaces.
I hope you're right, Troy. We'll see soon enough. German kids are heading back soon and many American children are back in class in mid-August.
ReplyDeleteHow close are you to being finished, Troy? How far do you want to go?
Ah, I have two semesters left to go in my degree. Less than a year. I have an accounting certificate already, and an ESL certificate nearly completed too. So, I probably won't be hurting for work after finishing. But university has the luxury of hosting all its courses online if need be; I won't see another actual classroom until January, if even then depending on how well this upcoming public school year pans out.
ReplyDeleteDo some work, hopefully overseas. Get my student loan back into good standing, and then pursue a Masters degree. I'm thinking a dual law/arts degree. If that doesn't pan out, then finish up an Honours degree somewhere and raise that GPA, and then apply again.
I think you would do quite well in law, Troy. My alma mater, the University of Ottawa, had what I understood was a pretty decent programme for First Nations students. Of course that was back when they introduced radial tries so my views may be dated but somehow I have the feeling that Ottawa would suit you.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, well done and all the best going ahead.
MoS