It is no surprise that the U.S. leads other countries in its count of confirmed infections from the new coronavirus pandemic ― 3.5 million as at the end of last week. At critical crossroads in the progression of the disease, leadership in the United States either made light of the implications of SARS-CoV-2 for the health of its people and economy, or like deer trapped in the headlights of a fast-approaching vehicle on a dark night in the country, froze.
Predictably, confronted by these awful gross domestic product numbers, and concerned to remediate their shrivelling economy, some state governments in the U.S. bought into the case for a rapid return to normalcy made by their federal government and begun reopening their economies. Of course, people were going to die.
Organised as a mechanism for protecting the people, the debate about the moral space ― occupied by governments ― in which this goal is to be realised has been an unending one. Much of the dialogue around opening economies even as the world tries to battle COVID-19 has taken place within the utilitarian corner of this space. According to this logic, the larger number of those who contract the virus do not present with symptoms.