It’s been a minute since we had to discuss a civic issue. I’m pretty sure last time I went into detail on the algorithms that control social media. Today, I’d like to focus on a very timely topic: Stay-At-Home protesters.
The Corona Virus epidemic is a truly one of a kind phenomenon unique to this era. Never before have citizens in countries across the world had to face the level of restriction and caution that this virus ordains. It’s an experience that no country could have fully prepared for due to its unprecedented nature.
For the past 6 to 7 weeks, Americans have had to stay at home due to government orders and business closures. Many were able to abide by these orders due to the recommendations of health professionals and the CDC, as well as knowledge of the fact that our healthcare could be as burdened as Italy’s if we didn’t “flatten the curve”.
While for many people, this is an inconvenience that can be toughed out using Zoom and online communication, for others these conditions are devastating both financially and mentally. The working class, including those in small businesses, have been hit the hardest of all, with most undergoing furlough or even dismissal. With zero income and little real federal financial aid, many of these people have been cornered into risking their finances or risking their health.
In one article, a vice president of a small pest control company in Michigan claims this decision is equivalent to choosing between his mom or his child to save from a hanging cliff. It’s an unbelievable situation that he feels people have the right to be frustrated and speak up about.
This has been the underlying sentiment for all of the “Stay-At-Home” protestors so far. Though many have shown a lack of consideration for the health guidelines we have been trying to follow, it’s important to note they have also been harshly punished by them. Some protests, like the one in Washington, have called for “revolution” as a response to increasing restrictions and quarantine extensions, insinuating the Revolutionary War in many messages. Of course, they only mean in it an eye-opening sense, but it shows the level of frustration some Americans are feeling.
Coupled with the fear that this level of government control over public affairs would prove to hinder citizen’s rights in the future, many Americans feel strongly for a return to normalcy, no matter the cost. And, after considering the harms this has caused for so many people, it’s difficult to deny them. However, it’s because so many of them have ignored the cost that they are ridiculed by professional class citizens and many government officials.
Michigan’s ‘Gridlock’ rally is perhaps the one I agree with most. Governor Whitmer of Michigan extended the stay-at-home order to May and made many other restrictions that some felt as “arbitrary”, including closing off inessential parts of stores and banning travel to vacation homes. As a result of the frustrations of the working class who are starting to feel the pain of such restrictions with no income, a Facebook group named “Operation Gridlock” was organized to protest them. Its goal was to gather in cars to Lansing, the capital of Michigan, and honk horns, hopefully informing the governor of their disapproval of the measures taken.
In addition, the group distanced themselves from those who went out of their cars. Their purpose was explicitly to “get the attention of the Governor”, and their actions were in-line with distancing guidelines and health regulation. To this end, the group’s protest was quite successful, and a large departure in ideals from those who claim they don’t care who dies for their haircut.
The heart of these protests are valid and require a lot more attention. These are concerns that everybody needs to be aware of, especially the majority of Americans who have comfortably transitioned their work and lives online. Yet, the ways many of the afflicted Americans are going about protesting and spreading these concerns are hurting them. It’s understandable that the strict health guidelines are what’s causing their financial burden, however, that is a problem that can’t be solved until the virus goes away or a vaccine is found.
Thus, complete disregard for the guidelines, which is what many of the cornered population has turned to, just isn’t possible. It is causing mass ridicule for their position and debasing them as merely “Trump supporters” who wish to gather conservative momentum for the election. The fact that they are tying Trump’s response to their actions is only further undermining it.
For the people who are seriously suffering from these restrictions, nothing about this is political. It’s a (nonviolent) fight for survival in a new era, our modern world. If these pure sentiments are protested in a way that maintains or compromises with the unavoidable health guidelines our governors are enforcing, it’s possible that more Americans will begin to side with the afflicted and real, effective action can be taken to support them.
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