The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Give me liberty or give me death.
These words are iconic in American history, and they were apparently uttered on March 23 by Patrick Henry in 1775. Now, in 2020, these words need to be rethought — because giving everyone complete liberty will be tantamount to giving lots of people death as well. One of the most remarkable features of our national response to the COVID-19 crisis is how it has exposed the extent to which we seem to be living in two countries.
In one country, we rely on experts and professionals to give us guidance when in need of difficult decisions. In the other country we rely on cable news commentators, and politicians whose need to be either right or re-elected seems to be trumping the need to save lives.
In one country we think our current president is doing a good job. In the other country we consult the existing record of who said what and when, and understand that this was definitely not the case at the outset of this crisis, when decisive action would have made an enormous difference to both of our countries. It is not clear even now that the president is listening to the experts and taking decisions based on our desperate need for leadership.
In one country we pray not for the intervention of a divine hand or magical thinking, but for the moment when we no longer have to listen to, and be affected by, someone with the personality and behavioral predilections of our current president. In the other country he receives 90% approval ratings.
The question then arises: When this is all said and done, which of these two countries will we be living in? Will we be OK with the kind of health-care system now exposed as ill-prepared to deal with an epidemic? Will we be OK with income inequality that has vastly complicated our ability to deal with the financial implications of this crisis? In a country that prioritizes stock buybacks over prudent planning for an event that every epidemiologist knows is bound to happen sooner or later? Will we be OK with a president whose outpouring of demonstrable lies from Day 1 of his administration has rendered him non-credible to at least half of our population? Will we be OK with continuing an approach to the coming climate change crisis that mimics what we are going through now?
In the 1770s we separated from the United Kingdom. In 2020, the UK, led by a staunch conservative, is taking the necessary steps and showing the resolute leadership that harks back to Britain in WWII (somewhat late, but better late than never). In the USA, leadership during WWII started with FDR, who told us ‘the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’ Today, our national leader refuses to take decisive action for fear of rattling the markets and his re-election prospects and declines to take any responsibility for what has gone wrong so far.
Having lived in the UK for six years myself (1970-76) I can tell you I’m happy the USA exists. But I’m not happy there are two of US.
