American Politicians That Disregard Life Cannot Escape the Eyes of History

Published in Xinhua
(China) on 26 July 2020
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Brittany Bradley. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.

 

 

“We remind you that history has its eyes on you.” In the past few days, more than 150 American medical specialists came together to sign an open letter to U.S. federal and state lawmakers, calling on them to prioritize the lives of American citizens. The letter requests that they hold off on trying to reopen the economy, restart the fight against coronavirus, and this time “do it right.”

According to statistics compiled by Johns Hopkins University, by the evening of July 25, the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. exceeded 4.17 million, with more than 146,000 deaths. For three days straight, the number of COVID-19-related deaths exceeded 1,000 in just one day. These medical professionals, hailing from America’s top universities and research organizations, expressed anger, and stated, “The best thing for the nation is not to reopen as quickly as possible, it’s to save as many lives as possible.”

The whole world can understand their anger. America has the world’s largest economy and is one of the top-ranking countries when it comes to science and technology. It has a robust economy and is leading the way in the field of medical technology. Compared to Europe, America’s outbreak came later. It had plenty of time to prepare and experience to refer to. However, thanks to the government's response America has become the country with the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. It has also become the country with the highest death count from COVID-19. Out of all of the predictions made by various experts at the beginning of the outbreak, the worst-case scenario has already happened in the U.S. “No matter how you look at it, the U.S. is among the countries that had the worst response." Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, lamented.*

If we trace the problem back to its source, we see that time and time again officials chose to put political interests above scientific reasoning, all the while ignoring the lives and well-being of their citizens. As the months passed, American politicians shifted blame to other nations while they also attempted to silence their own medical specialists, grossly misleading their citizens.

Actually, diverting their citizens’ attention by blaming other nations did nothing to help fight the virus. Yet some politicians continued to shift blame. The more serious the situation became in their own country, the louder they criticized others, turning COVID-19 into a political virus. One simple way to prevent the spread of the virus is for everyone to stay at home and wear masks when out in public places, a method that has already been proven to be effective worldwide. Instead, as the pandemic continued to spread, politicians were holding general elections and politicizing the wearing of face masks. This led to the United States’ loss of control over the virus and a worsening of the situation.

The harsh reality is that in the past week, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Florida, Texas and 12 other states have reached record highs. Florida, Idaho, and the number of COVID-19-related deaths in six other states have also set records. Experts warn that given the current trend, 200,000 American lives will be lost by Nov. 1 as a result of COVID-19.

At the heart of the open letter is an appeal not to prioritize the economy over the lives of American citizens. Zhengtan magazine also published an article claiming that “the only way to recover the economy is to contain the virus.” In a country that prides itself on its “democracy,” politicians have refused to listen to the experts despite the well-intentioned advice they have provided, even going so far as to suppress those who have gone against their wishes. Because of his candor during the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is a member of the White House coronavirus task force, has garnered much respect from the public, but has offended the current president. Fauci continues to experience harassment and receive threats. “[I receive] serious threats against me, against my family, my daughters, my wife. I mean, really? Is this the United States of America?” he stated with exasperation.

Misdirecting blame during a pandemic while contradicting scientific reason cannot escape the eyes of history. Disregard for life ultimately cannot escape the judgment of history. The whole world is watching to find out whether American officials skilled in handling political matters will listen to the call of 150 specialists.

*Editor’s note: Although this remark was accurately translated, it could not be independently verified.


 新华社记者

  “历史的眼睛在盯着你们!”美国150多位医学专家近日联署公开信,呼吁美联邦及各州政府决策者以生命为重,停止重启经济,重新部署抗疫,“做正确的事。”

  据约翰斯·霍普金斯大学统计,截至7月25日晚,全美确诊人数已超过417万人,死亡14.6万多人,连续三天单日死亡人数过千。来自美国著名大学和研究机构的这些医学精英们出离愤怒,他们指出,对美国来说“最正确的事情不是经济重启越快越好,而是拯救生命越多越好。”

  专家们的愤怒,世界都能理解。美国作为头号经济科技强国,拥有雄厚的经济实力、领先的医疗技术水平,美国的疫情暴发比欧洲还晚,有充分的准备时间和经验参考,但由于美国政府“花式抗疫”,如今的美国成为世界上确诊病例最多、死亡病例最多的国家。疫情暴发之初各方专家学者所做的预测中,最坏的情形都已在美国发生。微软创始人比尔·盖茨感叹,“无论如何衡量,美国都是做得最糟糕的国家之一”。

  究其根源,美当局以政治利益凌驾于科学之上,无视美国民众生命和健康,“花式抗疫”一错再错。几个月来,美政客一边对外“甩锅”推责,一边打压专业人士的意见建议,严重误导了美国民众。

  事实证明,以对外推责转移民众视线无助于抗疫,但美国部分政客“甩锅”不断,疫情越严重,指责他国的声音就越大,把新冠病毒变成政治病毒。已在世界各地被证明最有效、最简单的抗疫手段就是居家隔离和在公共场合佩戴口罩。但美政客在疫情蔓延期间举办大选集会,将戴口罩高度政治化,让美国的疫情防控形势雪上加霜。

  如今,残酷的现实摆在美国面前:过去一周,佛罗里达、得克萨斯等12州确诊人数创新高,佛罗里达、爱达荷等六个州死亡人数创新高。专家们警告,就现在的疫情发展趋势而言,到11月1日将有20万美国人死于新冠病毒。

  公开信最核心的呼吁是,不要不顾民众生命重启经济。《政坛》杂志网站也刊文称,“恢复经济的唯一途径是控制疫情。”尽管专家们苦口婆心,但在这个以“民主”自诩的国家,政客们却听不进专家的意见,甚至打压任何有悖于他们意志的人。作为白宫防疫顾问的安东尼·福奇因在抗疫过程中敢于直言而赢得公众尊重,但却冒犯了当政者,持续遭到人身威胁和骚扰。“我、我的家人……我的女儿、我的妻子都受到了严重威胁。我是说,这真的还是美利坚合众国吗?”这是福奇无奈的话语。

  违背科学理性的“花式抗疫”逃不过“历史的眼睛”,漠视生命最终逃不过历史的审判。精于政治算计的美国政客,能否听到这150位专家的呼吁,这是全世界都关注的问题。
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