When the US has endured past attacks by stealthy enemies – Pearl Harbor, say, or 9/11 – there has been some effort from the White House down to rally the nation around a common defense. Not so this time.
When Americans are asked about key policies relating to coronavirus, such as when lockdown should be eased and economies reopened, their answer is starkly partisan. A survey by the University of Chicago found that 77% of Democrats want lockdown restrictions to remain in place for as long as needed to protect health, while only 45% of Republicans take that view.
“Politics more than economics is dividing Americans,” the Chicago researchers concluded.
Trump has adopted a similar partisan stance. Instead of acting for the nation as a whole, he has favoured party political point scoring ahead of November’s presidential election.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/28/us-coronavirus-death-toll-racial-disparity-inequality?CMP=Share_iOSApp_OtherFr Tim Hazelwood, a priest of the Diocese of Cloyne and a member of the Association of Catholic Priests of Ireland, said on RTE Radio yesterday that there was a Catholic media that was calling for a relaxation on the rules concerning the reopening of churches.
When pressed to name who he was talking about he mentioned The Iona Institute and The Irish Catholic newspaper.
Why is the right-wing so intent on pushing for an early opening? In the US it is the Republicans and the Trumpites, who are pushing for early opening. And now in Ireland right-wing Catholics are calling for an earlier opening of churches.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin was clear on radio and television yesterday pointing how important it is for the Catholic Church to heed the advice of State authorities.
It is a pity that The Iona Institute and The Irish Catholic are attempting to hijack the Catholic Church in Ireland in order to shape it into a conservative/right-wing organisation.
2 comments:
Why is the right-wing so intent on pushing for an early opening? In the US it is the Republicans and the Trumpites, who are pushing for early opening. And now in Ireland right-wing Catholics are calling for an earlier opening of churches.
I find this mystery quite mysterious. I won't opine on left/right politics in Ireland but I do have some background on the subject in the US.
Generally speaking (not always), the right in America favors individuals making their own decisions, are generally suspicious of government mandates and generally more accepting of the fact that harms will result from individual choices. The left in America is generally speaking (not always) more suspicious of the outcomes that they project would result from individual choices, and more willing to embrace government mandates as solutions. The are generally more likely to want the "State authorities" to give advice, more likely to believe the advice and more likely to support the "advice" being mandatory.
Given that breakdown, it's not at all surprising to me that, as you observe, people on the right in the U.S. favor removing government mandates prohibiting worship, are more willing to let people make their own choices and are more tolerant of the harms that may result. It's not at all surprising to me that people on the left are more willing to embrace government mandates, less concerned about the impact on individual freedom and more concerned about the harms that they perceive would result if the mandates were removed.
Like I said, I don't know what the situation in Ireland is, but I'm surprised that the situation in the US surprises you.
Insightful and cogent SeanNY.
Adding: It’s a persistent feature of those denying the benefits of diverse thought, that they point to the past as some utopia of consensus. The author suggests that there was uniformity of opinion in the US as to what reaction was appropriate to Pearl Harbor and to 9/11. I doubt he was around for Pearl Harbor - and I seriously doubt he was paying attention for 9/11. Neither was a utopia of consensus - but what characterized both was a massive uptick in state power, the beginning of wars and very considerable encroachments on individual liberty. Perhaps it’s the diminution of the individual in favor of state power that moves the author to write a piece like this.
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