Coronavirus shows how Joe Biden is the wrong answer

Updates

1. Originally published, March 3, 9:57 am.
2. March 3, 11:12 am:
   • The Washington Post has a story reinforcing how capitalist health care is a problem with coronavirus.

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The so-called two-party system

Fig. 1. Downloaded from Twitter on March 3, 2020, posted by a non-public user, probably on March 2.

There is a new blog post entitled, “Joe Biden and justice delayed.”

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Coronavirus

It appears that when I wrote yesterday that “This is no way to handle an epidemic, let alone one that may become a pandemic,”^[1] I badly understated it:

Medical experts at the White House have to patiently explain to Trump that his idea of using the flu vaccine to address the coronavirus will not work. pic.twitter.com/acghVStSvK

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) March 2, 2020

Infectious diseases head Dr. Anthony Fauci has to stop Trump from asserting in a White House meeting that coronavirus vaccine would be available in two months: “Like I’ve been telling you, a year to a year and a half.” pic.twitter.com/YF59PYMlG0

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) March 2, 2020

Which is to say that people who actually know what they’re doing will be fighting the delusional raging narcissist-in-chief, who thinks he knows more than they do, and his sycophants every step of the way.

This is mitigated somewhat by the fact that a large majority of people won’t die from it (the risk seems highest for the elderly, aged 70 and above, and for those with acute respiratory distress syndrome),^[2] and indeed that some will experience only mild symptoms.^[3]

The real lesson is this:

Coronavirus shows the importance of @BernieSanders’ Medicare for All.

In a pandemic, you don’t want people avoiding getting tested or treated because they can’t afford a $3,000 medical bill.

We’re only as safe as the least insured person among us. Everyone has to be covered. pic.twitter.com/CrHQnlvf4U

— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) February 29, 2020

For all the hype, coronavirus really isn’t all that bad unless you’re already critically ill.^[4] The question is really about what happens when something more serious comes along:

• Capitalist medicine hinders rather than helps.^[5]
• Neoliberal employment policies, in which “efficiency” is defined as low labor cost, such as those the gig economy depends upon, hinder rather than help.^[6]
• People in charge should care more about taking care of people than about taking care of the stock market.^[7]

But yeah, we’re going to elect Joe Biden, who might address exactly one of these issues. Fuck that.

Amy Goldstein, “Worries about medical bills and lost pay may hamper coronavirus efforts in the United States,” Washington Post, March 2, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/worries-about-medical-bills-and-lost-pay-may-hamper-coronavirus-efforts-in-the-united-states/2020/03/02/75825be0-5c9c-11ea-9055-5fa12981bbbf_story.html

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1. ^[1]David Benfell, “Fucking up coronavirus,” March 2, 2020, https://disunitedstates.com/2020/03/02/fucking-up-coronavirus/↩
2. ^[2]Stephanie Soucheray, “Study of 72,000 COVID-19 patients finds 2.3% death rate,” University of Minnesota, February 24, 2020, http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/02/study-72000-covid-19-patients-finds-23-death-rate↩
3. ^[3]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Summary,” February 29, 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/summary.html↩
4. ^[4]Stephanie Soucheray, “Study of 72,000 COVID-19 patients finds 2.3% death rate,” University of Minnesota, February 24, 2020, http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/02/study-72000-covid-19-patients-finds-23-death-rate↩
5. ^[5]Amy Goldstein, “Worries about medical bills and lost pay may hamper coronavirus efforts in the United States,” Washington Post, March 2, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/worries-about-medical-bills-and-lost-pay-may-hamper-coronavirus-efforts-in-the-united-states/2020/03/02/75825be0-5c9c-11ea-9055-5fa12981bbbf_story.html↩
6. ^[6]Amy Goldstein, “Worries about medical bills and lost pay may hamper coronavirus efforts in the United States,” Washington Post, March 2, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/worries-about-medical-bills-and-lost-pay-may-hamper-coronavirus-efforts-in-the-united-states/2020/03/02/75825be0-5c9c-11ea-9055-5fa12981bbbf_story.html; Nitasha Tiku, “Gig workers face the spread of the new coronavirus with no safety net,” Washington Post, February 29, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/02/29/gig-workers-face-spread-new-coronavirus-with-no-safety-net/↩
7. ^[7]Dana Milbank, “For Trump, a reckoning has come,” Washington Post, February 28, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/28/trump-reckoning-has-come/; Paul Waldman, “How coronavirus has deeply flummoxed conservative media,” Washington Post, February 28, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/28/how-coronavirus-has-deeply-flummuxed-conservative-media/↩