In America 2020 there is a disconnect between science and populism. This disconnect did not always exist. In the 1960's the triumph of American ingenuity and science was celebrated as the United States landed men on the moon. To be an intellectual, a learned man or woman of science was a celebrated profession. Scientists and Engineers were admired. They promised an almost unimaginable future of a life made easier by computers and technology. Young boys named Jobs, Allen, and Gates became obsessed with computers. They ordered kits and built them in their garage. From their passions, indeed their obsessions, Silicon Valley was born, and another American technological revolution led the world into the digital era.
Fast forward to 2020. A pandemic burns throughout the world. The 79 year old American doctor of epidemiology and virology who has trained his whole life for this moment- Dr. Anthony Fauci- is marginalized and ridiculed. Doctors and scientists who are the leading experts in their fields of viruses and pandemics are criticized if they make common sense suggestions like social distancing, testing, and wearing a face mask to prevent infections. You do not need a PhD in epidemiology to understand that staying apart and wearing face mask (and ideally a face shield) stops the spread of the virus. But these days, to understand that concept you apparently need to be anyone other than an American. Well that's not entirely fair. You need to be anyone other than an American who is a Republican.
How and when did conservatives abandon the mind? When did being smart and well trained become inconsistent with other conservative values like capitalism and rugged individualism?
In her magnum opus Atlas Shrugged, written in 1957, the philosopher-novelist Ayn Rand depicted a dystopian United States of the future where liberals attacked men of achievement (for all her genius, Rand's writings exclusively used the masculine pronoun). The philosophical concept and plot of the novel was that the liberal views on property rights and altruism that held that a person's ability and production belonged to the collective would slowly strangle innovation. Working for the good of everyone would produce the good for no one. In Atlas Shrugged men of production and achievement in various fields from engineering to finance to production to music "go on strike" and disappear from society. They give up and thus show the world what happens when people scorned for their ability stop working. In the penultimate scene, New York City loses electricity and the experts needed to repair the problem are missing.
In America 2020 the people of production and achievement have not (yet) gone on strike. But they labor in the shadows. Dr. Fauci works behind the scenes because at Republican presidential rallies "Fire Fauci Now" chants routinely breakout. The President trashes the CDC and withdraws from the World Health Organization.
Let's take a look at two different states. Florida opened early. The Governor refused to require people to wear masks in public. The results has been a week of 10-11,000 new Floridians a day becoming infected. ICU beds are at 95% of capacity. And as Dr. Fauci recently pointed out, the death rate- low at this point- is about to explode because it takes Covid19 about 2 to 4 weeks to kill. Florida is teetering on the edge of chaos and destruction. And in the face of this scientific evidence, the governor says everything is fine rejects the advice of intellectuals and scientists that increased testing and masks will help stop the spread of the virus.
In an almost unbelievable display of illogic, the president and most conservative politicians argue that increased testing only leads to increased NUMBERS of people who are infected. If you do not test then the virus numbers are low (sadly, our own FDC has also adopted this philosophy, telling our federal judges every Friday that everything is fine because the virus numbers are very low. Meanwhile the first inmate just died of Covid19). The logic behind this belief is staggeringly dangerous. If accepted, it could be applied to cancer, pollution, gun murder rates, domestic violence, you name it. Stop reporting cancer deaths, and cancer is cured! Right? (Unless you die of cancer-but for everyone else, it's party time.)
In Rhode Island, Governor Gina Raimondo had a different approach from Governor DeSantis. She asked the federal government for help in testing and they told her to go pound salt. So she formed a partnership with CVS (which is headquartered in RI) for testing. 25% of Rhode Island citizens have been tested. The positive rate is under 2%. Florida's positive rate is in the teens. Governor Raimondo mandated masks in public, limited public gatherings, and cajoled the company Salesforce to develop a contact tracing app for free. Infosys was tasked with deploying a location tracking feature, and Survey Monkey was assigned to monitor symptoms. Rhode Island is only one of four states labeled "low risk level" by the CDC. Five people a day or less are dying of Covid19 in RI, 50 people a day or less are newly infected. That's less than the daily rate in Hialeah.
Rhode Island was uniquely situated to be severely damaged by the virus- it has the nation's second densest population and the ninth oldest population. The virus struck quick and hard at the beginning. But testing, contract tracing, masks in public, a public/private partnership, and listening to the health experts resulted in the virus being beaten down. Rhode Island did not invent this playbook. New Zealand, Thailand, South Korea, all have done the same thing.
