First of all, I hope that President Trump and Melania and everyone else caught up in this COVID event recovers quickly and completely. I would not wish this virus on anyone. It is extremely unfortunate and certainly puts the entire country in a bit of a crisis. Frankly, I hope this will serve as a wakeup call for all of those people who are not taking this virus seriously.
The fact that the Trumps contracted this virus and have been not abiding by medical and scientific guidelines points to a much bigger problem that has been plaguing this country for a while now. There are many, many examples of politicians that are driving now or who have driven in the past, public policies that are not based on facts, data and science. Public policy made on the basis of emotion, political expediency, personal beliefs or ‘alternate facts’, generally lead to bad public policy.
We have to get to a point where we can all get on the same page with respect to facts and data and then we can have an intelligent discussion about the way forward. Climate change is a prime example. Virtually all credible climate scientists and the overwhelming conclusion based upon the data from many, many studies indicate that global warming is real. Today’s civilization is having an adverse impact on the climate that will put future generations in peril if we don’t do something.
If we can get to the point where we can agree to these facts, then we can have discussions about what to do about it. There are, no doubt, a wide range of options and paths that various countries could take to mitigate these impacts. But that is the discussion we should be having. It is a given that not everyone will agree on specific mitigation measures but by agreeing that climate change is real we can more than likely come up with compromises that, although they may not be perfect, at least allow us to make some progress in addressing the issue. If the discussion is about whether or not climate change exists, in the face of overwhelming evidence that it does, we are just wasting time and it will lead to public policies that will not do anything to solve the problem.
There are countless other examples. Gun violence in this country. Something like 40,000 people a year are killed by guns in this country every year. That’s just a fact. You can’t just put your head in the sand and say its not true because it’s pretty easy to verify. So, let’s all agree to start with that fact. Most would assume that the deaths of 40,000 people a year is not really acceptable. The discussion should be ‘what can we do about it?’ rather than ‘is it true?’
We have the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. That’s a fact. And a disproportionate number of those incarcerated are people of color. That’s a fact. The conversation we should be having and what should be driving our public policies is ‘why is that the case?’ “What can we do about it?” Again, not everyone is going to agree about the next steps but at least if we all start with the same set of facts, there is a better chance that we can come up with policies to try to address this issue.
Abortion is another issue that is completely emotional and devoid of facts in trying to drive public policy. The facts are, there are 500,000 to 600,000 abortions in this country every year. The fact is there are less than 150,000 adoptions in this country every year. The fact is there are already about 400,000 kids in the foster care system. If you ignore these facts, it’s easy to throw up your arms and say that you are against abortion and Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Great. What then? People are not going to magically stop having sex and women are not going to magically stop getting pregnant. So, what happens to all of these ‘extra’ babies that are born? The facts and data are easy to verify. If you just ignore the facts and implement policies based upon wishful thinking, it virtually always creates more problems than it solves and that is exactly what will happen in this case.
And don’t confuse this argument to use facts and data to drive public policy as an excuse to argue that such a course would be completely devoid of emotion, compassion and empathy. They are not mutually exclusive. The argument I am making is that you need both and we are on a dangerous course to implement public policies completely devoid of facts, data and science.
This latest incident with Trump and his inner circle is an ‘in your face’ example of what happens when public policies ignore facts, data and science. The Rose Garden reception to tout the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court was completely contrary to all existing CDC and medical guidelines – people standing shoulder to shoulder with most not wearing masks – and here we are.
The road ahead for this country is going to continue to be extremely rocky until we get back to the point where facts, data and science are used to drive public policy. The coronavirus follows the rules of science and medicine. If we try to use ‘alternate facts’ to fight it, it will win. Keep your distance and wear a damned mask!
“With liberty and justice for all” is now “My rights. Up yours” from the Far-Right. I believe every problem requires a solution. From what I hear from the radical Far-Right, their solution is “Stand back and stand by” then start shooting. Kill them all!” Stonewall Jackson, a Confederate general, and a devout Presbyterian who claimed to be a truly devoted Christian believed the way to defeat the Northern Armies was to “Kill them all!” That theme seems to be what the far-right believe in.