MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH

For those too young to remember, “meanwhile, back at the ranch” entered our language as an adopted phrase from the old radio drama, The Lone Ranger.  While the masked man was busy rounding up rustlers in the adjoining county, for example, the folks back home were getting robbed by another band of outlaws.  In other words, some significant but unnoticed action was taking place away from the main event.  Put this in the context of today’s pandemic.  Something sinister is happening behind our backs.

While America’s attention is riveted on conquering the Coronavirus, not too many pay much attention to the wrecking of the economy.  Those who do talk about it get attacked by the media as insensitive rubes who, like typical Republicans, only have eyes for dollar signs.  “Health first!” they scream.  “This is not time to think about jobs.  Who cares about jobs if we all die from the virus?”  The visceral reaction of most of us overwhelmingly agrees.  And so, like good sheeple, we echo the mantra and follow the herd.  Thus, we are led by the nose into an abyss.

Let’s be blunt.  The cure is killing us.  How so?  Well, the hospitals where we care for the infected cannot exist without an economy to support it.  The research and development labs cannot develop vaccines and medications without a strong economy.  Neither can the pharmaceutical companies produce life-saving drugs unless they can pay their bills.  The ginormous supply chain that services the health care system cannot stay viable without the economy.  If that goes, it will, in turn, cause the collapse of our vaunted health care system.  In short, the entire support structure that enables the mitigation to COVID-19 to exist will go up in smoke if we cannot jump start our economy.  (I won’t even get into the possibility that a segment of the population would be happy with an economic demise so they can restructure the entire society.) The Lone Ranger may save some cattle, but he won’t have a ranch to care for them when he gets back. 

This is why President Trump said that this decision was the most difficult one he has ever had to make in his presidency.  It’s a catch-22.  Those who cry that he is killing people if he sends people back to work don’t know or don’t care what is happening back at the ranch.  These same people will undoubtedly scream at his incompetence if he lets the economy blow up by extending the quarantine.  (And, it’s a safe bet that the screamers aren’t worried because they have jobs and incomes.)  It is a tough decision, not unlike dropping the A-bomb that ended WWII.  (A dreadful, yet appropriate example.)

Sometimes, decisions come down to risk management.  It may sound cold, but reality is staring us in the face.  We must weigh the risk of a premature startup against the risk of destroying our economy.  To use the language of the pandemic, we may flatten the infection curve, but subject the economy to an unacceptable mountain peak.  The President must assemble a team of knowledgeable leaders in every pertinent field and draw from their collective wisdom to chart the course forward.  If he allows the wrecking ball to keep swinging, there won’t be much left to salvage.