Republicans Failed to Define the Price of Freedom

(See Part II: Voters Elect Leaders, Not Scientists)

Part III of III

Context is a concept often forgotten and ignored today as people rush to conclusions, often condemnation with a ‘jump to worst’ mentality.

Fundamentally, America is a nation formed by risk-takers. For four hundred years, people have come here with few guarantees other than the promise of opportunity.[1] They left their lives behind and made perilous journeys to reach these shores. When they arrived, they looked West and moved further into the dangerous unknowns of the interior, the frontier. When they reached the bounds of the continent, they looked upward and decided to go to the moon. Though characteristic of the American spirit, this is not common of other nations. The American people have always been optimistic visionaries that seek betterment, appreciating that risk is real. This is baked into their collective psyche.

When coronavirus presented this people with a new challenge, many responded as should have been expected. Although there were some quick to react to the threat with surprising measures that included stay-at-home orders and the shuttering of businesses – most notably on the West coast – and many complied in whole, a significant portion of the population was slow to respond, more resistant. Much has been made of this, but the focus has largely revolved around mockery, such as virus denial,[2] as if the slow responders were nothing more than disbelievers, arrogant or cavalier. No doubt, some can be described as such, but clearly Americans simply remain risk-takers. Mitigation measures or not, many remained willing to accept the negative possibilities that came with going to work – contracting the virus, even death – for the positive assurances – remaining free, able to pay their bills. They applied their own individual risk-reward assessments.

In March, when Washington responded to the new crisis with a complete lack of imagination, opting to pass the history’s most expensive piece of legislation without providing workable long-term solutions, I raised the concept of America’s approach to risk and suggested the consideration of legally-authorized, even extreme, measures intended to limit the damage on health, social norms, the economy and liberty, only one of which has since been promoted – the wearing of masks.[3] Comparison was made between annual automobile fatalities in the US and mitigation efforts taken to reduce the number rather than eliminate transportation altogether. Essentially, as a nation, Americans accept that the benefits of, and the right to, transportation by automobile is worth nearly 40,000 lives per year.

Let us briefly step aside and examine why it is worth these lives, and how that relates to the virus and its disease, COVID-19.

America is known for its car culture, not just because it has been, through manufacturing, the world’s historic leader in the auto industry. It represents several qualities that are valued by Americans – freedom, the entrepreneurial nature and democracy. The freedom it brings to mobility is obvious, but less recognized is the democratization that it brought to the masses, most notably through Henry Ford’s innovative assembly line, which transformed the transportation industry from the horse and carriage to the horseless carriage courtesy of the mass produced and affordable Model T. [4] Prior to the assembly line and interchangeable parts, the cost of automobiles relegated them to luxuries for the wealthy. In 1900, the cost differential between the horse and carriage and the first automobiles may be more comparable to today’s cost differential between the horse and carriage and a Tesla Model S. Suffice it to say, were the only automobile option a Model S, Americans would still be riding horses today. Instead, Henry Ford’s entrepreneurialism, along with the democratizing affordability of automobiles and the freedom that comes with them, have helped make their ownership an assumed American trait.

Automobile ownership, however emblematic of individualism and freedom, is obviously not restricted to Americans. How, then, does their ownership compare to other free industrialized nations? Consider the closest socio-political equivalent – a large federal system – the European Union (EU), where the latest data indicates there are 22,800 annual fatalities[5] and 174,896,397 registered vehicles[6] with a population of 446 million,[7] compared to the United States (US), where the latest data indicates there are more annual fatalities (36,120)[8] and registered vehicles (273,600,000)[9] despite the smaller population (331,002,650).[10]

	Population	Automobiles	Automobiles per Capita	Percent World’s Automobiles	Fatalities	Fatalities per 100,000 Population
EU	446,000,000	174,896,397	0.392	17.2%	22,800	5.1
US	331,002,650	273,600,000	0.827	26.9%	36,120	10.9

The data indicates that the US automobile fatality rate is more than twice that of the EU. If both are free societies what is the relevance of this with respect to coronavirus? Risk.

The same cultural forces that govern individuals’ decisions respecting safety and risk remain. Granted, America now consists of peoples from all parts of the world, but for centuries, adventurous Europeans who assumed the risk, came to the new world. Those who were more complacent and risk-averse remained abroad. This inherited cultural difference should not be quickly dismissed. Similarly, it would not be unreasonable for one to approach the virus with the similar risk evaluation process that one applies to other aspects of their lives, such as the use of automobiles.

How, then, does the US and EU COVID-19 data[11] compare?

	Population	Cases	Cases per 100,000 Population	Percent World’s Cases	Deaths	Deaths per 100,000 Population
EU	446,000,000	4,098,078	918.9	10.3%	156,713	35.1
US	331,002,650	8,133,373	2,457.2	20.4%	219,556	66.3

The US automobile fatality rate is approximately 210 percent that of the EU, whereas the COVID-19 death rate is approximately 190 percent that of the EU. To Democrats point, adjusted for population, the US deaths assigned to COVID-19 are nearly twice that of the EU; however, this is not dissimilar from the difference in automobile fatalities, yet who is ever made aware of such? Who is discussing the greater concept of death and risk? Who has presented meta analyses on risk in the face of the greatest national risk millions have seen?