But here is the problem. Governor Raimondo is not a right wing conservative. She listens to experts and deployed companies with expertise to work with her and devise a strategy to succeed. She employed a NASA 1960's "lets listen to the experts" philosophy with the resulting success that makes right wing anti-intellectuals furious.
We have some of the smartest, well trained experts in the world to help us defeat this virus. Rhode Island has given us a roadmap. And mark our words, what they did will be rejected by almost every Republican politician in the country.
We know where we are at- Intellectuals are dangerous. Scientists who speak the truth are bad. Scientific testing leads to bad news so just stop testing. Experts are idiots and must be ignored. The Constitution enshrines the right not to wear a mask in public and drink at a bar (The murky third amendment we believe).
What we do not know for the life of us is how we got here and how Ayn Rand, more than 63 years ago, got it right.
When you see something that is not right, not fair, find a way to get in the way and cause trouble. Congressman John Lewis
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26 comments:
Fauci has been ridiculed because he (a) admitted that he lied to the American public about the efficacy of masks and (b) because he changes his opinion from day to day on a an array of critical topics (go back to pre-lockdown era and his remarks that there was essentially no need to worry. Next time Fauci says a vaccine or drug is ineffective we must assume he is tamping down demand so the government can stockpile. Blindly following the "experts" is not leadership. CDC advice has to be balanced by other interests, including the fiscal, mental and non-COVID related health of the hundreds of millions who haven't been sickened by this virus. As for DeSantis, Florida's death toll still looks good compared to most anywhere else. Look at hospitalizations and deaths, not just new cases.
Rump, the Dems have totally politicized this virus - goal is to keep everyone locked up so the economy is still crippled on election day, push fraud-prone mail in voting, and ensure Biden doesn't have to come out of his basement to reveal small campaign crowds and an inability to debate. Stop demonizing the GOP for focusing on the greater good.
Not only is Betsy De Vos ordering that all schools be open in the fall (or else federal funding will be withheld), but she is also ordering that schools remove any and all science courses from their curriculum.
Rump. You are a man with financial means. You have money saved in the bank. You arent worried where your next meal will come from. You don't wake up in the morning as a single mother, underemployed or laid off, with hungry kids staring at you in the morning. As a person of means, your sentiment is unsurprising. The rest of the real world actually cares if shutdowns crush the less fortunate. It must be nice to ignore the plight of the poor and preach your sanctimonious drivel. Among you and your rich friends, you will never understand the necessity of moving forward, despite the costs. I just read nyc will not open schools full time, despite how much better nyc is at the moment on covid. Congratulations! Im sure you are elated for the lucky parents in nyc!
Ladies and gentlemen. Blog readers of all ages. We present to you exhibit A in all his or her anti intellectual glory - 9:46 am.
10 am. So better dead than poor? You make assumptions I have not said. Now is the time for public and private partnership to help those who cannot work. There is 130. BILLION in unclaimed PPE funds. START WITH THAT. Take the money only available to corporations and provide people paychecks. Bernie Sanders says 2,000 a month. I do not know the formula. But what Rhode Island did is not inconsistent with closing businesses. In fact businesses are open. Because they test they contract trace and they wear masks. It’s sooooo simple any idiot not a republican can understand it.
I agree with your basic point, but your figures on hospital and ICU occupancy are not correct, (if you believe the CDC is correct): https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/covid19/report-patient-impact.html
According to the CDC, as of this morning, Florida has 73% of all hospital beds occupied, 14.6% of which are occupied by COVID patients.
Florida has 70% of ICU beds occupied.
BTW 9:46- FAKE NEWS. You are either a right wing propogandist or you buy it hook line and sinker. DR Fauci never ADMITTED HE LIED ABOUT MASKS- you post the link to Dr Fauci saying "I lied about masks please forgive me" and I will publish my picture, name and home address on this blog within twenty minutes of your post. Bet?
What did happen is that ALL doctors at the beginning of this in February had a debate about the efficacy of masks because there was not clear data on how the virus was transmitted. This is what honest scientists do. They make recommendations on the data. When the data changes they follow the science and data. There is no shame in changing your mind, unless you are the idiot president. As Winston Churchill said "those who never change their mind never change anything."
