PERSPECTIVE:
I'm trying to imagine the republicans back in the 1980s and 90s being as ridiculously cavalier and nonchalant about the HIV/AIDS crisis as they are now about #coronavirus today which is much more easily transmissible.
I'm trying to imagine the republicans back in the 1980s and 90s being as ridiculously cavalier and nonchalant about the HIV/AIDS crisis as they are now about #coronavirus today which is much more easily transmissible.
It's impossible for me to imagine them telling people to don't worry about exposure, don't worry about protection, no one really needs testing, and oh by the way, hurry and get back to work back then.
On the contrary, the opposite occurred. Not only were they terrified of anyone suspected of infection, they stigmatized individuals who became infected as well as wrongly and maliciously labelled entire demographic groups. People lost their jobs and were shunned by society.
There was no worry about the impact of the disease on the general economy despite the fact that the disease was as deadly for the rich and famous as anyone else. So I'm having a very difficult time understanding where the republicans are on #coronavirus from a mental perspective.
From what I can ascertain, their response to both HIV/AIDS and #coronavirus are completely irrational, but from opposite ends of the spectrum. They have desperately tried to use economic anxiety as their basis, but the majority of Americans while suffering economically, disagree.
And while I hate to think about it these terms, the only thing that keeps coming back to me is that 30-40 years ago the idea of the body politic of conservatism was not under imminent threat of demise. Reagan was in office and Gingrich had already begun fomenting...
...they nascent neo-conservative movement. There was no imminent let alone existential threat to their existence. And because there perhaps was a belief the HIV/AIDS was mostly a problem for others from labelled group, it didn't impact their reality - even when it did.
Whereas today, not only does #coronavirus potentially affect the population in general, but because of lack of economic and other resources it seems to have a much greater impact on demographic groups less associated with republicanism and conservatism,...
...and who are also more associated with jobs considered to be fundamental to economic viability that benefit big business.
But importantly, republicans and conservatives are on the verge of losing political power due to diminution of their real numbers.
But importantly, republicans and conservatives are on the verge of losing political power due to diminution of their real numbers.
And because conservatives are on the verge of becoming a permanent minority in this country #coronavirus is a convenient means of thinning the heard. And why would that idea be so outrageous? We've already seen this but in other ways.
Conservatives attempted to use the courts to manipulate the Census to diminish the population accomplish the same thing. They have done the same thing with voting rights for years. Why is negligence as a policy then an outrageous idea?
No one is accusing the republicans of deliberately initiating the #coroavirus. But it is impossible to ignore that the republican response is deliberate, indifferent, and negligent while they have been done deaf and resistant to change for the better.
It is also not impossible to ignore the fact for as insidious as it seems, there are benefits that accrue to the republicans by not acting assertively, forcefully and responsibly to resolve this crisis.
This then looks like our reality.
This then looks like our reality.
@threadreaderapp unroll...
