1/ Ben Shapiro says it's different if an 81 yr old dies of COVID as opposed to a 30 yr old, bc life expectancy is only 80 anyway. Presumably he's saying if older folk die bc we re-open, it's sad, but not as bad as if COVID were dispro killing young people. A few thoughts...
2/ On the one hand, you can make a purely economistic argument that the 30 yr old is likely more 'productive' than the 81 yr old. Some say this. But Shapiro normally preens as a moral avatar, not given to such transactional thinking. After all, by the 'maker and taker' logic...
3/ ...one could easily justify abortion (which he opposes) bc the child would take more resources (for at least 18 yrs) than they produce, while the mother likely contributes thru labor/taxes, which may now diminish if she chooses to exit the paid labor force or go part time...
4/ Note, this is not my argument in favor of reproductive freedom, but one could make that argument following the implicit logic of Ben's argument re: older folks vs younger folks and COVID...
5/ Additionally, if you substitute the phrase "person with diabetes" or "person with asthma" or "person with high blood pressure" for the 81 year old in the scenario, and "generally healthy person" for the 30 year old, you can see how monstrous this thinking is...
6/ It amounts to Ben saying that the lives of people who are in high risk groups are not as valuable as re-opening the economy and getting back to "normal." I know Ben would say the age example is not like the pre-existing condition example, but the logic is the same...
7/ Both view people as units of exchange, not as having intrinsic worth, which is Ben's normal shtick...the shtick he would deploy, for instance, to oppose choosing to end one's life w/assistance of a physician, even if they were well past 80 or gonna die next month anyway...
8/ Finally, even if we grant the abstract point (that the death of an 81 yr old & 30 yr old are different as to their social impact or how jarring we find them), here's the thing: if we make a decision as a society that endangers the 81 yr old, WE are to blame for that...
9/ It's not just a question of saying something like, 'Ya know, the 1918 flu killed people in their prime' & thinking that's more jarring than a virus that kills dispro older folks. It's a matter of making a decision based on pure economics and politics to re-open...
10/...even as all experts say that will lead to a spike in deaths & illness. The 81 yr old will not be dying of natural causes in that sense, but bc the right wing cares more about Wall St than lives and can't countenance more massive govt support to get folk thru the crisis...
11/ Shorter version: Ben Shapiro is a blithering idiot. And his Bubbe should be very angry with him right about now...
