American Politicians That Disregard Life Cannot Escape the Eyes of History

“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.