Opinion | While the coronavirus’ spread is blamed on communism, are Americans tracking the ills of their own political culture?
- Following US President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial and in the run-up to November’s presidential election, the US seems set for an outbreak of rage and partisan politics. Americans must ensure the political virus of fascism remains contained
All epidemics are not alike, even as they all have the powers to threaten the public’s health, broadly defined.
It turns out, the word “epidemic” hails from the Greek “demos” (population or people) and “epi” (upon). My point: a moral or political plague upon the population can be quite virulent too, a pestilence whose containment is no easy matter.
Xi taking charge of the fight against the coronavirus is better late than never, as we always say when an action is truly late. The cadres now know that this all-out war is of the highest priority. Though the Communist Party believes in no god, Beijing is religious in its belief in the restorative power of science.
China’s historical self-confidence and the Chinese tendency to believe they or their ancestors have seen it all can prove helpful as a means of survival. Yes, there will always be a China and, while the sources of epidemics are not easily instantaneously identified, on balance it is probably better for governments to assume the worst at the first sighting of a suspicious agent than cross their fingers and hope it’s no more than the common cold.