OPINION:
Equal and Opposite Reaction
By Trevor K. McNeil
Together And Then We Are Not
We have all heard that absence makes the heart grow fonder. This may well be true in terms of human relationships, but the opposite seems to be the case in terms of international relations. The Republic of Ireland left the British Commonwealth at the first opportunity and hasn’t looked back. Boris Johnson will lead Britain out of the European Common Market sometime soon. There is a strong, and ever growing, Republican sentiment in Australia. Basically the Aussies want what America already has. A secular, constitutional republic with no ties to Britain. Can it be any wonder then, considering that over two centuries of separation between the two great nations, that certain differences should arise in the way British and Americans do things? Few places is this clearer than in the response to COVID-19. Particularly the issue as to whether their countries should reopen or not.
Can’t Be Bad As All That
Britons know how to handle a crisis. Which only stands to reason considering how many they have been through. Near constant invasions, only William the Conquerer really being successful, and more foreign wars than Jupiter has moons. Which goes a long way to explain why when London was being blown to bits by the Luftwaffe during WWII, the general response was to Keep Calm and Carry On.
Rinse And Repeat
The Brits evacuated the little ones to the comparative safety of the countryside and lounged in subway tunnels whenever they heard the air raid sirens blare. When a building got destroyed, which happened with regularity, everyone would come out, civilians mind you, and put it right back up exactly like it was and wait for it to get bombed to rubble again. Rinse and repeat. COVID-19, scary as it is, is no match for the tally-ho spirit. Which is the equal and opposite reaction to what is going on in the States.
A Question of Leadership
There isn’t much difference between Donald Trump and Boris Johnson in terms of their reaction to the crisis and the question of reopening. There actually seems to be little difference between Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum in general. The two world leaders appearing to go to the same barber. Trump and Johnson have both downplayed the effects to the virus. Johnson to the point of saying a few cases would actually be good for overall immunity. This was even after he got a nasty case of the modern plague that came very close to killing him. Something a prodigious alcohol intake has so far failed to do, he is still pushing for the nation to reopen.
Will of the People
A great man once said “People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.” There are few stronger examples of common sense citizen empowerment over petty politicking than the anti-reopening demonstrations going on in Britain. Even the venerable Chelsea Flower Show, regularly attended by the Queen, has been cancelled. The organizers opting for an online version instead. The British citizenry are telling the government precisely what they think of Johnson’s asinine reopening plan, in a calm and reasonable manner. While in America we’ve got Trump scaremongering about the economy and Tweeting madly late into the night and plumbers LARPing as paramilitaries at state capitols for the right to go bowling. To bowl or die! To tattoo or die! Maybe the self-proclaimed Greatest Country in the World still has something to learn from it’s progenitor.
