●The incredible thing is,The deep-rooted individualism in American history is rampant again,Individuals from states such as Minnesota and Ohio demonstrated in front of state capitols with guns、Family gathering in Miami Beach, Florida,To the “Capitol Hill Independence” movement in Seattle, Washington,As well as various activities such as people infected with the new coronavirus in Texas and other states gathering without permission despite various warnings,The selfish individualistic behavior that countries around the world cannot see during the epidemic,Perfectly demonstrated under the pretext of safeguarding individual freedom rights bet365 sign up offer States,All this undoubtedly increases the difficulty of epidemic prevention and control bet365 sign up offer States。
●Current epidemic prevention and control bet365 sign up offer States、Social crisis caused by economic situation and racial conflicts,Marks the dramatic changes in various social contradictions in the context of the polarization of wealth distribution bet365 sign up offer States in the neoliberal era。Racial riots triggered by Floyd’s death,It will not be a turning point for the betterment of race relations bet365 sign up offer States,Maybe it will lead to some form of reform in the US government,But there are inherent shortcomings in the American political system and its inherent mechanisms,Especially its limited effectiveness in solving social problems prevents the United States from fundamentally solving the chronic disease of racial discrimination。If the US government does not learn from history,Continue to ignore issues such as poverty and judicial injustice in the black ghetto,Racial conflicts bet365 sign up offer States will still break out。
2020,The new coronavirus epidemic spread rapidly around the world after the outbreak,The United States is the most eye-catching。Until early August,The number of confirmed patients bet365 sign up offer States has exceeded 5 million,Death toll exceeds 150,000,Two types of data rank first in the world。The epidemic crisis not only caused the US economy to fall into crisis,And,The political divisions bet365 sign up offer States and the death of George Floyd, an African-American who was suffocated by violent law enforcement, triggered an unprecedented racial and social crisis。
Politicization leads to failure in bet365 sign up offer prevention and control
The United States is one of the countries with the most developed medical conditions in the world,Why we performed poorly in responding to the COVID-19 epidemic?The President of the United States can respond to the presidential authorization in accordance with the U.S. Constitution,You can also refer to American historical precedents,By issuing a declaration,Issue executive order,Urge Congress to enact legislation,Or coordinate unified actions of federal and local governments。However,Based on the Washington Post’s analysis of the president’s speeches from January 19 to March 29,Trump undergoes a “movement from casual treatment to grudging acknowledgment and combative mobilization”。The New York Times analyzed the president’s speeches from March 9 to April 17,Think he is just bragging,Either exaggerate their role in responding to the epidemic,Or promote untested drugs such as hydroxychloroquine,Either bash Democrats、Media。According to the evaluation of the "American Defender" website on June 28, 2020,Since the White House stopped holding press conferences on the new coronavirus epidemic in April,The Trump team is increasingly divided,While suppressing the role of the CDC,Strengthening the politicization of epidemic prevention and control。Until late July,In addition to admitting that the epidemic bet365 sign up offer States is getting worse and no longer opposes people wearing masks,Still doing nothing。
The reason why the U.S. federal government was hesitant to respond to the bet365 sign up offer,One of the reasons is that some politicians are deeply dominated by the neoliberal theory that has dominated American politics since the 1970s。This theory advocates laissez-faire economic policy,Advocates that individual and social wealth distribution be determined through the internal competition mechanism of the market economy。Some politicians have repeatedly stated,Responding to the bet365 sign up offer is first and foremost a matter for each state,Wearing a mask is “personal freedom”。In February 2020, when someone suggested that the federal government provide financial assistance for nucleic acid testing to the lower classes of society,The response is,Nucleic acid testing is an individual behavior,The default is that rich people are given priority,Also said "This is life"。Obviously,“Survival of the fittest” is the purpose of their policy in response to the bet365 sign up offer。
Another reason why the White House team is unwilling to deal with the epidemic is that he is mainly focused on the presidential re-election campaign。The federal government is eager to restart the economy,And start the campaign before the presidential election,Results lead to Florida、Second outbreaks in Texas, California and other places。By the end of July,The daily average number of confirmed cases in many states bet365 sign up offer States has reached a new high of more than 70,000,This means that the United States still has a long way to go to prevent and control the epidemic。
