The transition from summer to fall has been a challenging one for those of us with a progressive bent. Many of us feel fed up with the pace of our battle against COVID-19. Many of us blame those who refuse to get vaccinated or take basic safety precautions.
You could watch the frustration seep through in President Joe Bidens speech last week. Commentary on Twitter was immediate: Dad was turning the car around. The commander in chief had had enough.
What makes it incredibly more frustrating is that we have the tools to combat COVID-19, and a distinct minority of Americans supported by a distinct minority of elected officials are keeping us from turning the corner, Biden said.
But he was only the most prominent example of a trend. Good-natured talk show host Jimmy Kimmel suggested that hospitals not treat people who decided against vaccination. Delta Airlines announced it would charge employees who didnt get vaccinated an extra $200 per month on their health insurance. News outlet after news outlet pumped out stories about the hospitalized unvaccinated, struggling to breathe and regretting their choices.
The frustration makes sense. I sympathize with the anger. But during this virus-riddled time, we cant allow the pandemic to melt our minds.
We should not want people who disagree with us even if that disagreement takes the form of refusing a vaccine or mask to forgo health insurance or medical care. We should not want them to suffer, even if we feel the temptation. And we should be exceptionally cautious about translating frustration into policy. Its a short leap from making health insurance more expensive for an anti-vaxxer to making it unaffordable for someone with pre-existing conditions like high blood pressure or obesity. Its a short leap from doctors refusing to treat unvaccinated patients to doctors turning away gay, lesbian or transgender patients.
Folks on the right have a history of excluding or denigrating people of different genders, colors, religions or sexual orientations. Extreme supporters of former President Donald Trump have turned that exclusion into a white nationalist cause. This past and present has created an enduring young voter problem for conservatives. No one should be eager to replicate that strategy.
We support progressive causes for a reason: Theyre good for everybody. That means Republicans, Democrats, independents, anti-vaxxers and vaccine scientists alike. (Yes, the wealthy may pay more in taxes, but those funds will go to strengthen the country as a whole.) When we forget the motivations behind greater equality and stronger social programs, we forfeit any moral high ground and might as well hand the keys over to our ideological opponents.
Im not exonerating pro-virus leaders. The political figures I dubbed the disinformation caucus a couple of weeks ago bear heavy responsibility for the mess we find ourselves in. Im not forgiving viral news media outlets that spread science fiction posing as science fact. We should all demand accountability from public figures. But we should not wish harm on anyone.
Kansas desperately needs an expanded Medicaid program. But we are a red state, which means that many of those covered under the program would presumably be conservative. Perhaps theyre socialists or libertarians or luddites. Thats OK! No one in their right mind would propose that only progressives qualify.
Expanding Medicaid helps Kansas precisely because it helps a broad swath of our population. It will help those in rural and urban areas. It will help men and women. It will help our families and friends, hospitals and communities. That help, in turn, strengthens our entire society even the folks who dont use the program.
Remember Ayn Rand.
The objectivist philosopher and author of unreadable doorstops was outspoken in her disdain of government benefits. Yet she used Social Security and Medicare. While its easy to make fun of her for that, the programs were and are meant to help everyone of retirement age. (To make herself feel better, Rand seems to have regarded the benefits as restitution for prior tax payments.)
We do face a truly tough choice. Hospital capacity. If COVID-19 positive patients take up every ICU bed in a facility, what kind of harm does that do to other people including vaccinated people who arent able to access care? An Alabama cardiac patient, for example, was turned away from 43 facilities because they didnt have space. Ray DeMonia later died in a Mississippi hospital more than 200 miles away from his home.
There are no simple answers here. Those running hospitals are making difficult decisions daily. Those refusing vaccines will have to decide if their conscience can handle the burden. But I cant accept that excluding our fellow human beings, regardless of their short-sightedness, is a workable solution. We shouldnt even wish to do so.
The long-term solutions remain the same. Vaccines, masks, testing, distancing and following basic public health advice. Did I mention vaccines already? They are the way out, for progressives and conservatives alike. Because while we shouldnt ration care based on beliefs, the virus wont discriminate either.
Perhaps government-issued mandates will end the pandemic more quickly. I hope so. But in the meantime, we cant allow our frustration to overwhelm our humanity.
