Why Trump's plan is more than just sacrificing old people, it's guaranteed to destroy the nation

11 ways the United States will change because of the coronavirus

Why Trump's plan is more than just sacrificing old people, it's guaranteed to destroy the nation

If you read one thing today, make it this excellent piece by Daily Kos' Mark Sumner:

Donald Trump is suggesting that we should rescind efforts at coronavirus suppression in order to “save” the economy, while Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick of Texas calls on patriotic grandparents to sacrifice themselves to drive up the Dow. Across the pond, the U.K. government already mulled over the idea of allowing that nation to become a viral incubator until it reached the level required for “herd immunity”—though at least their plan called for sequestering the vulnerable while the nation sweated things out, rather than tossing them all into the Save the Stock Market National Patriotism Volcano.

There’s another name for the daring plan now being promoted by the right: It’s called “doing nothing.” It’s called letting the disaster play out, or allowing the disease run to its course, or simply permitting the wildfire to burn unchecked. But the problem is that when it’s done, what they get would not be a nation going “back to normal.” It would be ashes.

Any call for allowing the nation to move forward without every possible effort to restrict the spread of COVID-19 isprofoundly foolish. For those who value their stock portfolio over their friends and relatives, it may seem like an obvious solution: Just pretend the disease isn’t there, send everyone back to work, and let God (and Adam Smith) work it out. But it won’t work. Because it can’t.

There are a plethora of reasons why this is both cruel and unforgivable, but there’s something that all the Money Men should notice—the numbers. The numbers show that this is simply an unworkable plan, one that would be far, far worse for the economy than the most locked-down lock-down. And, if anyone cares, it would also irrevocably destroy the nation’s soul. To understand the issue, let’s walk all the way back to the basics of an epidemic disease: rate of transmission, susceptibility, and outcome.

I'm serious. Go read it. It'll make you the smartest person on your block, when it comes to discussing COVID-19.

11 ways the United States will change because of the coronavirus

The 9/11 terrorist attacks ushered in a new era of changes that linger to this day—from taking off our shoes at airport security checkpoints, to tolerating an erosion of civil liberties and government intrusion in our lives. We are deeply in debt from the resulting (and unnecessary) wars and hyper militarization of our budget. Republicans reaped electoral benefits, branding themselves as the party that “keeps you safe.”

COVID-19 promises a dramatic reshaping of American society. Here are at least 11 ways our lives will change. Feel free to speculate about others.

1.) Government is here to help. Ronald Reagan famously quipped, “the most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.” That ushered in two generations of Republican nihilism, with relentless focus in slashing and cutting government in all areas except for defense. Well, it turns out government is the only thing that can help in a global disaster, and even Republicans have stepped up to pour trillions into the economy and directly in the hands of individuals. Meanwhile, the vaunted free market, supposed solution to all of society’s ills, is sitting helplessly begging for handouts.

2.) Wall Street will face further restrictions. Wall Street faced increased regulation in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 financial crisis. It’ll only get worse, as bans on corporate stock buybacks and other limits will become increasingly popular. Tolerance for corporate tax evasion will erode further, particularly among companies that receive any kind of federal bailout money.

3.) Security is more than just thwarting terrorists. The Trump administration, freshly elected, gleefully disbanded the nation’s pandemic preparedness task force. The last competent administration foresaw the possibility of a pandemic creating havoc in this country, but the incompetent Republican did not, and most people were blissfully unaware of the danger. No longer. This has consequences not just at the federal and state budget levels, but in how corporations plan for a rainy day (like Apple, with its $245 billion cash hoard), and how we individuals interact. We have a lot to learn from Asia—from contact-less greetings (would be so hard for me!), to greater use of face masks and general acceptance of our responsibilities to help keep others from getting sick.

4.) We are in this together, as a society. Supply hoarding and profiteering and selfish jackasses hanging out in crowds in restaurants or beaches show us the worst parts of individualistic thinking—they want their “freedom” and fuck everyone else, including grandma. But the rest of us look on in horror and disgust because this is one crisis that can’t be solved by rugged individualism. It requires collective action. That’s why it’s been so hard for Republicans to adapt. Their usual solutions—demagoguery, militarism, and macho posturing—aren’t working. Trump can be a racist with his “China virus” shit all day long, and the virus will continue to ravage through the population unchecked. A newfound respect for acting as collective society, as much as it chafes conservatives, will have a huge impact on public policy for a generation or two.

Finish reading the list here.

Other news

Wait what? Bernie Sanders wants to debate next month? The presidential primary is over, and given the need to focus on the global pandemic ravaging our country and economy, it's time to reorient for the general election.

Wait the WHAT? For reasons decipherable only to them, two members of the House, Republican Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana and Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts are looking to pass a nonbonding resolution blaming China for the COVID-19 pandemic. The resolution, which would be purely for show and have no legal bearing on any damn thing, seeks to express "the sense of the House of Representatives that the Government of the People's Republic of China made multiple, serious mistakes in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak that heightened the severity and spread of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, [...]" Will there be another resolution condemning the government of the United States for literally and precisely making similar "multiple, serious mistakes?"

Right as Donald Trump was assuring the nation a month ago that the coronavirus was "under control" and would soon just "go away," the nation's chief public health agency had already made critical errors that would prove nearly impossible to overcome in the effort to contain the deadly pathogen. In fact, an Associated Press survey of data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows that, in the crucial month of February, government labs processed just “352 COVID-19 tests—an average of only a dozen per day.” And as elusive as access to testing has remained ever since, the concept here is beyond basic: you can't stop an epidemic in its tracks if you don't know who's infected.

You're really not going to believe this one. Roughly 27,000 of the 700,000 young immigrants impeached president Donald Trump’s administration has made it clear that it wants to deport are medical care professionals. It’s despicable enough that he wants to separate their families and then deport them to a place that hasn’t been home to them for years, but he’s also doing it as the U.S. enters a pandemic and faces a “looming national doctor shortage.

In the last few days, Donald Trump and other prominent conservative voices have been suggesting that the steps being taken to contain the spread of COVID-19 are, already, a "cure" worse than the disease, and that the White House ought to end social distancing measures early to limit economic damage, letting the virus take its course. This is self-evidently insane from a public health standpoint, and advocating for it therefore requires discrediting or belittling every public health expert who points that out. That effort is now beginning as what-passes-for-pundits on the conservative flanks begin to mount concerted attacks on National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Keep fighting!

Markos Moulitsas
Founder, Daily Kos
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Twitter: @markos

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