The China Syndrome

I'm going to do something I rarely do - agree with Donald Trump.  I think this is only the third time I've agreed with him, the first time being when he said that Hillary Clinton was crooked and the second time being when he said that new government buildings should be designed to look like Greek temples, like they used to be.  This time, I agree with him on China - it's responsible for the COVID-19 virus and should be held accountable.

Now why would I say something like that?  Because the virus originated in China, the Chinese assured us it was under control with all of the public-relations bluster associated with Soviet attempts to downplay the Chernobyl accident, and the unsanitary practices of the so-called "wet markets" in China allowed the virus to make the jump from animals to humans.

This also puts me in agreement with Bill Maher, who, on his HBO show last month, explained how most viruses and diseases are named for the places the originated in, and that the wet markets where exotic animals like bats are sold for human consumption were a breeding ground for a deadly virus, just as they had been for previous coronaviruses that got out.  I also agree with Maher, by the way, that it's only appropriate for such unorthodox dietary habits to be called into question.

To respond to the inevitable complaint that terminology such as "Chinese virus" is racist, it is not racist to say that it is a Chinese virus because it was discovered in China any more than it is to call rubella the German measles because it was discovered by German doctors.  China is responsible for this virus because the Communist government there, which is known for cracking down on anything that threatens the "stability" of its one-party rule, should have been able to contain the virus before it got out of not only mainland China but out of Hubei Province.  Heck, I'm beginning to wonder how different things might have been if the Republic of China government on Taiwan hadn't been driven off the mainland back in 1949 and were still running the country, and how we would have all been better off - because, I would like to point out, the Taiwanese government has been doing a great job in containing the virus on that island.

Having said all of that, though, I would like to stress that it is not proper or permissible to blame Americans of Chinese origin for the virus and make racist threats against them.  But I would also like to especially stress this: Donald Trump may be right to blame the virus on China, but China's culpability does not exonerate Trump from the numerous boneheaded mistakes he made that allowed the United States to become the most COVID-19-infected country on the planet.

Below is Bill Maher's commentary on the issues from April 10, 2020.