So what you want, is the world is flat view of science because 500 years ago the best minds thought the world was flat, so that is that. Flight was impossible. That is that.
You are a brainless idiot that spread lies. Stop reading my blog until you show me the video or statement of Fauci admitting he lied. The only liar here is you. Moron. Go shake hands with a few dozen people while eating french fries and do the world a favor.
It's me, Mr. 9:46. Here is a clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2MmX2U2V3c
- Fauci comes on about 30 seconds in - he clearly said govt. told people masks ineffective because they did not want public to stock up on masks at the expense of first responders/health care workers. Could have simply asked people not to buy N95s and urged that they make their own masks instead. Remember Fauci AND Surgeon General were telling us back then that masks don't help.
BTW, your emotional outburst and name calling in response to my initial remark is a tell for cognitive dissonance.
Here's the full clip Rump, key exchange starts around 1:35. Enjoy!
When I hear the Trump/anti-science crowd argue with the science crowd I am always reminded of few clients who always knew better than me and everyone else. The ones who think DNA evidence is required for a conviction or direct eye witness testimony is hearsay. They have no clue and any attempt to explain the law falls on deaf ears because their own narcissism insists to them they are right and everyone else is wrong. Dunning–Kruger effect in action.
Hey moron. Where does he say “I LIED?”
read your comment “Fauci admitted he lied ...”. This is what propagandists do. They take a half truth and twist it. What he said is what I said. He changed his view on masks when the new data supported a change. That’s what scientists do. Devious idiots like you take that and turn it into “Fauci admitted he lied “. I’m on to you. You’re officially the third person banned from the blog. You get to wear the coveted and rare “rumpole banned me” button.
Oh! you only meant lockdown AND huge handouts for all? Nice thought. But it is not gonna happen. It is not the reality we are living in after the trillions already passed. It is not the actual choice we are called to make. It is simply not the real world! Falling back to fantasyland possibilities is intellectually dishonest.
I love the "better dead than poor?" retort that rich people love to repeat. The short answer is ABSOLUTELY YES. Poor people are ABSOLUTELY willing to take the risk of getting COVID. You will never understand that. You won't feel that. You wont empathize with that. I wouldnt expect you to understand from your vantage point over on fisher island...
I know I'm banned but the full clip didn't attach - here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XHC5Kxxv_w
Watch it even if you don't post it.
This thread - both sides - is a perfect encapsulation of Miami stupidity.
9:46 am. I have to respectfully disagree with your psychological diagnosis of Rumpole.
What Is Cognitive Dissonance?
The term cognitive dissonance is used to describe the mental discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes. People tend to seek consistency in their attitudes and perceptions, so this conflict causes feelings of unease or discomfort.
I think a much better diagnosis for him would be:
Know-it-all, witling, smart aleck, wise guy, wiseacre, wisenheimer, walking encyclopedia, smarty, smarty-pants, malapert. But in a good way.
Rump, quit being such a bully.
It's a tough few months for the Trump lovers. The Democratic coronavirus has wiped out the economy. Republicans are losing their confederate statutes. The confederate flag is being removed. It appears colored people (hat tip to Rosy Aponte) are going to be treated a bit more equal. Now you go and pile on the Trump lovers by citing science and math and stuff? Have you no shame? Do you have to kick a hillbilly when they are down?
I would love to write more, but I have to go to the printers and pick up the phony ballots I had made. I'll be filling out 10,000 phony ballots for Biden. Then after that, I'll be going to Homestead to do a voter registration drive for all the illegals working on farms.I dont have time to be writing on the blog.
Sincerely,
Nancy Pelosi
My anonymous $0.02.
What Rumpole is saying is true, but it's not the whole truth. Not because he is withholding anything, but because of points of view. His point of view is not the next guy's point of view. I think 10am tried to articulate this, but fell short.
Another point of view is this: People die. Not some people. All people. No amount of risk mitigation, hand washing, mask wearing, or social distancing will change that. The questions becomes: 1) how do we want to live in the meantime? and 2) what is our tolerance for risk?
Unfortunately, those are very personal and subjective questions and there are as many "right" answers as there are people in the world. And those answers can be split further still into "how do I want to live?" versus "how I am willing to live/sacrifice for the sake of the collective?"
