“You are all facets of the same diamond,” is a friend’s elegant way of noting the differences and similarities between my sisters and me. He could have used the analogy of the proverbial elephant seen up-close from the narrow vision of holes in a fence, yielding differing descriptions of what an elephant is: a tail, a trunk, etc. This comparison wouldn’t have been nearly as charming. But the point is, although my sisters and I have much in common, our individual true norths point us Left and Right. So, too, goes the nation during the time of COVID-19.
“I feel like the frog is in the pan, the water is boiling, and it is too late!” says my sister. She is angry and full of anxiety, democratic erosions being her main concern. Because I love her, I asked her for her sources, the fonts from which her fear flows. Then I looked some up online.
What I found regarding the coronavirus from the site activestpost.com was a contributor saying, “the Federal Reserve is basically orchestrating a coup that would make Lenin swoon.” Other contributors on this site discussed the usurpation of our liberty, centralization of government, and fear as the animating beast of government relations.
I can agree with some of these ideas. But as a progressive, I see our liberties slipping away because of voter suppression; Citizens United; ALEC; Congress ceding power to the executive branch, the politicizing of our judicial system; and an inexorable move to the right for the last 40 years.
My sister believes the government barring people from church for social distancing is an offensive move, the beginning of the end of religious freedom. I’m pretty sure there is no plot to keep people of any faiths around the country from worshiping. Worshipers are simply being asked to do their part to decrease the spread of the virus by not gathering in large groups for an indeterminate amount of time. Christians are not being singled out.
My sister wonders how the federal government is causing so many to sacrifice for the threats of a pandemic but allows the “murder” of unborn children. I wonder why the federal government defunds Planned Parenthood but won’t mandate a living wage for a woman to support her offspring. Or ensure equal pay for equal work. Or enshrine a woman’s equality in the Constitution under the Equal Rights Amendment.
My sister and I agree fear is a tool used to whip up the masses. She embraces fear by focusing on the belief that China, with sinister intent, is behind the coronavirus. We’ll never know for sure, so I pass on this conspiracy.
The Left and the Right see their own portion of the proverbial elephant, or to be consistent, different facets of the same diamond. Neither the Right nor the Left is all right nor all wrong.
At the beginning of the quarantine, I believed we could come together for a bit while the world comes to a boil. Or, conversely, shines brighter from the pressure of a pandemic. But the demonization of a pandemic as a political ploy by the Democrats, widely disseminated by the Divider-in-Chief, dispelled that hope. And the daily fervor of never-Trumpers to denounce his every move is equally divisive.
Nonetheless, I believe Mr. Rogers’ mother: “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” Causing her much anxiety, my sister has a less sanguine view of the pandemic, instead seeing the tail-end of life as we know it.
Donna Steele is a civic leader who advocates for informed citizen participation, transparent representation, and government accountability. Send comments to [email protected].
