Cultural Wars Over Good Deaths
The New York Times identified what is going at protests over the closed economy. It is a cultural war. Classes and political factions have divided on which group is available to die and which group must be not be allowed to die.
What I have seen on television tells me most of those protesting closure of the economy are white and not elderly. If opening the economy result in more deaths, the deaths will fall more heavily on the poor nonwhite population and on the very elderly in facilities.
The Governor of Texas said recently there are more important issues than the deaths. As I understand him, the economy is more important. Texas, under that governor, is among the most anti abortion states in the U.S. This means the good deaths are among adults, especially poor non whites and among the very elderly while really bad deaths are those on fetuses. Only a culture steeped in religion could come to such a bizarre conclusion.
It is an education to see several flags at these protests. The apparent message of this is that if you are a patriotic American you protest laws designed to protect the health of fellow citizens. A similar message are churches insisting on services when the disease is known to be spread in exactly those kind of events. If people die after attending church, this is a good death.
Then there is a set of society which gives money and follows pastors who preach the virus has a religious message. The message, of course, is the virus is punishment for sin. A good death, I assume, is that of a sinner. One wonders the sermon message when a church member contracts the disease after hearing the sin sermon.
All of this is the study of sociology. It helps us understand during a confusing time.
you are indeed a johnnie one note (no pun intended). predictably you have to drag abortion, kicking and screaming, into any discussion of anything. and then there is the neo-Marxist class warfare and oppression line. moreover, we must believe every screed that the NYT sees fit to print. all of which, somehow strung together as it is, leads you to condemn the folks who want the economy opened up, whether totally or to some reasonable extent. does it not occur to you that many of the protestors are people who own small businesses, businesses that may well go under if the lockdown continues? or the the unemployed who would like to get back to work (an aside, I doubt that you who nursed at the public teat most of your life would know much about unemployment). Please do not take these remarks to mean that I agree with the protestors. there are, I am sure, good reasons for continuing the lockdown. and I certainly would not want to be the one to make a lock, unlock call. what gets my goat is your tendency to sound off when all you can muster is irrelevant comments about abortion, class warfare and the like. and, of course, your failure to judge fairly any group or point of view that you disagree with.
ReplyDeleteUnknown -- I agree with you people who have lost or will lose their livelihood deserve a break. And, overriding all this event is the dearth of knowledge about what is going on with the disease. I've read there is reason to believe there is so much disease out there and it has been spreading for long enough that social distancing will have little or no effect. There is so far no way to test the vast number of people to know for certain if closing down businesses is worth the sacrifice or not worth it.
DeleteAs to me bringing up abortion rights, I think you are naive if you think women's rights are not important. When Trump's election comes around there will be millions of voters who say, "I don't like anything about him except this one thing. He appointed anti abortion judges." It's not me that makes abortion a central issue, it's just a central issue.
we know about your a about your pro-abortion extremism. it's just that it is irrelevant to this discussion.
DeleteUnknown "We know about your pro-abortion extremism."
DeleteGood one. One is a pro abortion extremist if he says one fertilized cell is not a human being and women should have rights equal to men. My views are both moderate and patriotic.
Jon,
ReplyDeleteI read a few protesters demanding an immediate opening of the economy have appropriated “My Body, My Life” from the reproductive rights and female empowerment folks. Another interesting point was made by Mark Cuban, I think, that if people do not have the money to buy basic goods there is no economy. Then there is the “herd immunity” people that want to open up the economy now, before a vaccine is available, accelerate population exposure and see who falls out (i.e. dead customers). In that case lets all vape the virus, kick the dead to the curb, open up the shops and wait for the penniless to nose-smudge the storefront window. The herd immunity protesters have closed social distance and are shoulder to shoulder with the anti-vaccine crowd. And whoopee! Now the gun nuts, right-wing militiamen, and white supremacy advocates can strap on their latest military gear, shoulder their black guns, conceal carry their favorite pocket penis and block traffic to hospitals. It’s ‘merica damn it all! Furthermore, I’ll bet one-third of any public funds handed out will go to waste and fraud. Oh well, you can have booze delivered to your door, the cannabis dispensaries were closed down and run out of business, and your neighbors are watching. It’s a good death but a gummy couldn’t hurt.
Ardy B "I'll bet one-third of an public funds handed our will go to waste and fraud."
DeleteTimely remark for me. Yesterday my wife and I had a little estate business to do at the headquarters of a chain of banks in this state. The lobby was empty of customers, prohibited by the lock down of course. I asked the high level Vice President what she and other were busy with during this crisis. She said many in the bank were working on the federal program to pay people who are unemployed because of the crisis. I inquired further about how the program worked and the bank's role in it. She explained some of it and at the end said, "One of the peculiar twists is lots of people laid off from their jobs will receive more than when they were working."
I wanted to ask her how that happened but I knew she was busy so we left.
one can always count on a daily dose of purple prose from Ardy.
DeleteUnknown Apr 22, 2020 at 7:19 AM “purple prose”
DeleteThank you. It’s just how my old tired mind works. Out of respect for other posters, if you can believe it, I do try to avoid threadjacking. You’re welcome.
A virus is a perfect example of evolution, it mutates over and over, its jumps from the animal kingdom to humans and then it continues to mutate......can make the virus more deadly or make it more benign. Difficult to find a vaccine to prevent it because it keeps mutating thus rendering the vaccine ineffective. Influenza is a good example of this.
ReplyDeleteJinx "Influenza is a good example of this."
ReplyDeleteGreat post.