Rebellion against the nanny state

We have been here before. Restlessness turns into rebellion.

It is Smokey and the Bandit all over again.

Dr. Anthony Fauci can be right on the solution. Donald Trump is right on the politics. 

He has the Burt Reynolds role.
Social Distancing is the 55 mile per hour speed limit. 
The Democrats are "Smokey."

Trump minimized the virus, then got stuck having to manage its suppression. It is working. It is no fun. Now he is cheering a populist revolt against the foolish and power-hungry elites who run the government.  Who better to do it than the chief executive of that government?

It is crazy. It is hypocritical. It is classic Trump.

Trump's present and future political success requires him to appear to be the outsider, a populist presumably allied with the people against the real power of the Deep State, the Fake News Mainstream Media, the FBI, the federal bureaucracy. Most recently, he takes aim at spoil-sport nay-sayers, the serious people with their job killing message of social distancing.

Disapproval

People lucky enough to have been alive in the 1970s remember the era and mood. The OPEC oil embargo created an oil and gasoline shortage. The response was to increase US fleet automobile mileage by reducing the speed limit to 55, a partial solution. However, people were accustomed to driving 65 and 70 and faster on freeways designed to be driven at that speed. The result was widespread, socially sanctioned scofflaw behavior. People bought CB radios to alert one another about police patrol cars. Popular music and movies celebrated lawbreaking.

It was "eat your vegetables" government. People tired of it quickly. The government--at least as regards that rule--was demonized. Yes, the law was for our own good, but it was tedious and frustrating. The law protected the common good, an oil supply. In game theory--and in actual practice--the ideal was for nearly everyone else to drive 55, while you yourself drove 70. 

That is banditry. That was the role played by Burt Reynolds, the hero. He drove fast and got away with it. He had beer to transport. Audiences cheered him. The government--Smokey-- was cast as Jackie Gleason: overweight, slow witted, the bad guy enforcing unpopular laws. 

Academic commentary describes it this way:

     "One recurring theme in Smokey and the Bandit, along with its sequels, was a rebellion against authority. "Smokey" is the repressive police authority who infringed upon the protagonist's right to drive quickly, make money, and be free from police harassment."

Trump is disassociating himself from social distancing rules. It is up to the governors, he says. Let them be Smokey, in the form of old, grey, boring, job killing bureaucrat Fauci. 

The cool scofflaw.

At this moment it would appear to be a minority position, a mistake. Fauci is credible and popular. Polling says that people are worried about the virus. 

Isn't Trump taking a risky minority position?  No.

Already people are getting restless. This rule will not age well, even if it is essential. The rule bears hardest on a different demographic from the one it primarily protects. Some people are risk takers. Some people feel invulnerable. Some people look at the statistics in their area and decide the risk is low for people like themselves. 

Two observations: The first is by Ralph Bowman, a retired teacher, living in Southern Oregon: 

     "I went to pick up an order at Abbys Pizza tonight dressed in my mask and gloves. Surprise! Everyone was working away side by side with no masks, no gloves. Yeah, I was stunned. The manager told me his sister is making masks for them. I cancelled my order and when I went out to the parking lot and blurted out to this guy climbing out of his pickup truck that the workers had no masks or gloves. He started yellIng that he didn’t want to hear my shit. I said I couldn't believe this was an Abbys. The guy told me to fuck off and go home, go hide out in your house and leave him alone. He was built well, about 50, looked like a typical working Oregonian in his baseball cap, not scruffy. So I did go home and opened a can of soup."

Whistleblower attorney Thad Guyer described his situation: 

     "I am in deep blue Southeast Florida. The sidewalks are crowded with people walking, biking, jogging and skating. The Home Depot lines are long, the supermarkets are crowded. Most people over 30 are wearing masks. Young people of voting age here in the blue zip codes resent this, rebel against being told their lives will suspended so that old, sick people will die. Does that sound cruel or selfish? Yes. That is the nature of American politics, it is cruel, vicious and selfish. And it is going to stay that way. The majority of the population who can perceive no appreciable risk of hospitalization or death are not going to heavily-- as in depression-- sacrifice their self interests for the urban poor and nursing home residents
     If we go into September (or even June) with Biden and blue state politician campaigning for mandatory stay at home orders punishable by fine or imprisonment, these young voters absolutely will not turn out to vote for Democrats. That's why Biden and Pelosi and Schumer will cave very soon, even if the death rate of the sick and elderly spikes up, even if some hospitals get overwhelmed with the sick and elderly."

We are entering a new phase of the virus story, where the story is resistance, not compliance. I wear a mask around other people, i.e. at the grocery store and farm place to get gear for my melons. I wash my hands after coming in from the grocery store. Sheltering is easy for me. I am retired. But back when I was in my 20s and had somewhere to go quickly, which was always, I hated the 55 mile speed limit. I identified with Burt Reynolds. 

As a young adult, I took risks, too. I fought forest fires, dangerous work, which is why it paid extra. I needed money.