The Case That Our Reaction to Covid Has Divided America More Deeply Than Even Trump

The reaction to the candidacy, and ensuing presidency, of Donald Trump was clearly the most divisive topic in America since at least the 1960s. About half of our country was certain that he was the worst thing that has ever happened to our democracy, while almost as many people fervently believed that he was the last hope to save it.

That division, which is still being felt today, went far deeper than just normal political disagreements. Alliances, friendships, and even marriages were permanently damaged, even destroyed as one side simply couldn’t possibly understand where the other was coming from (as a mostly anti-Trump conservative, I have personally experienced this frustrating phenomenon).

But as destructive to our nation as the balkanized reaction to Trump was, a very strong case can be made that the way our government has responded to the Covid pandemic has been even more contentious and devastating to our cultural fabric. In fact, it may have sown the seeds for the United States of America to not only no longer be united, but eventually divorce.

There are

many (presumably) unintended consequences of our unprecedented reaction to this virus, but none has been more underrated than what it has done to our unity as a country. Much like freedom and liberty, our union, which once famously survived a Civil War, has been a key part of our national brand that has been suddenly been left totally unprotected, as if it has no value whatsoever.

There are four primary areas regarding Covid where we as a nation, despite the news media’s near unanimity in presenting an overwhelmingly pro-lockdown narrative, are not only not on the same page, nor reading from the same book, but aren’t even speaking remotely the same language.

How we got here:

A large portion of the country (mostly liberals) is absolutely positive that this pandemic is the worst medical crisis in 100 years, that Donald Trump is the main reason why America has been hit so hard by it, and that the only reasons lockdowns didn’t work as well as we had hoped is because they weren’t strong enough, and too many Trump fans didn’t obey them. Most of them live the big cities of the northeast, Midwest, and the coastal west.

Another part of the country (mostly conservatives) now is certain that we grossly overreacted to this virus, at least in part because liberals/news media knew that doing so would help defeat Trump, that “15 days to flatten the curve” was the biggest lie in history, and

that lockdowns simply do not work in the long run. Most of them live in rural areas, in the south, and the upper Midwest.

Masks:

A majority of the country (and almost all liberals) believe fervently that wearing masks is the key to not getting or transmitting Covid, and that to not do is incredibly selfish and “Neanderthal thinking.” They are perfectly fine with the government and corporations forcing people, even children, to wear them, and seem to enjoy it when those who dare to commit blasphemy against mask mandates are publicly punished.

A smaller but growing portion of the population (mostly, but not all conservatives) is now convinced that masks are ineffective against a pandemic, those who believe in them do so out of ignorance and a religiously-based desire to publicly virtue-signal, and that government mandates are an affront to everything upon which this nation was founded. They see people who wear masks alone and outside as signaling their abject stupidity, and the forced masking of children as child abuse.

Schools:

Liberals (at least those without school-aged kids) tend to see the hesitancy for teachers to return to real school, or Democratic governors to force them to do so, as simply an unfortunate/natural side effect of this horrendous pandemic, and a result of Trump’s incompetence. Despite what the majority of scientific opinion says, to them it is probably safer to keep schools closed until Covid somehow disappears completely.

Conservatives (and many liberals with kids

in public school) are enraged that in most schools there has not been “real” school for over a year, even though we now know, from states like Florida and Georgia, that children are not very vulnerable to the virus, and that their ability to pass it on to adults is rather limited. To them, the unnecessary systematic abuse of a generation of children, and the stealing of two precious years which they will never get back, is an act so egregious that the anger it provokes will never fade, and those teachers unions and liberal politicians who perpetrated this will never be forgotten.

Vaccine Passports:

It is hard to tell how many actual liberals actually back the idea, but it is very clear that the bluest of states and the wokest of corporations are now actively trying to create a medical “class” system by preventing none vaccinated people from being able to partake in the same events/privileges as those who have been vaccinated. Via “vaccine passports,” Americans would be separated by their previously private medical records and forced to show their “papers,” while very young people might not even be able to attend an outside baseball game unless they get a shot for which they may not have a medicinal need. Supporters strongly believe that this is just the small price we all must pay to defeat this virus.

While they are wrongly portrayed as “anti-vaxxers,” many Americans find this entire concept both abhorrent and unnecessary (especially for

kids). One can be (as I am) totally in favor of people getting the vaccine, and still believe that forced vaccination, especially for one as new as this, for a virus that is not deadly for the vast majority of the population, is both asinine and a scary violation of our formerly sacred civil liberties.

Clearly, these two groups of people see our current reality through such radically different prisms, that they may not possibly productively coexist. Even I, as conservative who is rather well known for having a very diverse group of liberal friends and acquaintances, who doesn’t have to get past the “how the hell did you support Trump?!” hurdle with them, has found it nearly untenable to even have a conversation with people whom I believe have enabled/supported the destruction of my country and the abuse of my children.

When even President Joe Biden, elected on a platform of “unity,” is calling Texans “Neanderthals” for — successfully — giving Americans some of their freedom back, we are no longer the UNITED States of America. We are a nation of vastly different tribes, with decreasing commonalities and increasing disdain for each other, who are destined to someday — possibly fairly soon — no longer civilly coexist.