China News Service, May 12, Zheng Yongnian, a professor at the East Asia Institute of the National University of Singapore, published an article in Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao, pointing out that politics over science is a major cause of the government's ineffectiveness in the fight against epidemics.
This article titled "Politics Overriding Science and Western Anti-epidemic Issues" believes that (US) political overriding science is carried out at three levels: individual politicians, political interest groups, and the international community. Since the beginning of the anti-epidemic, the American anti-epidemic story seems to revolve around the administrative power, that is, the contradiction between the president and the group of scientists and experts. The President and Congress have interacted and confronted each other about how to deal with US economic problems, but it is not the main thread.
The article commented that, despite the political impetus, blame speeches have appeared in various countries, but no country has as many high-ranking officials and members of Congress as the United States, putting so much energy on blaming China. One can imagine how many lives can be saved if these officials and politicians put their energy into the fight against the epidemic!
The abstract is compiled as follows:
The epidemic situation of coronavirus is spreading in various countries, and the results of anti-epidemic in different countries are very different. There are many factors that cause differences in anti-epidemic among countries, but how to deal with the contradiction between politics and science is undoubtedly a core issue; if handled properly, not only can the epidemic be controlled, but also the social economy will not suffer heavy losses.
Compared with Western countries, especially British and American countries, the anti-epidemic in East Asian society is obviously more successful, and the key to success is that the East Asian government can achieve a balance between science and politics in the process of anti-epidemic.
Since the beginning of the anti-epidemic, the story of the anti-epidemic in the United States seems to revolve around the administrative power, that is, the contradiction between the president and the group of scientists and experts. The President and Congress have interacted and confronted each other about how to deal with US economic problems, but it is not the main thread.
Politics overrides science at three levels. The first is politics at the individual level of politicians. Trump is undoubtedly the protagonist here. For his own power and election considerations, Trump will not hesitate to deny the scientific advice of experts. Since taking office, Trump has repeatedly denied the authoritative opinions and implementations that contradict his position and even corrected his mistakes, in order to expand his personal authority.
In this epidemic, Trump pushed this situation to the extreme. The President has repeatedly ignored the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials and other experts based on scientific advice, played down the epidemic and proposed unproven therapies.
He even suggested the use of disinfectant injections to kill the coronavirus in the body. Although he later denied, some Americans have already done so according to the president's method. The president's personal arrogance also led to the White House's fall, and some staff members were diagnosed with coronavirus. The president personally wasted a lot of time on whether to wear a mask, and finally decided to wear it, but the president himself often did not wear it. Even the White House staff did not understand the rules of conduct during the coronavirus epidemic.
Personal interests are also reflected in the case of some congressmen using internal information to sell stocks during the epidemic.
Second is the politics of interest groups. This mainly shows whether it is important for the economy or life, and its related policies. Many conservative politicians in the United States have always put the economy ahead of life at the federal or state and local levels, and even openly advocate that people can be spared for the sake of the economy. Although this debate is inevitable, the idea that the economy is more important than life does affect the effectiveness of the anti-epidemic policies of both the federal and local governments.
Recently, although the number of confirmed cases of coronary disease is still rising, the White House said that because the country has made great progress in the fight against epidemics, the White House's anti-epidemic working group led by it will soon be disbanded and the federal departments will coordinate the fight against epidemic. However, many expert model predictions in the United States have shown that if the United States resumes normal activities and reopens the economy, the number of diagnoses and deaths will surge. Various polls also show that more than half of Americans are still uneasy about unblocking. In the face of criticism, Trump changed his mouth again, saying that the anti-epidemic team worked well and would continue indefinitely, but at the same time, it would focus on "safety and reopening the country, vaccines, treatment" and other aspects.
According to US media reports, the CDC formulated a series of specific recommendations for local officials to decide how to restore normal social life in a step-by-step manner in April, but the White House put it on hold because the guidelines violated Trump ’s strategy of letting states self-determinate and unblock them. The White House obstructed the CDC report, disguised the implementation of the epidemic prevention measures to the states and even the enterprises themselves. Some states controlled by the Republican Party are eager to restart the economy to protect the economy, while states controlled by the Democratic Party continue to fight the epidemic.
Third, at the international level, both the US president and senior officials are trying to blame China for the spread of the coronavirus. Although the scientific community of various countries, including the United States, is still in the research stage of the origin of coronaviruses, American political circles and conservative media continue to produce various "theories" about coronaviruses, such as "Chinese origin theory" and "China responsibility" "On" and "China's compensation theory" and so on, trying to blame China for its ineffectiveness in the fight against epidemics.
The Republican Party tried to use "China's responsibility" as Trump's campaign agenda to maintain the presidency. The United States wants to use the "Five Eyes Alliance" to concocate and blame China's "viral conspiracy theory." The excessive practice of the United States has even led some alliance members to maintain distance from the United States. Previously, when it came to the so-called Iraqi possession of weapons of mass destruction, American allies had heard the United States and made a big mistake.
Despite politically driven remarks in various countries, no country like the United States has so many senior officials and members of Congress, so much energy is put on accusing China. One can imagine how many lives can be saved if these officials and politicians put their energy into the fight against the epidemic!
In any country, politics exists objectively and is indispensable. In a democratic country, politics is seen as an effective way to prevent politicians from going to power for their own personal interests or the interests of the parties they represent. But if politics overrides science, it will be difficult to find the most effective way to save people's lives. It is not unreasonable to resume economic activities, because if the society shuts down and the economy collapses, more problems will arise.
Historically, with the closure of a large number of enterprises, the number of unemployed people has risen, the livelihood of the people is difficult, and large-scale social panic is inevitable. Related issues and died. Therefore, it is necessary to resume economic operation. The problem is how to gradually open up scientifically, not according to ideology.
How to achieve a balance between politics and science? This is a problem faced by governments of various countries. At least so far, the performance of East Asian society in this respect is far superior to that of Western society.