America: "Land of the Free"
Quite ironic, isn't it? From their fateful history of slavery, to their continual support of capitalism, to their privatized healthcare system, nothing in the United States truly seems "free."This premise of freedom stems from the American value system, which prioritizes individual liberty above all else. It is expressed through neoliberal governance — a laissez-faire approach that emphasizes the individual's role while promoting a lack of government intervention (Annas,2015). However, America has found that "true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence…Necessitous men are not free men." (The Economic Bill ofRights, 1944). This has heightened America's desire for a prosperous economic market and incited a dangerous disregard for anything that threatens financial success.
Biopolitics is the political rationale that takes the administration of life to ensure, sustain, and multiply life (Foucault, 1975). This intersectionality constitutes the political approach of governing human health. Neoliberal governance finds that a free market is the most vital governor of health (Annas, 2020). However, this reality of a free market results in only the most privileged American citizens benefitting (Fromer, 2020). American biopolitics takes an extremely upstream approach to health by focusing on money-making and spending rather than the public's immediate health (Fromer, 2020). By not providing downstream interventions, the market is being prioritized at the expense of marginalized groups, who disproportionately suffer(Fromer, 2020). This exacerbates health inequity by further perpetuating power imbalances within society. These twin regimes of American biopolitics- neoliberal governance and marginalization- are being exposed through the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Trump's initial COVID-19 response was to deny the problem's existence, labelling it"fake news" (Navarro, 2020). Eventually, the extreme public concern in America forcedPresident Trump to acknowledge that the pandemic does, in fact, exist in America. However, this acknowledgement was incited- at least in part- because of the declining stock market, rather than the rising suffering among the general population (Navarro, 2020). Trump's response to the pandemic prioritized conserving the economy instead of protecting citizens against the virus (Navarro, 2020). Before implementing any semblance of health and safety measures, Trump reduced salaries and lowered taxes and Social Security contributions in an attempt to save money (Navarro, 2020). Furthermore, Trump opposed the recommendations of health officials, vowing that "This administration will not go under any circumstances, will not go into a lockdown, but will be very vigilant, very careful," to protect the economy (Lao, 2020).
The Trump administration's COVID-19 response pushes to "return to business as usual." ManyAmericans reflect this mentality and are more concerned about the government interfering with the economy than immense suffering and lives lost (Larsen, 2020). Although this concern seems rooted in greed and corruption on the surface, the philosopher Foucault, who coined the term biopolitics, has explained that biopolitics can manifest differently depending on what is held as the foundation of health. Thus, neoliberal approaches- like Trump's- hold an honest biopolitical belief because it can be argued that the market is the sustenance of life (Larsen, 2020). Under this premise, the market's protection, even at the expense of lives lost, ultimately does more good for society's health than harm (Larsen, 2020). With this perspective, Trump's insistence on continuing everyday activities and lifestyles despite the increasing fatalities, still reflects biopolitical governance.
However, there is a significant flaw which this perspective fails to consider: health inequity. Those who are choosing to protect the market at the expense of citizens dying only stand to benefit from this decision. Trump's prioritization of the market is rooted in an ableist toxic masculinity. Upon contracting COVID-19 and recovering, Trump told America, "Don't let[COVID-19] dominate you. Don't be afraid of it. You're going to beat it. We have the best medical equipment. We have the best medicines, all developed recently," (Quinn, 2020).
Not we, you. As president, Trump had access to the best medicine, treatment, and equipment(Quinn, 2020). In contrast, almost 30 million people in the United States do not have health insurance (Navarro, 2020). Trump was surrounded by the nation's best physicians available to him 24/7, whereas Americans are being denied testing and care (Quinn, 2020). Moreover, Trump received a highly exclusive experimental antibody treatment upon his diagnosis, while one-third of American adults report not filling a simple prescription due to costs (Quinn, 2020; Kahzan,2020). The 210,000 Americans who had already died from COVID-19 when Trump's victorious statement was issued did not have the resources to stop the virus from "dominating" them(Quinn, 2020).
Trump's statement reflects the extreme privilege of those in power in receiving the best illness experience possible and their subsequent inconsideration of the reality of COVID-19 for averageAmericans. The truth is that people are dying. But not just any people, those with the least power, those whose cries for equality repeatedly go unheard. COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting all groups of marginalized peoples, such as people of colour, those with pre-existing health conditions, the unhoused, and the elderly. For example, Black, Latino, and IndigenousAmericans all have a COVID-19 induced mortality rate of triple or more than that of WhiteAmericans (APM Research Lab Staff, 2020). Marginalized citizens are disproportionately suffering due to circumstances beyond their control, and this inequitable treatment interferes with this supposed right to liberty which America claims to stand for.