Generally, Americans respect the rules of the road, the mitigation measures to prevent accidents and minimize fatalities, but that does not entirely prevent them from speeding, taking chances and making poor decisions. They are a stubborn, if not defiant, people. The same can be said of their reaction to coronavirus restrictions and mitigation efforts, that citizens might be reluctant to stay home and await phased authorizations to go outside, then to the market, then to work, then dine out…

To illustrate by way of its most popular sport, it is difficult to convince a competitive nation that the only way to win is to take a knee and punt, that if (or when) the league decides it permissible, one can begin to conservatively run the ball up the middle.

By its very nature, liberty comes with an assumption of risk, whether it be found in the ability to go where one pleases despite the unknows on the road or go where one pleases despite the unknows in the air.

Had proper consideration been given to the free nature of the American citizen, one might have more accurately predicted that Americans would react to the current crisis consistent with its past approach to risk with some priority given to the concept, freedom of choice. Rather than blaming coronavirus on China and deflecting responsibility, had Republicans made a better effort to explain the nature of risk and responsibility in a free society, tragic as the numbers would prove to be, Americans may have been better prepared for, and more understanding of, both the case numbers and death toll. Understood in context – the spirit of Americanism – Republicans would have been better positioned to relate to voters’ concerns about the virus and deflate Democrats’ attribution of responsibility to the president. If nothing else, they would have been prepared.

If appropriate consideration were given to the different socio-political nature of nations, one would find the non-EU European nation of the United Kingdom (UK) an interesting comparison. With a ‘special relationship’ that originates from their shared philosophy and history, many would agree that the US is the European nation most like the US. It may not simply be coincidence that the UK, unlike most of Europe, has a COVID-19 death rate strikingly similar to the US – 66.0 deaths per 100,000 population.[12]

The undesired truth is that, if blame is to be had, as Americans, we are all to blame. Or, perhaps, we are none to blame.

Meanwhile, failing to assuage concerns, Republicans, more so than Democrats, have expressed alarm at the rapidity with which the public succumbed to fear and accepted orders justified by constitutionally contentious arguments[13]^,[14] and caustic dismissal of measured responses, statistics and actions that have run counter to the dominating apocalyptic narrative. For them, bells have been ringing, leading to protests.[15] With the more drastic measures coming from Democratic-led states, they see this as a foreshadowing of things to come under a Democratic-led nation. Republican leaders have made the effort to emphasize this, but their efforts may have been more emotional than rational. As the undecided and unpersuaded are more open to reason, an emotional appeal appears to have been to Republicans’ detriment. If the polls prove correct, their ability to relate the problems, sufficient to expand their support and diminish the Democrats’ argument, has failed.

Politicians and pundits critical of health measures have made the claim that the more restrictive policies implemented by the Democratic leaders are for political purpose. Should that be true, it could still prove a miscalculation. After all, voters do not go to the polls thankful that they are simply alive, but they will be angry that their lives were turned upside down over the decisions of their leaders. And many voters are eager, productive people who disapprove of the politics of self-immolation witnessed for months. Which leaders will they blame?

For Republicans, who are well behind on the coronavirus issue, it may be too late. Had the issue been better messaged, tailored in a relatable fashion, Republicans would have been better positioned and Americans might have been more receptive when the president recovered from the virus with the words, “Don’t let it dominate you. Don’t be afraid of it. You’re going to beat it.”[16] Rather than be ridiculed,[17] it might have been viewed as a leader confronting risk and coming out on top, as Americans have done for centuries, and continue to expect.

Instead, courtesy of poor messaging from the outset, Republicans opened themselves up to constant criticism.

Democrats have successfully won the issue with warnings of imminent danger, assisted it would seem, by preparing the population for the coronavirus threat with four years of warning about the Trump threat. In a way, like a crop that began with a seed and was reliably fed, voters are ripe for their taking. And, by offering little on substance and reason, opting more for an emphasis on style and emotion, they have done so by channeling the progressive icon, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Only, they turned his emotional appeal on its head. One made in earnest to uplift an American people facing the Great Depression has seemingly become…

“Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have ~~to fear~~ is…fear itself.”

Come November 3, all will see if it worked.

[1] Willi Robertson and William Doyle, American Entrepreneur: How 400 Years of Risk-Takers, Innovators, and Business Visionaries Built the U.S.A., (2018)

[2] Megan Marples, Pandemic denial: Why some people can’t accept Covid-19’s realties, (CNN, 2020)

[3] Sean Skidmore, The Coronavirus Dilemma: Finding Balance and Facing Risk, (Smerconish, 2020)

[4] Editors, Automobile History, (History.com, 2020)

[5] 2019 road safety statistics, what is behind the figures? (Europa, 2020)

[6] Passenger cars in the EU, (Europa, 2020)

[7] Living in the EU, (Europa, 2020)

[8] Number of traffic-related fatalities in the United States 2010-2019, (Statista, 2020)

[9] Number of cars in the U.S. 1990-2018, (Statista, 2020)

[10] Population of the United States 1610-2020 (Statista, 2020)