Shout ‘Science!’ at reopening all you want, but Texas must balance economy, coronavirus
I don’t know if Gov. Greg Abbott has charted the right course in reopening the Texas economy.
Neither do you.
And — here’s the key — neither do the experts. Many are saying that it’s too soon, that cases of coronavirus are still climbing and that businesses need more time to prepare.
Of course we should listen to scientists and doctors. Their knowledge is invaluable and has already saved countless lives in the pandemic. This is far from an anti-science rant.
But when Abbott announced that restaurants, stores, movie theaters, libraries and museums could open to 25 percent of their capacity starting Friday, plenty of people who disagreed with the decision stomped their foot and shouted “Science!”
They intend it to be the last word. If you disagree, you’re anti-science at best and willing to trade lives for profits at worst.
But these are not purely scientific decisions. We must make trade-offs. And because those require nuanced, complex discussions, they don’t fit the mold of our modern political discourse.
Deaths of despair
Shouting “Science!” doesn’t answer the tough questions our leaders must tackle. For instance: How many deaths from despair in a wrecked economy are acceptable? What do we do if the supply chains for food and other necessities are choked off during months-long stay-at-home orders?
Can the federal government replace the entire economy for months without inflation running rampant, sinking decades worth of other priorities with massive deficits or both? (Spoiler alert: No.)
What will we say to millennials or generation Zers who could see an extended depression destroy some of their most important earning years?
And most important: How do we learn how to live with the virus, possibly for years, until better therapies and a vaccine are available?
On Thursday, the government announced that another 3.8 million people have filed for unemployment, bringing the total to about 30 million in just six weeks. That’s a humanitarian crisis. Smug preeners about science dismiss concerns about jobs as appeals to “profits” or “the market,” as if the economy is merely about Wall Street, not the hopes, dreams and futures of every American.
Like it or not, these are political decisions we face. We elect leaders to strike a balance among concerns. You may not think the current leaders have the right judgment, but at least they’re periodically accountable to voters. No one elects scientists.
And it’s not like experts have all the right answers, either. In this pandemic alone, some wrongly told us not to worry, that the seasonal flu was a bigger problem. They told us not to wear masks because they did no good for ourselves or anyone else.
Abbott didn’t recklessly throw open the doors to the world. He emphasized that staying at home is preferable, particularly for the most vulnerable. Some business owners won’t want to increase the risk to their employees and customers, or they won’t think they can make a go of it at 25% of their usual business. That’s OK. No one is going to force them to open.
Let’s not forget, the point of quarantining for weeks was to prevent overwhelming our health care system with COVID-19 cases. Every indication is that we’ve done that. Now, we need to seek a balancing act between containing the virus and restarting life, before there’s little left to go back to.
‘Individual choice’
Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Brooks, who thinks the reopening is premature, said something wise this week as he and his colleagues reviewed Abbott’s order.
“It is a matter now of individual choice,” said Brooks, a Democrat. “As for me and my house, we intend to stay at home, and I hope that the rest of the community will make the same choice.”
Me too, commissioner. I’m not rushing out for Tex-Mex or a haircut. But I won’t stand in the way of those at less risk who choose to do so responsibly.
Is Abbott’s path perfect? Probably not. But it’s astounding how many critics offer no realistic alternative. Perhaps that’s why they want to stifle the discussion with an appeal to academic authority.
Those who never listen to experts are fools. But so are those who hide behind them to avoid difficult trade-offs.
I’ll take leaders who balance difficult options and listen to experts, but don’t just turn the keys over to them.
