Episode 285: Political Lesson from the Coronavirus / The Minecraft Library

There are a number of political angles to the Coronavirus, and I think many lessons to be learned. Let’s hope people are listening.

Reporter Without Borders has found an incredibly clever way to distribute the works of journalists who have been censored by their own governments. It involves the game of Minecraft. Really!

Mentioned links:

US and Canada suspend non-essential travel between the two countries

Baltimore Mayor Begs Residents To Stop Shooting Each Other So Hospital Beds Can Be Used For Coronavirus Patients

Baltimore mayor under pressure after ‘space to destroy’ remark

The Uncensored Library

So the states are basically governing themselves because our president doesn’t know how to president at all?

— Molly Jong-Fast? (@MollyJongFast) March 16, 2020

Show transcript

Phrases like “social distancing”, “flattening the curve”, “exponential growth”, and even just “wash your hands” are either entering the cultural vernacular, or are just being said a lot more often. The reason, of course, is because of the Coronavirus aka COVID-19.

In episode 283, I said that I didn’t think that this would be similar to a disaster where you had to shelter in-place while the government worked to restore basic services. In that respect I was right, but I didn’t consider that we’d be requested or (in some places) required to stay home as much as possible anyway. I still have water, electricity, and Internet access, so it doesn’t feel like a disaster, at least inside my four walls. But I understand that my little microcosm of the world is not actually the world. And I think that’s one of the problems that we’re having. Some people are comparing news reports to their own experiences and thinking the media are overblowing the threat. Some are and some aren’t, but let’s not give in to spreading an “underblown” conspiracy theory. Social media is still just a tool that can be used for good or for ill, so to speak. Let’s be careful out there.

Politically speaking, I think this is a teachable moment regarding the role and the capability of the federal government vs. the states. A tweet, linked to in the show notes by Molly Jong-Fast, who is an Editor-at-Large at the Daily Beast, said this, “So the states are basically governing themselves because our president doesn’t know how to president at all?” Let that sink in for a bit. States, she may be surprised to find out, have their own governments, and they have been governing themselves for a good long time. Even better, they are closer to the people, and more responsive to local needs, than a federal government that could be thousands of miles away and beneath many layers of bureaucracy. We rely too much on DC rather than relying on our state and local governments, and ourselves, and each other. The Left talks a lot about doing things together, but when it comes down to it, they are addicted to DC.

Another thing I’ve notice from a political angle is that suddenly borders seem to matter again. Countries including the US are closing their borders to all but trusted traffic. Canada and the US will be closing their border to all non-essential traffic and illegal crossings at the Mexican border will be immediately returned, Italy has already been on lockdown, and other countries are seeing how having actual bor...