Fareed Zakaria: Experts need to understand other perspectives

[eman623]

Fareed gets it. There are two sides to every issue and if you are staying home but still pulling down a paycheck and the only pain you're feeling is a sense of ennui over not being able to go out to a concert or the mall, then good for you. Just keep in mind that others are not so lucky and they might be young and healthy with families and they are much more terrified of economic apocalypse, than they are of the virus. They are not unreasonable in thinking this.

Outside of NYC, the virus is not having that big of an effect. No hospital in CA is even getting 10% of the Covid cases they expected. And a recent Stanford study indicated that there are hundreds of thousands who caught the virus, developed antibodies, cured themselves and never even knew they were sick.

This virus is dividing us along class lines. The have-nots hear the haves telling them what is good for them, but it sounds to them more that it's just good for the haves. Because to them it does.

Fareed Zakaria: Experts need to understand other perspectives
May 15, 2020

If anyone thought a global pandemic that has so far killed more than 80,000 Americans would override the country’s deep partisan divide, the data is in. It turns out that Democrats are significantly more likely than Republicans to believe that the pandemic is serious and to follow CDC guidelines. Cellphone data shows that people in counties that voted for Donald Trump have been moving around more than those in counties that voted for Hillary Clinton.

...

Let’s look at the COVID-19 crisis through this prism. Imagine you are an American who works with his hands — a truck driver, a construction worker, an oil rig mechanic — and you have just lost your job because of the lockdowns, as have more than 36 million people. You turn on the television and hear medical experts, academics, technocrats and journalists explain that we must keep the economy closed — in other words, keep you unemployed — because public health is important.

All these people making the case have jobs, have maintained their standards of living, and in fact are now in greater demand. They feel like they are doing important work. You, on the other hand, have lost your job. You feel a sense of worthlessness, and you’re terrified about your family’s day-to-day survival. Is it so hard to understand why people like this might be skeptical of the experts?

The COVID-19 divide is a class divide. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report last year on the “job flexibilities” of U.S. employees. Of the top 25% of income earners, more than 60% can stay home and still do their jobs. Of the bottom 25%, fewer than 10% can do the same.

Dr. Fauci has said he understands that maintaining these guidelines is “inconvenient.” For many people, they are not just inconvenient, they are life-shattering. Not all of those who work with their hands are Trump voters — many health care and front-line workers probably are not — but all understand that it is a luxury to be able to work from home.

Fareed Zakaria: Experts need to understand other perspectives (Opinion) | Columnists | wvgazettemail.com

 

[TobyOne]

 

[Fiddytree]

This virus is dividing us along class lines. The have-nots hear the haves telling them what is good for them, but it sounds to them more that it's just good for the haves. Because to them it does.

Disabled people everywhere:

 

[Integrityrespec]

Fareed gets it. There are two sides to every issue and if you are staying home but still pulling down a paycheck and the only pain you're feeling is a sense of ennui over not being able to go out to a concert or the mall, then good for you. Just keep in mind that others are not so lucky and they might be young and healthy with families and they are much more terrified of economic apocalypse, than they are of the virus. They are not unreasonable in thinking this.

Outside of NYC, the virus is not having that big of an effect. No hospital in CA is even getting 10% of the Covid cases they expected. And a recent Stanford study indicated that there are hundreds of thousands who caught the virus, developed antibodies, cured themselves and never even knew they were sick.

This virus is dividing us along class lines. The have-nots hear the haves telling them what is good for them, but it sounds to them more that it's just good for the haves. Because to them it does.

I think its the democrats that are telling the "have nots" to stay home and go hungry, not pay your bills and lose you home because you cannot pay your mortgage.

 

[Integrityrespec]

So it seems the democrats aren't doing to well.

 

[Irredentist]

Fareed gets it. There are two sides to every issue and if you are staying home but still pulling down a paycheck and the only pain you're feeling is a sense of ennui over not being able to go out to a concert or the mall, then good for you. Just keep in mind that others are not so lucky and they might be young and healthy with families and they are much more terrified of economic apocalypse, than they are of the virus. They are not unreasonable in thinking this.

Outside of NYC, the virus is not having that big of an effect. No hospital in CA is even getting 10% of the Covid cases they expected. And a recent Stanford study indicated that there are hundreds of thousands who caught the virus, developed antibodies, cured themselves and never even knew they were sick.

This virus is dividing us along class lines. The have-nots hear the haves telling them what is good for them, but it sounds to them more that it's just good for the haves. Because to them it does.

No one else ever seemed to care about my own financial difficulties before the pandemic. Not much respect for grocery workers. But now I'm the one with money and a job, while everyone else goes without.

No, I don't feel bad for them.

 

[Felis Leo]

Fareed gets it. There are two sides to every issue and if you are staying home but still pulling down a paycheck and the only pain you're feeling is a sense of ennui over not being able to go out to a concert or the mall, then good for you. Just keep in mind that others are not so lucky and they might be young and healthy with families and they are much more terrified of economic apocalypse, than they are of the virus. They are not unreasonable in thinking this.

Outside of NYC, the virus is not having that big of an effect. No hospital in CA is even getting 10% of the Covid cases they expected. And a recent Stanford study indicated that there are hundreds of thousands who caught the virus, developed antibodies, cured themselves and never even knew they were sick.

This virus is dividing us along class lines. The have-nots hear the haves telling them what is good for them, but it sounds to them more that it's just good for the haves. Because to them it does.