What’s more important is,The political system and its internal operating mechanism of the United States are not conducive to the effective prevention and control of the epidemic。Because the new coronavirus is a new virus unprecedented in human history,It requires unified action across the country to deal with it。But,From March to June 2020,The U.S. Congress has enacted legislation such as the Payment Protection Program and Health Enhancement Act,The core is to provide medical services to medical institutions in areas hardest hit by the epidemic、Bank、Providing financial assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises and the unemployed,No mention of the issue of national coordinated epidemic prevention and control。Inaction in the President、With Congress standing aside,States in accordance with the Federal Constitution,High degree of autonomy,Everyone is doing their own thing,There are even disagreements over the practice of requiring individuals to wear masks。The incredible thing is,The deep-rooted individualism in American history is rampant again,Individuals from states such as Minnesota and Ohio demonstrated in front of state capitols with guns、Family gathering in Miami Beach, Florida,To the “Capitol Hill Independence” movement in Seattle, Washington,As well as various activities such as people infected with the new coronavirus in Texas and other states gathering without permission despite various warnings,The selfish individualistic behavior that countries around the world cannot see during the epidemic,Perfectly demonstrated under the pretext of safeguarding individual freedom rights bet365 sign up offer States,All this undoubtedly increases the difficulty of epidemic prevention and control bet365 sign up offer States。The famous American Japanese scholar Fukuyama issued an article pointing out,The COVID-19 epidemic mainly tests two things bet365 sign up offer States: First, the federal government’s ability to govern,The second is the degree of people’s trust in the government。In both respects,The United States is all failing。
The federal government’s ineffective management of the epidemic has also dragged down the U.S. economy。As of July 2020,The U.S. economy is in serious decline,Service facilities、Transportation、Mining、Job opportunities in information technology and government sectors have dropped sharply。Financial market earnings and international trade both suffered heavy losses,The number of unemployed people increased from 6.2 million at the beginning of the year to 20.5 million in May,Social unemployment rate from 3.8% jumped to 13.0%,The highest since World War II。Among various ethnic groups,Africans are the highest (16%),Followed by Hispanics (15%) and Asians (13.3%),White people are the lowest (9.7%)。The unemployment rate of women is higher than that of men,People of African descent、Hispanic and Asian women are both higher than 17%,And only 12% of white women。Higher unemployment rate has become one of the sources of social unrest bet365 sign up offer States。
Racial conflicts magnify bet365 sign up offer rifts
May 25, 2020,A white police officer violently enforced the law in Minneapolis, Minnesota,Resulting bet365 sign up offer death of George Floyd, an African-American man。Media footage of a white policeman kneeling in a chokehold for 8 minutes caused public outrage。So,Black Lives Matter protests quickly turn into riots,From Minneapolis to New York、Los Angeles、Washington、Spreading in Atlanta and many countries in Europe。What is different from previous racial riots in American cities bet365 sign up offer late 20th century,During the riots this year, various places launched anti-colonialism and anti-racism “settlement of historical accounts” movements,Christopher Columbus who discovered the North American continent、Founding Father George Washington、Thomas Jefferson、Statues of historical figures such as Civil War Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Confederate Supreme Military Commander Robert E. Lee have been torn down。Similar phenomena have even appeared in places such as London, England and Paris, France。
Among the groups participating in protests and riots,Mostly African Americans,There are also some Latinos and whites who sympathize with African Americans,The spearhead of its struggle is against racism and the inequality in American society behind it。The profound root lies in: first,The contemporary American economy has undergone structural changes marked by suburbanization,Especially the white and African middle class migrate to beautiful scenery、After the beautiful suburbs,Resulting bet365 sign up offer “hollowing out” of political resources and elite culture in central cities everywhere。Second,bet365 sign up offer process of transforming the U.S. economy into an economic system dominated by the service industry,Employment opportunities suitable for African Americans have also been lost due to the suburbanization of a large number of companies,Resulting bet365 sign up offer disconnect between supply and demand bet365 sign up offer labor market in African-American areas,Poverty rates in ghettos in major metropolitan areas such as New York and Chicago exceed 45%,The ghetto area covers more than 20 square miles,Millions of inhabitants。Third,Since 1980,U.S. governments at all levels have gradually reduced their resource investment in African American ghettos,Academic education for poor African Americans、Municipal Services、Social security and other hardware facilities are deteriorating,Becoming the most dilapidated contemporary United States、The most dangerous、The worst area。Africans in ghettos are increasingly segregated not only from suburban middle-class Africans and white mainstream society,And also with the white lower class nearby、Asian、Hispanics and other colored racial groups are in a state of segregation。
