A disturbing finding in the latest Civiqs/Daily Kos poll:
What is your typical day like right now? |
|
I spend nearly every day at home, leaving only for exercise or essential items. |
I spend more time at home than before the outbreak, but I still go out when I want |
My daily life is essentially the same as before the outbreak |
All |
67 |
13 |
19 |
Democrats |
79 |
9 |
11 |
Republicans |
53 |
18 |
27 |
Independents |
67 |
11 |
20 |
|
|
|
|
Urban |
75 |
10 |
13 |
Rural |
57 |
14 |
29 |
Suburban |
72 |
12 |
16 |
We know that Republicans aren’t taking this thing seriously. I mean, here you go for the latest numbers (updated daily):
The fact that 40% of Republicans remain unconcerned about the pandemic is utterly mind-boggling. But maybe not, given the messaging they’ve received inside their media bubble:
So it shouldn’t be surprising that if 40% of Republicans don’t think this thing is a big deal that 45% of them wouldn’t fully isolate at home.
But the other disturbing trend is that rural-urban split. Cities obviously get the importance of isolation in a pandemic. People live in such close proximity to each other. The suburbs make sense—we also see correlation between doing the smart thing and, surprise, surprise, education.
What is your typical day like right now? |
|
I spend nearly every day at home, leaving only for exercise or essential items. |
I spend more time at home than before the outbreak, but I still go out when I want |
My daily life is essentially the same as before the outbreak |
All |
67 |
13 |
19 |
Post-grad |
81 |
9 |
10 |
College |
72 |
10 |
17 |
No college |
64 |
14 |
21 |
No college whites |
59 |
16 |
24 |
The suburbs are a bastion of educated people, hence stronger adherence to stay-at-home orders. Meanwhile, those no-college whites are feeding from a diet of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, and it’s going to get a bunch of them killed.
Rural areas may not have the density of cities, but people are still interacting, and doing so with seemingly little concern. “But let’s be honest, what country do we live in?” said one idiot in Iowa. “It’s the USA, which is freedom, freedom to choose. When we get notes from the government saying do this or do that, it feels like that’s not what this country is built on. People should be smart, and you live with your choices.” If only this idiot was affected, few would care. But he might be a carrier, leaving a swath of death and economic devastation in his wake. Killing others isn’t exactly the definition of “freedom.”
Furthermore, they don’t have a fraction of the medical resources that urban areas have—particularly in red states. You see, a combination of our for-profit medical system and refusal to take Affordable Care Act money in many states for ideological reasons has forced 120 rural hospitals to close in the last decade, 34 of them in the last two years.
And finally, people in cities are healthier—they are younger, fitter, less obese, smoke less, eat better and are otherwise far better positioned to survive this kind of disease. Age is the big one. “Rural areas have a higher share of adults who are ages 65 and older than urban or suburban counties,” reports Pew. While only 14% of Americans live in rural areas, they have 18% of all Americans over the age of 65. Urban counties, home to 31% of all Americans, have only 13% of the over-65 crowd.
The virus is already spreading in rural America. Indiana has crept up the coronavirus charts, accounting for the 7th largest number of new deaths on Friday, ahead of Florida, Texas, and California. Now watch where the disease has spread:
Obviously, Indianapolis dead-center is the biggest cluster of cases, with a satellite cluster in Gary up in the northwest corner and in South Bend, center north, home of Notre Dame and Pete Buttigieg. But look at that southwest corner of the state. The biggest cities down there are New Albany and Jeffersonville, populations 36,461 and 47,383, respectively. Yet the virus has taken hold there, and filled in the empty counties between there and Indianapolis.
And remember, this is confirmed cases in a state that hasn’t had the testing kits it needs, and likely even less so in those rural counties.
Oh, and hey, don’t look now, but “Mississippi currently has the highest COVID-19 hospitalization rate in the nation, at 31 percent, according to states’ health department data gathered by The COVID Tracking Project.” And that’s not all: “Since the state started regularly updating hospitalization rates, Mississippi has consistently remained among the top three states of about 40 states consistently reporting hospitalization data. As of Wednesday, Oklahoma and South Carolina rank just behind Mississippi, at 30 and 27 percent, respectively.” What do Mississippi, Oklahoma, and South Carolina have in common? They are mostly rural and led by Republicans who refuse to close everything down.
Now do you see why that chart at the top matters? Republicans and rural people (the overlap is huge) are still refusing to take this seriously, taking cues from their Fox News/Rush Limbaugh heroes, their Trump-loving governors, and their own ignorance and anti-science upbringing. They already lead unhealthy lives—remember them sneering at Barack Obama for eating arugula, and Michelle Obama for merely encouraging children to eat healthy?
And here are we, the liberals, screaming at them to take this seriously so they don’t die.
So remind me, please, which is the pro-death party, and which one is pro-life?