Beware of Scapegoating
We must beware of the tendency to scapegoat the “other” during the spread of these types of infectious diseases. In Florida and Rhode Island, New Yorkers have been blamed for spreading the disease. In a West Virginia community, workers at a local nursing home were the targets of community ire. On an island in Maine, local residents blocked the road by felling a large tree to quarantine some “newcomers” who had been living there for some months already. President Trump has scapegoated the Chinese and just recently proposed to quarantine all residents of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. As some of the rich flee the city to their country estates and villas, local townspeople will take notice and may seek to “defend” their communities from the “other”.
When people are losing their jobs, their loved ones, their incomes, their assets, their ability to leave their homes, it is hardly surprising they seek to scapegoat “the other”. It would be surprising if they did not. Gun sales have been soaring along with toilet paper.
The Covid 19 disease is readily spread by people who are asymptomatic and do not even know they are “sick” with the coronavirus, as well as by people who are obviously quite ill. We still do not have enough tests readily accessible, so we can't yet tell the difference between someone with a flu or cold or Covid 19.
To date, I have been impressed by the way 99% of the people in the grocery stores, the local pharmacy, the walkers, the bikers and others are handling this. There are a few obvious entitled individuals or angry jerks who behave badly, but I have yet to see crowds of people behaving badly or taking matters into their own hands. That could happen as the crisis wears on, and more people die, and the economic dislocations worsen. Leaders and demagogues may arise who will seek to benefit from the widespread distress. Brazil’s President Bolsonaro is one obvious model demagogue, and he will attract emulators. President Trump has toned down his most divisive rhetoric for the moment, but who knows how long this can last. His amen chorus on TV and radio and the internet like Hannity and Limbaugh and Jones have not. They may be echoed from some evangelical and other preachers’ pulpits where sound science may take a back seat to the particular pastor’s dogma.
The heightened tensions as we revert to contested elections will present opportunities for lies, scapegoating and demagoguery. Attacks on the opposing partisans will become the nation’s norms yet again.
On the international front, China has been blaming the US for the disease; President Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo have been blaming the Chinese; some Asian Americans have been beaten or harassed as a result. Russia is spreading disinformation about the US in Europe and the Middle East.
The antidote is collaboration, community building and rampant truth telling. That is why Doctor Anthony Fauci and Governor Mario Cuomo have become so popular. From doctors in Texas to doctors in New York City to doctors in China, there are enormous exchanges and sharing of vital information to combat Covid 19. The incredible courage of nurses and doctors in the face of dangers to their own and their families’ health is something we must all emulate in our isolation. People are using 3 D printers to produce scarce medical equipment like shields; others are re-purposing small distilleries to produce hand sanitizers. Others are sewing masks at home and raising funds to help those members of the community most disadvantaged and most vulnerable. It may take the greatest courage of all for some of the most vulnerable with mental illnesses not to lose themselves to panic and despair. Just imagine the plight of the homeless with little access to food, medical care, the basics of daily hygiene and no shelter from the rain or cold. Or the plight of those confined in nursing homes or local jails, where the spread of the disease in their institutions may be a death sentence. Think of the small business owner with their life savings tied up in a small store or service that is out of business. Think of the immigrant day laborer whose opportunities to earn a daily living have disappeared.
The recently passed $2 trillion plus CARES Act will help small businesses, will help the unemployed, will help larger businesses, and the health care industry for a short period while the economy is slowed down to combat this virus. Those with middle class incomes and less will get a one time check that will help tide them over for a very short period. Left out entirely is the informal workforce of immigrants who work in construction, cleaning, gardening, and care in the home.
We need to keep track of all the profiteers and the scammers for subsequent prosecution. We must not lose sight for one moment of the nation’s need to tackle its serious underlying problems laid so bare by this crisis – the dearth of a strong domestic manufacturing sector, the overpriced and underperforming health system, the underperforming K-12 public education system, the unaffordability of housing and the rise of homelessness, the shredded safety net programs and the economic distortions due to the stupendous rise in economic inequality since about 1979. We will need unquestioned competence and strong and visionary leadership from our federal officials. We must re-engage with our allies and build a world safer from the unanticipated proliferation of unknown diseases and the perils of known and equally deadly climate change. Walls are not our answer; scientific breakthroughs, community wide collaboration and the embrace of speedy and effective innovation are.
Prepared by: Lucien Wulsin
Dated: 3/30/20