EVs, Coronavirus, and Trump: A Talk with a Friend
Friend: Hi, Craig. How are you!!! Isn’t the coronavirus such a surprising happening?
Thought you might like this: a report on electric cars. It is by a group that reports on innovation.
Craig: I’m good, thanks very much. And thanks for the report; here’s a post I wrote on it just now.
Yes, the coronavirus is very interesting, especially insofar as it could be the thing that takes Trump down. 60 million Americans were OK with the pathological lying, wanton cruelty, racism, and rampant criminality, but somehow this has put a number of them over the edge.
Friend: Now that makes me happy!
Craig: Yes, me too. Of course, I would have felt better about my fellow Americans if they had withdrawn their support when they realized that Trump was a sociopath, but, again, whatever it takes.
Friend: I am laughing ! What is wrong with people?
Craig: It does have a humorous side to it, I have to admit. But to answer your (obviously rhetorical) question, to the best of my ability, I think he appeals to the hateful and aggressive nature of many people. They love how he kicks ass on the poor, the people with brown skin, tree-huggers, scientists, Muslims, LGBTQs, gun control advocates, peace-loving people and liberals of all types. They admire how he always wins, no matter the blatant dishonesty and outrageous criminality required to do it. Trump is (or at least was) on his way to becoming a dictator like Putin, and they find that level of strength and brutality attractive. Men admire his raw masculinity as demonstrated by his abuse of women, and some women themselves, apparently, are somehow charmed by this.
This, of course, is the true nightmare that is Trump, i.e., that it reveals that 40+% of Americans aren’t very good human beings.
I think that the US is at risk of a far bigger and more deadly Covid 19 outbreak than China or Europe as testing capacity is woefully inadequate – already resulting in multiple growth clusters, 30 million people lack proper access to health care, there is no sick pay, so that mildly I’ll people living paycheck to paycheck will continue working exposing others to infection, and the US with its over emphasis on the individual is likely to have a harder time imposing self quarentine, and social isolation measures to contain its spread. One further factor is the very high prison population in the US – containing transmission in prisons is likely to be nigh impossible, and as Italian experience shows, denying prisoners visits causes other problems (several have died in unrest)