In a scene right out of the book of Exodus, Americans are beginning to voice the same cry Moses made to Pharaoh: “Let my people go!” As the people of these United States become more and more restless, the taffy pull between freedom and public health is getting very sticky. And it is occurring largely along partisan lines. So why does the COVID-19 glove fit so perfectly on the leftist hand? Here are but a few reasons:
#1 Control
From dictating the type of straw you can use in your soda (paper or plastic) to the size of the Super Big Gulp you are permitted to purchase, the left has consistently desired greater control over the population. The Coronavirus crisis is an ideal outlet for it to rule and reign over a formerly free people. Because there has been a valid reason to force Americans into their homes and hence into submission, the left is balking at removing these restrictions.
Over on the right, protests are mounting in state after state. As Liberty Nation’s Kelli Ballard wrote, “Patience is stretched thin, and tensions are running high as citizens start to rebel against having their freedom withheld. Maybe it’s a result of the number of Coronavirus cases not being as high as previously warned. Perhaps it is because people feel that local governments have usurped too many of their rights. Cabin fever could be playing a role, also, in the nation’s unrest.”
Perhaps inadvertently, the COVID-19 scare is giving cover to the need for those on the left to control the population. Now that restrictions are in place, these progressives appear to loathe easing up to permit the country to get back to something that resembles normalcy.
#2 Universal Health Care
Again – whether by design or circumstance – the United States is adopting a variety of universal health care policies. The CARES Act included a $100B fund to offset health care costs involving the Coronavirus. The money will go to health care providers for everything and anything, from hospital construction to medical supply costs. Think of it as a giant slush fund of taxpayer dollars.
According to the April 15 edition of the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, “Medicare, for example, pays $36 to $51 for each test. As testing becomes more widespread, though, the total cost will begin to mount. Hospitals and labs are now required to post the cost of coronavirus tests, and insurers, Medicare, and Medicaid are required to cover the tests without cost-sharing to the patient.” Those words, “without cost-sharing to the patient,” necessarily add up to “the taxpayer will foot the bill.” Fortunately, the current type of coronavirus has not been as severe an outbreak as anticipated, but what happens if “Coronavirus: The Sequel” hits?
#3 Universal Basic Income
Sending out $1,200 checks to almost every adult with a pulse is a form of Universal Basic Income (UBI). While this might seem necessary in the short term, it sets an unsustainable precedent for the future. Liberty Nation’s economic guru Andrew Moran avers:
“A UBI does have some credibility if its intended desire to dismantle the bloated and wasteful welfare state is realized. However, if it is only to complement the multi-trillion-dollar jobs program for millions of civil servants, then it is just another costly layer that will end up bankrupting the U.S. government, enslaving the people to the state, and diminishing two of America's natural resources: human capital and productivity. Because it is a bad idea, it will inevitably end up becoming public policy."
When public health or security is involved, liberty tends to take a back seat. Hopefully, unlike the biblical account in Exodus, it will not take ten plagues before the people are freed. But make no mistake, there is an ideological battle being waged just below the surface of this COVID-19 crisis. It is likely those on the right will need to remind progressives who tend to find a socialist solution under every rock that the Coronavirus gloves are meant to be disposable.
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Read more from Leesa K. Donner.
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