Donald Trump returned to the White House tonight with a demonstration of the utter selfishness that defines his administration and the Republican Party in 2020.
Trump says he feels great, and maybe he does – pumped full of steroids and experimental treatments that aren’t available to most people (paid for by our taxes, since Trump doesn’t pay any), he could be fully able to do his job.
But when he took off his mask before entering the White House, he showed how little he cares about anyone else.
The reason you wear a mask these days is not just to protect yourself; it’s to protect others. If you are infected (and don’t know it) a mask is a pretty good way to keep the people you come into contact with from getting infected, too.
And right now, we know that Trump is infected, and is infectious, and can spread the virus to anyone he spends time with, particularly inside. That means his staff, and the hundreds of people who are not high-profile but work in the White House (including housekeepers, cooks, couriers, assistants to deputies … folks Trump apparently cares nothing about.)
Taking off his mask before he went inside and saying not to worry about COVID is a statement that since he’s okay (for the moment) nothing else matters.
Let the little people die. I am The Donald. I pay no taxes and have good health care.
There’s a larger issue here, that is at the root of the neo-liberal, Milton Friedman, Greed is Good approach that both parties have embraced as economic policy in the past 20 years. It’s the concept that it we all do what’s best for ourselves, in the end society will be better.
It doesn’t work in economics, and it doesn’t work in public health.
For everyone in our world community: Masks make a difference. Not just for me our you, but for all of us. Please.