For African Americans trapped in isolation,They not only face the challenge of long-term unemployment,But also because the white and African-American middle classes took away what Max Weber called the Protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism,So over time they formed a subculture that is hostile to mainstream society,The African-American residents of the ghetto,Due to the original leadership of the community、Moral Paradigm、The values common to human society such as self-discipline and the pursuit of improvement no longer exist。Many teenagers give up on themselves,its dropout rate、Proportion of drug use、Unemployment rate、Having a baby before marriage、Single-parent family、Welfare dependence and crime, etc.,They are the worst in communities across the United States。Ghetto African Americans “are very proud of their race,Hostile towards white and African-American middle class people...Exhibits high levels of distrust bet365 sign up offer political system”。1990s,The New York Times issued an article stating: “Racism、Sexism、The proliferation of violence and carefree consumerism in every form imaginable...especially by young people behaving in every irresponsible manner,Addicted to the most negative aspects of popular culture。”Under the dual pressure of material and cultural life,Various social problems in African ghettos,In normal times, it is like a "ticking time bomb",Periods of crisis will evolve into “battlefields” for ethnic conflicts。Faced with such a scene,Trump calls some African-Americans who are fond of violence “domestic terrorists”,And when the state level government does not support it,Sending federal armed forces such as the army and the National Guard to various places to suppress demonstrators。However,By the end of July,Unrest continues in places such as Seattle and Portland。
,Social divisions caused by identity,It also means "political division" as a hot search term on major American websites,has become the focus of discussion from all walks of life。An article published on the "USA Today Psychology" website on September 13, 2018,Since 1990,The two major political parties bet365 sign up offer States are racially discriminatory、Immigration、There are many contradictions on issues such as international relations and government aid policies。After the death of Republican Congressman John McCain,The Wall Street Journal lamented that “McCain’s death marks the death of the art of political compromise”。The American "Future" website pointed out after sorting out American academic research in January 2020,Over the past 40 years,Americans in Ideology、There are irreparable divisions in terms of racial discrimination and political party identification。However,American scholar Donald Kettl believes in "The Dividing of America" published in 2020,A history of the United States is a history of division。Since the founding of the People's Republic of China,Health insurance between the US federal government and states and between states、Education、Inequality and division in public services and the environment all stem from the U.S. Constitution。What’s more interesting is,The two-episode TV series recently launched by the US "Front Line" - "The Dividing of America: From Obama to Trump" thinks,Since 2008,The rift between political parties bet365 sign up offer States is huge,Not one country elected two completely different presidents,But two different presidents elected by two countries。The two parties are for their own selfish interests,No compromise,Also lost principles,Aggravating the social crisis bet365 sign up offer States。
In short,The current epidemic prevention and control bet365 sign up offer States、Social crisis caused by economic situation and racial conflicts,Marks the dramatic changes in various social contradictions in the context of the polarization of wealth distribution bet365 sign up offer States in the neoliberal era。Racial riots triggered by Floyd’s death,It will not be a turning point for the betterment of race relations bet365 sign up offer States,Maybe it will lead to some form of reform in the US government,But there are inherent shortcomings in the American political system and its inherent mechanisms,Especially its limited effectiveness in solving social problems prevents the United States from fundamentally solving the chronic disease of racial discrimination。If the US government does not learn from history,Continue to ignore the problems of poverty and judicial injustice in the ghettos of African Americans,Racial conflicts bet365 sign up offer States will still break out。
(The author is a professor at the Institute of bet365 sign up offer Studies at Northeast Normal University、Ministry of Education’s “Changjiang Scholar” Distinguished Professor)
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