I would like to think that is because Fareed came from a place where he saw the effects of widespread poverty does to people, and that has given him a greater sense of empathy and understanding.

 

[Felis Leo]

No one else ever seemed to care about my own financial difficulties before the pandemic. Not much respect for grocery workers. But now I'm the one with money and a job, while everyone else goes without.

No, I don't feel bad for them.

Don't feel bad for who exactly, Irredentist? Tens of millions of fellow Americans who are now unemployed and are burning through their meager savings?

If that is the case, and people who believe as you do clearly do not care about the lives and livelihoods of the people who are suffering economically along with their families, tell me: Why should they in turn care about you? Assuming you are pro-lockdown, why should they want to listen to you since you clearly do not have their best interests at heart?

 

[PirateMk1]

Disabled people everywhere:

To the disabled people everywhere, :kissass

 

[Irredentist]

Don't feel bad for who? Tens of millions of fellow Americans who are now unemployed and are burning through their meager savings?

Yeah? Where was this concern when MY family was the one suffering and burning through our savings? I guess because there wasn't a pandemic, no one cared enough to bail us out.

So screw em. They can fend for themselves.

 

[Deuce]

Just because their opinion is understandable doesn't mean their opinion is correct.

 

[eman623]

No one else ever seemed to care about my own financial difficulties before the pandemic. Not much respect for grocery workers. But now I'm the one with money and a job, while everyone else goes without.

No, I don't feel bad for them.

No one is asking you to feel bad for them. Just let them get back to work just as you are still working.

 

[Fiddytree]

To the disabled people everywhere, :kissass

Right back at you.

 

[Felis Leo]

Yeah? Where was this concern when MY family was the one suffering and burning through our savings? I guess because there wasn't a pandemic, no one cared enough to bail us out.

So screw em. They can fend for themselves.

I do not want anyone to be bailed out. I want people to be allowed to make the decision for themselves whether they go back to work or not or reopen their businesses or not, and have the information necessary to minimize their risks.

I personally want all businesses to be allowed reopened, but with social distancing and mask-wearing be made mandatory, and businesses to have a "no-mask, no service" policy.

 

[Irredentist]

No one is asking you to feel bad for them. Just let them get back to work just as you are still working.

Why, so the disease can spread faster and easier? How does that benefit me?

 

[Integrityrespec]

No one is asking you to feel bad for them. Just let them get back to work just as you are still working.

So people who are getting paid and who want the grocery stores to stay open and those workers to keep stocking the shelves at a risk to their health are really willing to risk others lives. You want your toilet paper so the grocery workers need to go in while you sit home and enjoy CNN and MSMBC BS.
How many grocery clerks need to die so you have TP.

 

[Deuce]

I do not want anyone to be bailed out. I want people to be allowed to make the decision for themselves whether they go back to work or not or reopen their businesses or not, and have the information necessary to minimize their risks.

I personally want all businesses to be allowed reopened, but with social distancing and mask-wearing be made mandatory, and businesses to have a "no-mask, no service policy".

We'll be ready to open up when right wingers learn to act like they're ready to open up, not before.

 

[PirateMk1]

Right back at you.

:mrgreen:

 

[eman623]

Just because their opinion is understandable doesn't mean their opinion is correct.

What is correct? In some places, their opinion makes sense. A sparsely populated rural county with a handful of cases and no deaths is very different than urban NYC.

There are medical experts who say we need to keep the economy locked down. There are economic experts who say the lockdown will not stop Covid, only delay the inevitable and we are killing the economy. And people without degrees who are going to go out and work regardless. Zareed is just saying we need to give everyone a seat at the table.

 

[Felis Leo]

We'll be ready to open up when right wingers learn to act like they're ready to open up, not before.

I have no idea what you are even talking about.

What specifically are Republican governors who have ordered their states reopened doing wrong that Democratic governors who are reopening their states doing right?

 

[eman623]

Why, so the disease can spread faster and easier? How does that benefit me?

Enlightened self-interest. It keeps the economy from crashing too hard which may help you keep your job after the pandemic ends.

 

[Deuce]

What is correct? In some places, their opinion makes sense. A sparsely populated rural county with a handful of cases and no deaths is very different than urban NYC.

There are medical experts who say we need to keep the economy locked down. There are economic experts who say the lockdown will not stop Covid, only delay the inevitable and we are killing the economy. And people without degrees who are going to go out and work regardless. Zareed is just saying we need to give everyone a seat at the table.

Everybody pretending nothing is wrong and acting normally would also ruin the economy.

 

[eman623]

Everybody pretending nothing is wrong and acting normally would also ruin the economy.

I'm not suggesting that. No one is. We aren't going back to before. But we need to find a way forward that gets people back to work - safely.

 

[Irredentist]

I do not want anyone to be bailed out. I want people to be allowed to make the decision for themselves whether they go back to work or not or reopen their businesses or not, and have the information necessary to minimize their risks.

I personally want all businesses to be allowed reopened, but with social distancing and mask-wearing be made mandatory, and businesses to have a "no-mask, no service policy".

I think that would be an acceptable compromise. But I doubt very much that businesses are going to effectively enforce such measures. I resent being asked to put health and safety at risk for the sake of other people's ability to make money. They never cared about me, so why should I care about them.

 

[Irredentist]

Enlightened self-interest. It keeps the economy from crashing too hard which may help you keep your job after the pandemic ends.

Lotta maybes there. I'm not that worried about losing my job. As long as people still need to eat, I'll have employment.

On the other hand, the virus will spread faster if we relax restrictions. That's guaranteed.