The Coronavirus Exposes More Problems Than It Solves
COVID-19 isn’t uniting us or making us more equal
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As the Coronavirus began it’s spread across America, there was a glimmer of hope among the darkness for many; could a deadly virus make people reassess what’s important and what’s not — could it make us forget our political differences and come together once and for all? Could the Coronavirus really be the “great equaliser?”
While COVID-19 could lead to positive societal change in the long run, in the short run, it’s has exposed (and exacerbated) far more problems than it has actually solved. As the virus spreads and the death count grows, partisan tensions have risen and new divisions have formed. It seems as though Americans have reverted to their old ways, instead of using this virus as a catalyst for positive change.
America’s hyper-partisanship has been demonstrated by the lack of change in Trump’s level of support throughout this crisis. Typically, a leader dealing with a crisis like this would experience a ‘rally around the flag’ effect and, many world leaders — from Boris Johnson to Justin Trudeau — have. Trump, however, only saw his approval rating shift from 42% to 45%. For reference, after 9/11 (which caused far fewer causalities than COVID-19) Bush’s approval rating sky-rocketed from 51% to 88%.
As the rich and famous wax poetic from their ivory towers about the Coronavirus, and laud how it’s going to make us more equal, everyone else is left fearing for their safety; unable to get the vital testing that celebrities can get at the touch of a button.
The entrenched partisan loyalty that has become increasingly commonly over recent years was also seen in the struggle to pass a stimulus passage — having failed on it’s first two attempts to pass the Senate — as well as, in the fight over what to call the virus. While, the virus had been purposefully called COVID-19 (or Coronavirus) by global health authorities with the aim of avoiding controversy — an aim successfully achieved in most countries — politicos took little time before starting a partisan row over what to call the virus.
Trump needlessly sparked tension by his insistence on referring to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” — even as Chinese-Americans reported an increase in racist attacks against them. This unnecessarily incendiary rhetoric was then echoed by right-wing outlets, like Fox News and The Federalist, who should’ve known better.
The left was rightfully aggrieved by the right’s unnecessary ramping up of tensions. Yet, an influential minority on the left were too focused on exonerating the Chinese Government of wrong-doing — despite their Government obviously having blood on their hands for their cover-up and censorship regarding the virus. From a popular, verified, left-wing Twitter user chastising those who blamed China for COVID-19 to, The Guardian’s dismissal of concerns about Chinese wet markets as “prejudiced”, the left was too eager to exonerate the Chinese Government. Meanwhile, the right was irresponsible for using rhetoric that would put blame not onto the Chinese Government, but onto Chinese citizens themselves.
The entire feud over what to call the Coronavirus was not just entirely pointless (and harmful), it also exacerbated partisan tensions. The left’s focus on what to call the virus led to the reemergence of long-held accusations by conservatives that the left cared more about feelings than facts, while the right’s insistence on using the term ‘Chinese virus’ only added to left-wing concerns about bigotry within the Republican Party. This divisive argument was an early indicator that the Coronavirus would expose and worsen existing problems more than it would solve them.
Nothing says ‘nothing has changed’ quite like social media getting incensed over an utterly pointless faux-controversy that no-one outside of ‘very online’ circles cares about
Meanwhile, the war between Trump and the media shows no signs of ceasing any time soon, with Trump resisting calls to act statesmanly and, instead giving a press conference on Monday that — even by the President’s standards — was unhinged. In it, the President played a campaign-style video to reporters, got into a heated row with a female reporter and claimed to have powers that he does not actually have. As Trump spoke, CNN made their feelings towards the President and his speech clear, using their chyron to blast the conference as “propaganda” — and they accused Trump of trying to “rewrite history.” The memorable press conference reinforced the left’s dismay towards Trump and, cemented the right’s disdain towards the media. Once again, the Coronavirus was exposing — not healing — America of it’s dangerous, hyper-partisanship.
The partisan bickering wasn’t even reserved to important issues, with those on the far-left and the right attacking Nancy Pelosi for showcasing her freezer of ice-cream on the ‘Late Late Show’ — even as countless ordinary Americans resorted to similar comfort food during these turbulent times. Nothing says ‘nothing has changed’ quite like social media getting incensed over an utterly pointless faux-controversy that no-one outside of ‘very online’ circles cares about.
While COVID-19 could lead to positive societal change in the long run, in the short run, it’s has exposed (and exacerbated) far more problems than it has actually solved
But it’s not just in the political arena where COVID-19 has failed to change America for the better. Despite the repeated insistence that Coronavirus would be “the great equaliser”, the virus has instead exposed and worsened existing inequalities. Black Americans, who are disproportionately likely to live in poverty, have died at higher rates due to the Coronavirus than white Americans. Meanwhile, as the rich and famous wax poetic from their ivory towers about the Coronavirus, and laud how it’s going to make us more equal, everyone else was left fearing for their safety; unable to get the vital testing that celebrities could get at the touch of a button.
Ultimately, the much-promised and much-hoped-for positive long-term effects of the Coronavirus — from increased unity to decreased inequality — have yet to materialise, and lazily assuming positive change will come about automatically rather than through a concerted effort is a sure fire way to prevent such progress. The Coronavirus may eventually change American society for the better, but that’s far from guaranteed — and for now, it’s exposing America’s problems far more than it is healing them.