See the rest here:
Progressives beware: Don't let values become casualties of the pandemic - Kansas Reflector
- That Day I Interviewed Ayn Rand - Foundation for Economic Education - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Ayn Rand's Anthem Was Adapted Into a Graphic Novel, and Its Timing Couldn't Be Better | Maeve Ronan - Foundation for Economic Education - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Real World Economics: Ayn Rand and the Grand Canyon - St. Paul Pioneer Press - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Tech Entrepreneur Elle Morrill Offers Inspirational Life Advice in ARI Roundtable - New Ideal - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- America needs to clean up its act | News, Sports, Jobs - Alpena News - August 26th, 2023 [August 26th, 2023]
- How immigration creates a more prosperous world - Learn Liberty - August 26th, 2023 [August 26th, 2023]
- Yad Vashem tour by Israel Heritage Foundation visibly moves ... - JNS.org - August 26th, 2023 [August 26th, 2023]
- Anna May Wong and Chinatown Noir: 4 Essential Films - CrimeReads - August 26th, 2023 [August 26th, 2023]
- Ditch your business books and pick up these three novels for a fresh ... - ETHRWorld Middle East - August 26th, 2023 [August 26th, 2023]
- Your Guide to the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge - The Everygirl - August 26th, 2023 [August 26th, 2023]
- BioShock 4 May Have an Edge Compared to Other Modern FPS ... - GameRant - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- LETTER: When will Republicans wake up? - The Pantagraph - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' Celebrated Selfishness as a Virtue - Reason - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Blaming the Victim - CounterPunch.org - CounterPunch - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Coalition of AI leaders sees 'societal-scale risks' from the ... - SiliconANGLE News - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Fall 2023 Adult Announcements: Literary Fiction - Publishers Weekly - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- 20 Box Office Bombs That Got Sequels - MovieWeb - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Religious Skeptics Should Question Their Moral Theology - New Ideal - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- What Ayn Rand Understood about Romantic Love That so Many Fail ... - Foundation for Economic Education - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- 1923 Emmy Submissions Revealed for Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren and More (EXCLUSIVE) - Variety - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Column: This is what happens when you take Ayn Rand seriously - April 10th, 2023 [April 10th, 2023]
- How Ayn Rand, Emerson and Thoreau perverted the American Dream - April 10th, 2023 [April 10th, 2023]
- Ayn Rand - Books, Quotes & Philosophy - Biography - February 18th, 2023 [February 18th, 2023]
- EDITORIAL: Remembering the great Ayn Rand, a champion of capitalism and ... - February 5th, 2023 [February 5th, 2023]
- The curious cult of the friend of fascism | Anthony Daniels - The Critic - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Ocean City 'Jeopardy!' champion wins almost $60,000 in 7th consecutive win, over $220,000 total - Press of Atlantic City - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Will Amanda Seyfried (The Dropout) ride her Emmy high all the way to a SAG Award win? - Gold Derby - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- Books review: What to read in October - Reader's Digest - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- Democrats dig the graves of freedom and prosperity - Washington Times - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- Baseball and Yom Kippur: Is there a Koufax curse? - Forward - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- The limits of Justice Ketanji Brown Jacksons power - Fortune - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- Race Across The World and Louis Theroux Interviews among new BBC Factual and Arts slate - Royal Television Society | - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- Fool Britannia: sloppy Tory treatise a hint of horrible things to come - Crikey - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- Day one at the Tory conference: Industry cries out for stability but U-turns and uncertainty continue - Building - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- Former Capitol Police Chief Steven A. Sund Set To Publish A New Book About The Attack On January 6th With Explosive Never-Before-Revealed Information... - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- Right place at the right time: freeports model gives fillip to St Helens regeneration scheme - The Guardian - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- Reflections from London on the queen's life and death - Baptist News Global - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- Editorial: NH voters, beware of radical threat on ballot - Valley News - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- 10 Wednesday AM Reads - The Big Picture - Barry Ritholtz - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Opinion: Renewables are great and all, but who'll pay when they fail? - Houston Chronicle - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- The Simpsons' Playdate With Destiny Short Was A Product Of Serendipity - /Film - August 27th, 2022 [August 27th, 2022]