Just because Fauci says something is the best science answer (and I do trust Fauci - he's probably the most trustworthy person in government today, if you ask me), doesn't mean that I have to accept his answer as my answer to the fundamental questions of life, risk, and death. I accept Fauci's advice on risk and mitigation, and then I apply that to my own life. If Fauci says that the best way to end coronavirus is to hide under my bed for the next 12 months, I am likely to accept the probable truth of that, and I am going to do something different anyway.
Do I wear a mask? Yes. Should you wear one too? Yes. It is such a small ask that no reasonable person should be pushing back against it. Wearing a mask doesn't hurt business, it doesn't cause physical pain, and there are mask options cheap enough that no one should be bothered by the personal expense.
But if people want to eat at restaurants, or go to the barber, or hang out at the beach, or even send their kids to brick and mortar school; so long as we are informed of the risks, that's on each individual to take (or not take) those risks. If other people taking those risks freaks you out, you are welcomed to hide under your bed.
We live in a free society and that comes with an acceptance of greater levels of risks than the alternative. And while this disease is a new and elevated risk over what most of us previously experienced in our lives, the risk is still not so extraordinary to justify stripping freedoms in a free society. Lightening will not strike me down if I have a drink at a bar, nor will it strike down the person next to me. (Maybe it will. I haven't been to a bar in a while).
Cover your face, wash your hands, stay home if you're sick. Be kind to one another. Trust but verify. And remember, fear of death is no reason to stop living.
Rump, I'm curious, how do you ban someone who makes an anonymous comment? Do you track IP addresses as the moderator?
Dr Fauci, the hero of the left wing nuts. Anything that will hurt this country's economy is O.K. with you guys, because maybe it will help Drooling Joe win. Shame on you. Smart folks will go into cash if it looks like Biden may win because the country's economy will go right down the toilet. I used to be quite liberal but I am happy to have had politics move to the left so that I do not have to be associated with idealogs like you who have never changed your mind. Why not go out and burn a statue or two.
I can't really ban people. It's more theoretical than actual. It's theater of the mind. You have to buy into the whole blog schtick and then enjoy the repartee. Stop being so literal or I'll ban you.
Dear Sir(or Rumpole if that is appropriate)
I find your articles/remarks interesting/informative. Nevertheless, at certain times corrections are necessary. Today you run down Florida and give a boost to Rhode Island as
to the coronavirus testing, as if Rhode Island has a survivor formula and Florida is on a
death watch. Be advised that the Johns Hopkins coronavirus dashboard as of 10PM states a
case-fatality ratio for Rhode Island of 5.64% while the Florida case-fatality ratio is
1.72%. Seems like I will take my chances with Gov. DeSantis!
Respectfully, Samuel Danziger
Dear Mr. Sam. Unlike other Yahoos who read this blog, I respect your views and comments.
Let's think this issue a bit deeper. First, Governor DeSantis fired (or she resigned I do not exactly remember) the individual at the Fla Dept of Health who was responsible for publishing the virus rates in Florida because her numbers were "more complete" than the governor wanted. She has since opened her own site.
Second, Rhode Island's numbers are highly trustworthy because they are reported in a public/private partnership. Less ability to monkey the numbers. The 5% fatality rate mirrors the reported rate for this virus worldwide. As Dr Fauci said the other day, the reported low death rate lags 2-4 weeks behind the reported infected rate as it takes that long for the virus to kill. So before you go moving in with Mickey D, wait until the middle of August to see where we are at. I PRAY we remain at 1% which means doctors have adapted and developed a better way to treat the virus. If that is so, The rate will also fall in Rhode Island. Neither Governor has an ability to affect survival rates. Hospitals do that.
But if Florida runs out of beds, which Rhode Island is in no danger of doing, then the death rate will explode as people die at home. Those deaths may not be reported.
Also, since Florida did such a bad job of isolating and contact tracing, young people are disproportionally getting the virus in the Sun and Fun state. They have a higher survival rate, but lets not celebrate our kids getting sick.
Finally there is this. Assuming population rates equal, would you rather live in a state where 1% of people are getting infected, or 20% of people are getting infected? And would you rather live in the 1% state where the ICU is at 10% of capacity, or in the 20% state where the ICUs are at 99+% of capacity. Even if the death rate is five times higher, your chance of getting sick are 20 time less. I'd choose the 1% state every time.
