I think you are only being naive in believing a lot of other countries aren’t gonna fuck this up royally too. Probably slightly less bad because Trump is a complete narcissist imbecile above all others but probably statistically insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
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There is something to this because as awful as Trump is we have to remember that the US, and the whole West frankly, has had some massive structural problems that precede Trump.
One of them is fact that even the nominal left does not really believe in the fundamental value and importance of the government as a safety
net. This is closely related to the misconception that “running the government like a business” is the same as running it effectively. In essence, for at least a couple of decades the people running the governments in the west have kind of abandoned the idea that the government should defend the vulnerable and has transitioned to approaching the use of government power as a technocratic optimization problem. I.e. like a business management problem. This makes them woefully unprepared for a legit pull out all the stops crisis. And we can see it play out in the bailout negotiations where they are debating the whos and hows from a design perspective when there really isn’t time for that. They are architects debating design choices for a house that is on fire.
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The people I assume you are taking about won’t ever see those statistics.
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Getting rid of Trump is the prerequisite for anything other than a horror show because it’s clear what his playbook is, it’s the “Chinese virus”, he is going to full bore deflect all the blame for the forthcoming catastrophe onto the Chinese, with no regard at all for the consequences. Worse, I have no faith at all that a decent chunk of the American population won’t buy into this, due to the American habit of considering every problem in terms of an enemy to be defeated (“war on drugs”, etc). It’s comforting to have some external villain to blame. So I sure hope his popularity declines when shit gets real, otherwise I’m going to try to figure out how you get one of them there WAAF badges.
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The problem is they can go back to work (if the state allows) but there won’t be any customers when they get there. The greater public is buying into the threat we face. So we can shop Amazon, or postpone that trip to the hardware store. My bowling leagues have shut down for the season. They’re not going to restart, and if they do, my team won’t be there. His best strategy is to keep doing what he’s doing, but the pressure is starting to get to him, and he’s thinking this malaria drug is some kind of magic bullet that’s going to save everyone.
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Yeah, this is a demand shock. Like even as the crisis eases, people will be fearful and they will want to hoard money rather than spend it. This is probably going to require that the government step in as an agent of demand. That is, stimulus, but I think it’ll need to be in more of a New Deal way, with prolonged investment in projects.
Once the deaths hit home, then self isolation will be even more extreme. Unless you are sitting on a fortune, who in their right mind is going to be making purchases outside of immediate needs?
(Ya I know lots of people are still trying). But when everyone knows 2-3 people that dies from this thing then the virus itself will be in charge until it fades away due to seasonality or strict quarantine or herd immunity or vaccination. No politician will be able to entice people to go out and work or spend.
Building hospitals and a strategic reserve of medical equipment with local caches is a project that comes to mind. Won’t happen though.
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Correction - he is is hoping it is a magic bullet that saves HIM. He doesn’t care about the sick people, he just wants praise from the TV and praise from his rally crowds.
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My car needs a head gasket and last week I was debating between replacing it versus a new car. (Normally I would just get a new car except for the crazy current circumstances.) For now I just said fuck it and parked it in the driveway. I’ll deal with it next month or next quarter or maybe next year.
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Oh shit here we go. Looks like it’s time to blame those dirty Mexicans.
He’s betting hard on xenophobia and he might end up being correct, ugh.
Maybe blue states will start closing borders to red states. That will be fun times.
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More likely to be the other way round. The states known to have bad problems are blue states.
It’s a deal!
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And yeah this is why I hope the fact that the US fucked up is evident to people, because otherwise I think this appeal to naked xenophobia will work. Why wouldn’t it?
I think Florida is coming into play as a red state with problems. Deplorable Governor will likely go along with Trump to get things back to normal, but that’s certain death for thousands of olds of both parties who are largely already shuttered into their houses and deathly afraid of the grim reaper.