Corruption has replaced Critical Thinking, Common Decency, & Democracy
I’m seeing people posting on FB and raising more concerns about the overreaction by everyone for this virus and the economic impacts just because a few lives might be lost. No understanding of how disease propagates exponentially if we don’t stop the progress. He’s calling people who raise the alarm (like me) dangerous and irresponsible for spreading rumors that are unfounded since there are so few people that have died in China.
He listens to Trump who has lied and purposely deceived the public and the world by suppressing the messaging, downplaying the disease, limiting the ability to test to keep the numbers lower than they actually are, and creating confusion and fear amongst the people. The GOP is trying to use the distraction as an opportunity to further their agenda as is Barr. But for a few governors and a responsible healthcare community, millions would surely die.
The real disaster is our failure of leadership in this country. We can blame the people all day long, but most are scared of change and don’t have the cognitive ability to adapt to an increasingly complex world. Most people need work and structure to define their lives, guide their actions, and constrain their thinking so they can focus. An increasing number (growing in the last few decades) want to live, work, and think independently. And there are a few (very few) individuals who desire roles in leadership with the skills and ability to lead with integrity (beyond corruption).
There is a sufficient number who have no morals, integrity, or accountability who use manipulation and leverage corruption to achieve their goals of consolidating power and control. One of their primary tools for manipulation has been religion (control through beliefs) and more recently they have turned to manipulation of facts and information (control through misunderstanding and obfuscation). These corrupt individuals tend to seize power when there are gaps in leadership from failures or through deceit. Normative behavior, laws, and policies are designed to keep these players under control and limit the impact they have on progress and the desire of most people to live a life fulfilled (which includes equality and the opportunity for an appropriate share of equity)
Trump is emblematic of the impacts of leadership failure across the board. But, the virus of corruption has infiltrated leadership in all areas across this country (business, institutions, and politics) for over 50 years. Trump is first an opportunist .. nothing more. He is powerless without the corrupt leaders who insulate and support him in the GOP. But, Trump is also a master manipulator and he has cultivated loyalty amongst a significant portion of the people by exploiting the same tools of religious leaders. This is where Trump has become a danger to our society and threatens to overturn our way of government and perhaps disrupt and even regress progress and prosperity across the world.
The economic disaster that is about to unfold was preventable, not COVID-19.
