Social or Individual Welfare?

Is the virus a significant enough threat that we should continue the current lockdowns or should we resume the economy and put the onus on individuals?

The dynamic of who is responsible is fundamental to a lot of things and has clearly shifted during my lifetime.

It started shifting before that.

When America was settled by colonists it was really a brave new world.  The groups that came over did establish rules and laws, they often had a common set already, but many of them were hard to enforce as the whole continent was available to escape them.

We developed a culture where rugged individualism and individual responsibility were generally the rule.  As civilization spread we saw the Government grow and after other financial crises we saw certain social programs.  We started to consider education, health care and senior citizen security a Government concern,

It would be hard to imagine in our complex world requiring everyone to deal with those things on their own and most of us would be unable to.  Nor would we want to.

Still, we see changes and some reactions to those changes.  Medicare and Medicare provided healthcare to our senior citizens.  Social Security provided a certain level of financial support.  We generally provide free education up to grade 12 for everyone in this country.

The Affordable Care Act expanded health care to many who had no access to it and while certainly not perfect does provide a level of security to many of our poorest citizens.

We have programs that help with nutrition and that help farmers.

We have people who want to roll back many if not all of these programs, but for most Americans they serve an essential purpose.

Still our response to the current virus might represent a whole new level of Government.  Mandatory shut downs, social distancing and mask wearing are intrusive and in some ways destructive to many, especially small businesses.  Was this the way to go?

It saved many lives and if you think about that it seems good.  However, had we simply provided guidance about how to avoid infection, how to self care and when to seek medical help, would the outcome have been much different?

In New York a study of where new hospitalizations were coming from showed that the people most exposed, the essential workers and health care professionals are not the main patients, it is people staying at home, thinking they are safe.  The virus is being brought to them either by a family member who ventures out for food or by a delivery person who delivers more than wanted.

If everyone had access to effective PPE and knew how to behave what would be the risk?  Certainly some would ignore the guidelines and possibly get sick.  The real danger is they may spread it to innocent more vulnerable people unintentionally.

At some point people have to be responsible for behaving well.  Most of the early infections and probably later ones were the result of people not taking any precautions.  They didn't think they needed to.  Now they should know better.