18 NEWS Best of the American columnists
THE WEEK 28 March 2020Restaurants arethe lifebloodof this nationDerek ThompsonThe AtlanticThe coronaviruspandemic will “crush” America’s restaurant industry,says Derek Thompson,with
horrendous consequences forthe wider economy.The sectoris oneofthe country’s most important
sources ofwork today. Backin1990, manufacturing employment wasalmos tthreetimeslarger than
the food-serviceindustr y, but the two nowaccountfor roughlythe same amount of jobs.TheUShas
almostthree millionwait ersand waitresses;morethan10% of al lemployment in Nevada,Hawaii,
and Floridaisl inked tofood preparationand service. Americans have, since 2015,spent more at
restaurants than at grocery shops.These places havebecomethe lifebloodofmany communities.
Without themandall th eemploymentopportunitiesthey offer, stateandlocal economiesacrossthe
US“would fall to pieces”. Butasaresult of thenewrules on social distancing, restaurants’revenues
in manyplaces have evaporated almostovernight, leavingbusinessesthat were “alreadyoperating at
paper-thinmargins” struggling to make therent andloan payments.Onlymassiv efederalaction in
the form ofgrants andcheap loans cankeeprestaurant sfrom going broke. If wedon’tact now, most
will be outof business onthat happydaywhenwecan safely returntosharingmealsinpublic.Mourning thedeath oftogethernessMichelleGoldbergTheNewYorkTimes“There’salottomournrightnow,”saysMichelle
Goldberg.Peoplearemourninglostlovedones,lost
livelihoods,lostsavings,lostsecurity.“I’mlucky:I’m
justmourningthecity.”NewYorkisaweirdplace
today.Toliveinthisusuallybustlingmetropolisis
to“tradeprivatespaceforpublicspace”.Likemany
residents,Idon’thaveadiningroominmysmall
apartment;Irelyondinersandrestaurants.Idon’t
haveahomeoffice;Iusecoffeeshops.Indifficult
times,suchas9/11,the 2003 blackoutandthe
aftermathofHurricaneSandy,NewYorkershave
alwaysgatheredinpublicforcomfortandmutual
reassurance.Butinthe currentcrisis,we can’t do
that.We’re meant tobehunkeringdownat home.
Togethernesshasbecomeathreat.Thisgoes againstthewholecharacterofNew York.Millennials
havehelpedfuel anurbanrenaissanceintheUS over recentdecades, butIfear thecoronaviruscrisis
may bringthistoashudderinghalt. Our“culturalromance” with urbanlivingmaybe over for ever.AspectreishauntingprogressiveAmerica,says Rich Lowry.It’sthe dread thoughtthat“aprivate
companymightmaketoomuchmoney solvingthe world’scoronavirus problem”.At thelast
Democratic debate,Bernie Sandersdescribedtheleadersofthepharmaceuticalindustry asa“bunch
ofcrooks” who would besayingtothemselves,amidthispublichealthemergency, “Oh,wow,what
anopportunity tomakeafortune”.Severalliberalpublications havelaunched similarattackson the
greedof “BigPharma”.Thesepeople don’tseemtorealise that,withouttheprofit motive,America’s
drugindustrywouldn’teven exist. They also seemincapable ofdoingbasic cost-benefitcalculations.
Thedrastic methods we’re usingto defeatthisvirus aredevastatingour economy.President Trumpis
proposingatrillion-dollarstimuluspackage. Even ifwehadtopaythat much foravaccine –which
we won’t–that wouldbe “abargain, savinguntold humansufferingand economicdislocation.
Evenifitrequiredcuttingachequedirectlytothemoststereotypicalmoustache-twirling,profiteering-
in-a-crisis,uncaringbusinessman,itwouldbe agreatdeal.”US drugcompanies haverightlybeen
condemnedfortheir roleinthe opioidcrisis–butnow,of alltimes, weshouldappreciatethe value
ofhavingaworld-classpharmaceutical sector.Why greed isgood for BigPharmaRich LowryPoliticoAbustling metropolis becomesaghost townThe pandemic blame game starts in earnestWanttoknowwhytheUSeconomyisinfreefall?Whyschools
areshuttingdown,andmillionsofAmericansarefacingan
uncertain future? The answer, saidMarc A.Thiess en inThe
Washington Post,is“ becauseChinaisabrutal totalitarian
dictatorship”. If theregime hadtaken properactionwhenthe
coronavirus first emergedlast year, itcouldhave contained
theoutbreak and prevented aglobalpandemic.Inst ead, it
suppressedthe evidencefor weeks andpunisheddoctorswho
raisedthealarm. Beijinghas alot to answerfor, agreed David
Harsanyi in theNational Review.It’s happytosuppressthe
rights of theChine se people, yetis“apparentlyunabl etoexert
even mild cultural pressure” tostop thembuyin gexoticanimals
at unsanitary markets.“I hate to thrust myWestern cultural
valuesonanyone,but maybeit’stimetostop eating bats.”US conservatives are obsessedwithblami ng Chinafor thecrisis,
saidJonathan Chait inNewYork Magazine.They’ve mounted
acampaignto brand thediseas ethe “Wuhan Virus”, andthey
scoldanybodywho fails to usethat term.Theright-wingsite
Breitbartwas furious that“not once” in Joe Biden’s pandemic
plandidthe Democraticcandidate mentionChina. Butit isn’t
“delicacy about offendingChina” that leads Bidenandothersto usethe standardtermfor the virus. “It’sbecaus ewedon’t
actuallycareatthis pointwhereit started.”Wejustwanttofix
it. Yes, China bungled its initialresponse to theoutbreak, but
so didtheTrump administration, whichhas lied to coverupits
failures. It’s ironic that the conservativeswho aremostfixated
on blamingBeijing are“also, oddlyenough, the most complicit
in justifyingthe samebehav iour by theirowngovernment”.Americans must be vigilantagainst “scapegoating Asians in
general or theChinesepeopl einparticular”,said Shadi Hamid
in The Atlantic.It’sonlyright,though,that Beijing beheld to
account forits role in the spreadof Covid-19: fivemillion
people leftWuhan beforethe citywent into lockdown. Yet
nowChinese officials have launchedadisinformationcampaign
claimingthatthe U Sarmyintroducedthe virus to China. There
is no moral equivalenceherebetween Trump andChina’s
rulers.Forall hisfaults, Trumpdidn’t block reporting of the
virus, or “disappear hiscritics”.The rest of theworldwillhave
to live withBeijing’s communist rulers as long astheyremai nin
power.But the coronavirus crisis “should,finally, disabuse us
of anyremai ning hope thatthe C hineseregim ecould be a
responsible global actor. I tisnot, andit wil lnot becomeone.”