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What the virus should teach us

As the markets have plummeted over global fears surrounding the fallout from the new coronavirus, political pundits have taken up the call: Find some meaning in the coronavirus outbreak and response. And where there is a demand for speculative opinion, there’s never a shortage of supply. Thus we’ve seen the coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, be blamed on President Donald Trump. We’ve seen government-managed response, which has varied widely in terms of success by country, touted as a final rebuttal of libertarian precepts. We’ve seen the coronavirus’ economic impact ...

Good, bad news about coronavirus

There’s good news and bad news about coronavirus. First, there’s reason for optimism. The virus struck only four months ago, yet we already know its genetic features. It took scientists years to get that far with HIV/AIDS. Antiviral drugs are in development, and a vaccine could be available within 18 months. The pace of scientific progress is breathtaking. So is human ingenuity. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will soon offer home coronavirus testing kits, starting in the hard-hit Seattle area. Anyone who’s worried can fill out an online questionnaire, receive a nasal swab ...

Identity politics didn’t work for Warren

Was being a woman Elizabeth Warren’s problem? That’s the wrong question. Here’s a better question: Was playing the protector of all damsels from that infamous rake, Mike Bloomberg, her problem? It was one of them, for certain. Look what’s happening in the world. Warren was a candidate of ideas with a strong understanding of the financial system. Her candidacy could have thrived in today’s chaos. But she threw her advantages away to work the inquisitional end of the #MeToo movement. We saw it unfold. In early February, the former New York City mayor was surging in the ...

Saying ‘the Wuhan virus’ isn’t racist

The coronavirus outbreak is the first pandemic of the woke era, and as such it’s not surprising that there is a fierce debate over how to refer to it without offending against social justice. Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona lost whatever sympathy he would have garnered in certain quarters over his self-quarantine when he referred to “the Wuhan virus,” a perfectly appropriate name that has been deemed grotesque and unacceptable. Wuhan is in China, a non-Western country, and people of color live there, so Q.E.D., calling the virus by the name of that city must be racist. ...

Is this how Europe ends?

“Fortress Europe is an illusion.” So declares the Financial Times in the closing line of its Saturday editorial: “Europe Cannot Ignore Syrian Migrant Crisis.” The FT undertakes to instruct the Old Continent on what its duty is and what its future holds: “The EU will face flows of migrants and asylum seekers across the Mediterranean for decades to come.” Can Europe not repel this unwanted home invasion from the Global South? It is “delusional” to think so, says the FT. Europe must be realistic and set about “providing legal routes for migrants and asylum ...

Rights versus wishes

Sen. Bernie Sanders said: “I believe that health care is a right of all people.” He’s not alone in that contention. That claim comes from Democrats and Republicans and liberals and conservatives. It is not just a health care right that people claim. There are “rights” to decent housing, decent food, a decent job and prescription drugs. In a free and moral society, do people have these rights? Let’s begin by asking ourselves: What is a right? In the standard usage of the term, a “right” is something that exists simultaneously among people. In the case of our U.S. ...