To paraphrase WC Fields, all things being equal I would rather be in Rhode Island. Of course personally I am in a small European Country since late March with a low infection rate and excellent health care if needed. The US is too dangerous for me.
Thanks for reading. We need more readers like you.
HR
Rumpole! Atlas Shrugged as a guide for modern life! Really? I read it when I was 19; it is that kind of book. (In those days, we also all read Bonjour Tristesse, by then-haled-as-genius Francoise Sagan: our avid reading of both books were signs of our youth and naivete. But no indicator of our later wisdom and intellectual growth, which you usually demonstrate strongly.)
I am from Rhode Island. It is 48 miles long and 37 miles wide, and 1/3 of it is water. It is considerably smaller than Miami-Dade County. RI did a successful campaign in the 60s to immunize the entire population against polio; you can do that kind of thing when you are tiny. Florida is not tiny: it had 8 million pop when I moved here in 1969; now it is over 21 million, with a variety in belief, education, wealth, race, ethnicity, and every other indication of diversity you can possibly think of. So there is a limit to how really well the RI method can be applied to Florida, as admirable and effective as it was.
The message to you, though, is relax; wear your mask, encourage others to wear theirs. Recognize that you (and I) cannot tell others what to do. We didn't cause Covid-19, and we can't cure it ourselves. We can sure contribute to its spread by failing to take the simple steps to limit its spread.
I wonder what your beloved Ayn Rand’s Institute is doing with their PPP taxpayer money. Maybe buying some new Gucci bootstraps to pull themselves up with?
9:46 defense of Trump is amazing. Especially when you consider that the entire episode. Fauci, Trump and the strategic response to the moment are all part of and owned by the same administration. He is not saying the political opposition screwed it up, he is saying the Trump administration screwed it up and therefore it’s not Trumps fault. In fact, he seems to be suggesting that the entire debacle is a good reason to re elect the president. Brilliant! Lamentably, such brilliance is necessary to spin anything positive out of the Trump experience. The process was always a joke but the 9:46s would say look at the shiny economy. Now they can’t point to anything that hasn’t been an abject disaster. Process or result. So the only way to advance the cause of re-electing a buffoon is to improve on the Biden nicknames. Before it was Trump sucks but Biden is sleepy joe therefore less bad. Now Trump is so bad he can only be electable if the opponent is a drooling Joe. Nice!
The Ayn Rand Institute is not Ayn Rand. I do not speak for them, or for her for that matter. Only my view of her writings and philosophy.
My use of her book Atlas Shrugged is appropriate and intelligent readers (the very few I have) would have understood the implicit irony of her book detailing what happens to society when liberals attack men of production because of their jealousy that they do not have the intelligence and skills to be as successful so they just take what they can by virtue of being in power and the justify it in the name of "the public good."
The irony is the reality of 2020 when liberals support the intelligent and productive people of our society and fight to get the government to listen to them, while the right wing conservatives (supposedly Rand's constituency, but not really if you understand her philosophy of Objectivism) attack people of intelligence, success and productivity for similar reasons as the left does in Atlas Shrugged- they are too stupid to be successful and productive and use their power in their numbers and their rage at their lack of intelligence as the weapons against people of achievement. Thus the "Fire Fauci" chants by people who do not and cannot understand what an epidemiologist does. They do not know the word and that frightens them.
To make it simple for you- Ms. Rand almost got it right- her prediction of the revolt against people of intelligence and success has come true unfortunately. She just got wrong who would be doing the revolting. It is not the avowed altruist/collectivists of the left. It's the collectivists of the right. Which is why, if you reread what I wrote, Ms. Rand always rejected most overtures from Republicans, calling them the same as Democrats in their belief the state owned you. It was always to her-and she was correct- whose ox was gored. For liberals it was the economic inequality. For Republicans it was the social religious xenophobic agenda.
Lots of difficult concepts for you my Rhode Island friend at 2:09. Take your time and read slowly. You can do it if you try. May I suggest some of Ayn Rand's non-fiction books as a way to start? The essay The Virtue of Selfishness is a great place to start. If you read it you will understand the name was chosen to provoke thought and discussion. Have at it Mi Amigo.
I know I prefer to listen to a doctor, who is going to tell me what the best science and knowledge says can save my life, rather than a politician who is going to tell me what he thinks I want to hear.
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