Letter to the Editor: Voting during an epidemic

Dear Editor:

An American election can be characterized in so many ways. Simply put, it is man versus woman, rich versus poor, gay versus straight, black versus white, and young versus old. 

As with previous elections, this one is being pegged as the battle of the capitalists versus the socialists/communists. It is business owners versus workers. It is welfare for the people versus welfare for corporations. It is voters who want less government involvement in non-military matters, less taxes and regulations, against those who want government involvement in jobs, schools, and the environment. 

The election is those who want to continue burning oil and gasoline versus those who want homes to run on solar power and vehicles to run on batteries or fuel cells. It is those who want laws protecting traditional family values and the unborn versus those who want the right to marry anyone and decide the fate of an unborn fetus. It is taxpayers who want to use tax money to pay for private schools versus those who want government officials to use tax money carefully to build better public schools. It is those who want to tax the churches versus those who want Jesus, Buddha, John Smith, Mohammed, and God to continue to go tax-exempt. 

With the emergence of the coronavirus, Americans living in any of the hundreds of densely populated cities across the country are starting to grapple with the issue of surviving scarcity. As water, bleach, toilet paper, food, gasoline, and medical services begin to become less and less available, self-imposed or government imposed quarantines are starting to take hold. Sporting events, concerts, and public gatherings are being canceled as schools are thinking about starting spring break and even summer vacation now. This is being done out of an “abundance of caution.” 

The coronavirus will affect Americans like it has affected people in other countries. It will make us sick. It is a severe and highly contagious form of the flu at least. The presidential election could take place while we are in the throes of a serious epidemic. 

If it does, the election will be about those who want transparency and government action versus those who want to go about life without governmental intrusion and obstruction, the capitalistic way, where survival of the fittest is the order of the day, and the private sector can resolve everything.

Dan Chantra
Downey