Analyzing COVID-19 not just through a health lens, but through social, political, and intersectional lenses as well, we are able to see the holistic repercussions of the disease. America needs a more equitable approach to COVID-19. America is not yet willing to adopt anti-capitalistic health measures, therefore the intervention must simultaneously support individual liberty and let the market live, but not at the expense of the disadvantaged. And, the solution has been right under covering our noses this whole time! A national mask mandate could drastically improve America's COVID-19 situation. Masks stand to protect the people while America prioritizes the protection of the market. Yet, Americans have been fighting the use of masks since the beginning of the pandemic due to its supposed infringement on individual liberty. Americans fail to realize that they are facing a much more significant threat to their individual liberty: a total lockdown. Masks, leveraged by American biopolitics, will infringe on citizens' rights by enforcing a "dress code,"; but inevitably, masks will maintain greater freedom by preventing a complete government shutdown.
By preventing further restrictive measures, masks may protect America from a potential economic collapse. Research by Goldman Sachs found that reducing the virus's spread through mask-wearing, instead of strict lockdown measures, would prevent the loss of $1 trillion, or 5%of U.S. Gross Domestic Product (Hansen, 2020). The capitalistic push to return to work as normal, without a mask mandate, will widen the health gap. Many people do not have the option to take time off work to protect themselves or others from COVID should they fall sick (Miller,Kliff, & Sanger-katz, 2020). This could increase the burden of COVID on the United States and ultimately result in greater damage to the economy. Therefore, it is in the United States' best neoliberal interest to practice classic biopolitics through a mask mandate– America must protect the well-being of its workforce if it wants to protect the market.
Research has also found disease prevention to be more cost-effective than disease treatment (Goetzel et al., 2009). Thus, a mask mandate would benefit the American economy and also improve health equity — masks are much more affordable than ICU treatment. A mask mandate would help level the playing field. Regardless of skin tone, income, and privilege, everyone would benefit from a reduced spread of COVID-19. America may not be willing to take steps towards creating equitable COVID-19 illness experiences, but, with masks, it can try to achieve equitable illness transmission.
Therefore, a mask mandate is a feasible health promoting solution to mitigate the issues posed byAmerica’s capitalistic COVID-19 management. If America truly cared about liberty, achieving equitable outcomes for COVID-19 should be its priority. With the new changes in the country's government, let's hope America begins to wear their masks with as much pride as their red,white, and blue.
References
Annas, G. J. (2015). American Biopolitics. In Development of Bioethics in the United States (pp. 101-115). New York: Springer. doi:https://doi-org.proxy.queensu.ca/10.1007/978-94-007-4011-2_7
APM Research Lab Staff. (2020, November 12). COVID-19 deaths analyzed by race and ethnicity.Retrieved from https://www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/deaths-by-race
Foucault, Michel. “Society Must Be Defended.” Lectures at the Collège de France, 1975.Translated byDavid Macey. Picador, 1997.
Fromer, Y. (2020, April 07). Coronavirus proves a country is only as powerful as its people are healthy.Retrieved November 01, 2020, fromhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/04/07/coronavirus-country-powerful-healthy/
Goetzel, R. Z., Trujillo, A. J., Dall, T. M., & Brink, S. (2009, January). Do Prevention Or TreatmentServices Save Money? The Wrong Debate: Health Affairs Journal. Retrieved fromhttps://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.28.1.37
Hansen, S. (2020, June 30). A National Mask Mandate Could Save The U.S. Economy $1 Trillion,Goldman Sachs Says. Retrieved November 01, 2020, fromhttps://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2020/06/30/a-national-mask-mandate-could-save-the-us-economy-1-trillion-goldman-sachs-says/
Khazan, O. (2020, October 15). Donald Trump's Gold-Plated Health Care. Retrieved fromhttps://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/president-trump-health-insurance-covid/616627/
Lao, D. (2020, November 14). Trump vows against U.S. coronavirus lockdown in 1st speech sinceelection defeat. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/7461795/us-election-trump-coronavirus-lockdown-vaccine/
Larsen, E. (2020, May 15). The Endemic Pandemic: Ruminations on American Biopower underCOVID-19. Retrieved from https://medicalhealthhumanities.com/2020/05/15/the-endemic-pandemic-ruminations-on-american-biopower-under-covid-19/
Miller, C. C., Kliff, S., & Sanger-katz, M. (2020, March 01). Avoiding Coronavirus May Be a LuxurySome Workers Can't Afford. Retrieved fromhttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/upshot/coronavirus-sick-days-service-workers.html
Navarro, V. (2020, May 7). The Consequences of Neoliberalism in the Current Pandemic - Vicente Navarro, 2020. Retrieved fromhttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0020731420925449The Economic Bill of Rights. (1944). Retrieved fromhttps://www.ushistory.org/documents/economic_bill_of_rights.htm
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Quinn, M. (2020, October 06). Trump says "don't be afraid of COVID" as U.S. death toll tops 210,000.Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-covid-19-dont-be-afraid-death-toll-210000/