Megalomaniacs In Charge

During a war it is expected that some people will die to hopefully further the cause for the rest.  Senseless deaths should obviously be avoided since they weaken your side and help the enemy.  While the analogy of a war against the Corona Virus is just a metaphor it stands up in a number of ways.  The administration is willing to trade lives to start the economy because that would constitute a victory to them.

First you have to know what constitutes victory.  I think generally that is pretty obvious, we have effective prevention or treatment options that reduce the risk to acceptable levels and restart the economy.

Of course if you have a megalomaniac who defines victory as how to maximize his own agenda as opposed to the general good we see the result.

Considering the economic power lined up against him, defeat was probably inevitable for Hitler in WW2.  However he made a number of decisions based on his own vision which helped nail down the outcome.  His decisions, especially on the Eastern Front in 1943 and 1944 led to some catastrophic losses of men and material that were becoming irreplaceable.

Would it have led to victory?  Seems unlikely based on the economics but his only real chance by that time was to drag the war on long enough that he could negotiate some sort of armistice.

In fact, invading the Soviet Union in June 1941 and then declaring war on the United States after Pearl Harbor were both individually bad moves but taken together a recipe for his ultimate destruction.

How does that equate to today?  Well the next election is getting close and the current bad news as well as the rantings America got to see everyday at the briefings are not boding well for our current megalomaniac.  He needs to get a victory and restore what was his main chance of victory, the economy.

He already has a guaranteed base of various causes like anti-abortion and others who ignore his other qualities for a single issue. 

That is simply not enough to win so he needs to win those voters in certain swing states who voted for him last time, primarily because they disliked Hillary.

They don't feel the same way about Joe Biden and that's a big problem.

He really hadn't done much for them in all honesty but that's an oddity in this country.  Good news about the economy, even if you aren't really seeing it, tends to help the administration.

So coal miners, ex factory workers, and others who have been hurt by economic changes felt more positive about things, even if the factories and mines were still mostly shut down and promises weren't kept.  

With bad economic numbers, they start to realize they aren't getting the promised results and no one else is either.

Except of course the wealthy business owners.