Wallpaper

It looks as if the Democrats have decided that COVID-19 virus is a better opposition candidate to Donald Trump than Joe Biden. The Dems and their trained hamsters in the media are doing everything possible to lay the blame for the virus on Trump, and failing to do that, they've decided to stoke fear, anger and depression among the populace by prolonging the national shutdown for as long as possible—let the economy and the livelihoods of middle class workers be damned. Yeah, I know, all because they care so, so much about human lives.

Democrats at the local, state, and federal level and their media hamsters are fighting tooth and nail to promote a continually shifting set of criteria for re-opening the economy (not to mention parks and beaches). They sit ready to pounce when a courageous mayor or governor tries to open things up. Every COVID-19 case thereafter will reported as if it was a direct result of re-opening. The blame game will accelerate—all in service of maintaining a status quo that is unsustainable. Gosh, you'd think the catastrophists want to keep the nation shuttered indefinitely (or at least until November) ... and you'd be right.

Consider the case of Georgia. Governor Brian Kemp has decided that the state will begin to open up its economy. It's worth noting that someone must go first, that there are risks, but that the economy cannot and should not be closed indefinitely. Instead of commending Georgians for their attempt to pave the way for openings in other states, the Dems and their trained media hamsters (along with a few GOP catastrophists) have decided that the state's effort to restart its economy is somehow "irresponsible" and "dangerous." Why exactly? Because the governor correctly perceives continuing closure as something that will do enormous harm to his state's economy and as a consequence, to millions of residents?

It appears that some Dems and many in the media are incapable of holding two thoughts in their heads at once. It is possible to open up a state's economy AND maintain most, if not all, of the social distancing guidelines established at the federal level. Masks can be required, although most citizens recognize the risk of infection and will use them regardless. Regular hand washing can be accommodated at almost all businesses. Seating in restaurants and other venues can be "distanced. Temperature testing can be done with relative ease. Elderly populations can continue to be sheltered in place. Two thoughts: restart economic activity AND remain vigilant with appropriate, common sense health measures. It's really not that hard, if you live in a place with relatively low outbreak. And based on current data, that means at least half of the 50 states, maybe more.

But let's get back to the presidential race. Now that Bernie Sanders has been sidelined, Bernie Bros are betting on Sanders having significant influence of the Democratic Party platform. They're probably correct. After all, now that the economy is in the toilet there's a perfect opening for all of the utopian nonsense that socialists deliver. They'll save us all with national healthcare—after all, a similar system worked remarkably well to stave off COVID-19 in, say, Italy. Wait ... what? Or maybe a country that has gone deeply into debt should spend trillions more on a poorly crafted Green New Deal? Or maybe we should establish a centrally controlled economy—never mind that private enterprise provided most of the meaningful solutions during the time of the virus. And of course, let's encourage government to become even more controlling and dictatorial—after all, people liked it so much when their basic freedoms were limited during the virus.

But Bernie Bros continue to believe. Will Lloyd comments:

There was something hysterically nihilistic about the DSA’s [Democratic Socialists of America] refusal to endorse Biden. It only reinforced the (mistaken) image that much of Bernie’s support is made up of parentally-funded babies cosplaying 20th-century socialism. The perfectionist streak that runs through left-wing politics is an inheritance from the puritans, the abolitionists, the temperance movement and the Debsian socialists of a hundred years ago. More often than not this desire for purity doesn’t change the world, it’s a form of retreat from the world as it actually is.

But here's the thing. Socialists are trying to "perfect" a broken idea—an idea that fails repeatedly and predictably ruins those who try to implement it. The socialist's attempt to "perfect" a really bad idea is a lot like trying to wallpaper over a severely cracked wall. At first glance, the newly decorated wall looks pretty good. But the cracks are inexorable and sooner or later they'll reappear—bigger and uglier than ever.

UPDATE:
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Virtue signaling catastrophists (many, if not most, of whom continue to collect a paycheck or have sufficient savings to weather a prolonged shutdown) might be well served by noting this comment from a citizen in another state that wants to re-open:

Today, the economic cake has been baked. The U.S. economy is a consumer-driven economy, but the consumption has stopped. Politicians have said the economy needs to hibernate before we can resume a normal routine. The problem is the only animals that hibernate are ones with extra fat to survive winter. According to a study by JP Morgan Chase, the average small business has 27 days’ cash on hand. With no revenue coming in and overhead obligations remaining constant, small businesses are getting crushed. Many will simply fold and close. Employees will be displaced and miss rent. Car delinquencies add up. Mortgage payments will be missed and the fuse is set for a housing market correction as inventory inevitably rises.

Sadly, hourly employees are the most vulnerable and will feel this crisis most acutely. Single parents and single-income families have very few options. Those who are least equipped to retool in this economy are the hardest hit. And every day that goes by, we dig deeper into savings and debt to make ends meet.

This is not a trade-off between lives and the economy. It’s a trade-off between lives and lives. Lives lost to CoVid-19 and lives lost to deaths and despair through depression, overdoses and suicide. We need to move beyond the policies we had in place when a larger storm was forecast. The projections have changed and now the policies need to change to match the current risk.

Lives vs. (a lot more) lives. We adapted when the initial (erroneous) projections forecast hundreds of thousands of lives lost by this point in time. That was probably appropriate then. Now, we need to adapt yet again. And we need to do it stat.