- Filthy Animals Pries Open The Violent, Animalistic Notions In Human Relationships - Gaysi - August 27th, 2022 [August 27th, 2022]
- How Isabel Paterson Helped Ayn Rand Find Atlantis - The Objective Standard - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Where Is 'The Anarchists' Star Jason Henza Today? - Newsweek - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Objectivism Q&A with Ben Bayer and Dan Schwartz - New Ideal - August 2nd, 2022 [August 2nd, 2022]
- Book Banning Is Wrong Unless It Gets Me Out of Helping My Kid With His Homework - The Hard Times - August 2nd, 2022 [August 2nd, 2022]
- THE TEACHER'S DESK: Breaking the Rules | Opinion | thetimestribune.com - Times Tribune of Corbin - July 21st, 2022 [July 21st, 2022]
- If Big Ten didnt just add lucrative programs like USC but trimmed stragglers, whod get the boot? | Jones - PennLive - July 21st, 2022 [July 21st, 2022]
- A high point of our time in southern Alberta, Canada - Patheos - July 21st, 2022 [July 21st, 2022]
- The Banality of Putin and Xi - New Ideal - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- 4 Pillars of The Illusion | C. Don Jones - Patheos - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- The Philosophic Case for the Absolute Right to Abortion - New Ideal - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- R2AK: Will monohulls sweep the podium? - Scuttlebutt Sailing News - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- Bill Maher Addressed an Eventful Political Week on Real Time - InsideHook - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- Ayn Rand v Donald Trump? - Daily Kos - June 22nd, 2022 [June 22nd, 2022]
- Letter: The rules of life are very simple - Detroit Lakes Tribune - June 22nd, 2022 [June 22nd, 2022]
- The Banality of Putin and Xi | Yaron Brook and Elan Journo - IAI - June 22nd, 2022 [June 22nd, 2022]
- American culture is destroying itself, and the planet, says leading activist Bill McKibben - Yahoo Philippines News - June 22nd, 2022 [June 22nd, 2022]
- Is Discussing the Consequences of Anti-Vaccine Disinformation Fun? - Science Based Medicine - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- O'Donnell: Will the NBA's new red-light camera calls ruin The Finals for ABC/ESPN? - Daily Herald - June 1st, 2022 [June 1st, 2022]
- The Strange and Terrifying Ideas of Neoreactionaries Current Affairs - Current Affairs - June 1st, 2022 [June 1st, 2022]
- Martin Scorsese, Objectivism, Relativism, and How We Read Cinema - No Film School - June 1st, 2022 [June 1st, 2022]
- Ayn Rand, Objectivists, and COVID - Science Based Medicine - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- Ayn Rand vs. Classical Economists - The Objective Standard - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- Opinion | Demolishing the Demonic Plans of Our Enemy, and Can We Get An Amen - Common Dreams - May 20th, 2022 [May 20th, 2022]
- Ayn Rand's We the Living: Back on the Silver Screenand Better Than Ever - The Objective Standard - May 17th, 2022 [May 17th, 2022]
- Congress revival: Time to break free of family - The Hans India - May 17th, 2022 [May 17th, 2022]
- The Financial Dark Ages Are Ending Thanks To Bitcoin - Bitcoin Magazine - May 17th, 2022 [May 17th, 2022]
- Marital rape: How understanding context rather than just focusing on consent will help resolve the issue - Firstpost - May 13th, 2022 [May 13th, 2022]
- Deadly Class Season 2: Is a Release Date or Rumor in the Offing on Netflix? - Federal Regulations Advisor - May 13th, 2022 [May 13th, 2022]
- The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, May 9, 2022 - FlaglerLive.com - May 13th, 2022 [May 13th, 2022]
- Victory at San Jacinto liberated the individual | Opinion | jacksonvilleprogress.com - Jacksonville Daily Progress - April 20th, 2022 [April 20th, 2022]
- RUSH's GEDDY LEE Says NEIL PEART 'Didn't Want Anyone To Know' About His Illness: 'He Wanted To Keep It In The House' - BLABBERMOUTH.NET - April 20th, 2022 [April 20th, 2022]
- The Alternative Meat Industry Wants Solar Power Style Mandates And Subsidies - Science 2.0 - April 20th, 2022 [April 20th, 2022]
- diSConnected: Is Ayn Rand or Mother Teresa better for protecting South Carolinians with disabilities? - South Carolina Public Radio - April 15th, 2022 [April 15th, 2022]
- Did the John Birch Society Win in the End? - The Bulwark - April 15th, 2022 [April 15th, 2022]
- Boris Johnsons Covid bravado insults the NHS and the public - The Guardian - April 15th, 2022 [April 15th, 2022]
- Science Fiction in a Time of Crisis - Filmmaker Magazine - April 15th, 2022 [April 15th, 2022]
- The criticism facing Rishi Sunak has nothing to do with race, and all to do with greed - iNews - April 15th, 2022 [April 15th, 2022]
- Zack Snyder's Star Wars-Themed Movie Recruits The Princess Bride Star - Giant Freakin Robot - April 11th, 2022 [April 11th, 2022]