On December 31, 2019, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) became aware of coronavirus cases in China. They began developing reports for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on January 1. Just a few months after that, the coronavirus left 40 million Americans without jobs, tanked our economy, and killed over 170,000 of us. Now, here we are in August, more than 1000 people are still dying every day, and yet, the official response is, “It is what it is.”
In other words, the 170,000+ deaths were unavoidable in the eyes of our national leaders. They believe they did everything possible to curtail the effects of the virus. They want Americans to accept the enormous number of deaths as being the best possible outcome: no mistakes made, no wrong turns taken, no steps overlooked, and no improved actions or strategies needed.
How dare they offer cold-hearted, arrogance instead of compassion and remorse for the loss of so many lives! How dare they try to dismiss their failed leadership and incompetence!
Today we are living (and dying) with the price of a failed response to the virus. This should be the wake-up call for how we face the other global crisis that is upon us: climate change. Yet once again, the “It is what it is” attitude prevails in Washington. Without a coordinated national plan to reduce CO2 emissions, America is crippling the global effort to mitigate climate change. What price will we pay tomorrow if we fail to confront climate change now?
In the absence of a national plan for curbing climate change, the actions that local governments, individual businesses, and we as individuals take, become crucial. We cannot accept the future that will become a reality if the “It is what it is” attitude prevails.
