As the coronavirus spreads, our pseudo-elites are very concerned — that the crisis could harm the “diversity” agenda.
That blame for the virus could be put on some country or group.
And that too many of those trying to keep us safe are white.
Taking an old rhyme and adding a new twist, “Better red and dead,” such worries actually have been expressed by leftists.
Coronavirus, whose precise origin is still unknown, is causing widespread disruption. It has infected upwards of 80,000 and killed more than 2,800 worldwide. It has led to economic seizure in China, where it first arose, and is roiling stock markets. Japan is closing all schools nationwide for the month of March to combat it, and South Korea reported 505 new coronavirus cases in just one day. Our country has at least 60 cases and the first case of unknown transmission in California, and a former top health official warns us to prepare for a pandemic.
Given this, you might expect our pseudo-elites to prioritize keeping Americans safe above all else. But think again. Never letting a crisis go to waste, leftists called President Trump a bigot for prudently putting travel restrictions on China last month. In the same vein, CNN has “attacked the administration’s Coronavirus Task Force as ‘another example of Trump administration’s lack of diversity,’” reported commentator Tucker Carlson last night.
“A month ago, CNN warned that the real threat of coronavirus was racism against Asians,” Carlson said moments later, making his comments on yesterday’s edition of his Fox News show. “During Wednesday night’s presidential press conference, Wajahat Ali of the New York Times complained that the presentation was ‘only one woman on stage surrounded by nearly nine white men.’”
“Again, counting by race,” Carlson continued. “If there was ever a time to drop that dumb and dangerous tick, it’s now as a global epidemic bears down in our country.”
Then there’s presidential biographer Jon Meacham. He “summed it up about as crisply as a man could when he explained that his ‘greatest anxiety’ about coronavirus is that it might damage the global diversity agenda,” Carlson also informed.
As Meacham put it on MSNBC recently, “It seems to me that my greatest anxiety aside from the impact of the virus itself is we’re living in an age of xenophobia.”
While he’s apparently unsure it’s his greatest anxiety (“seems”), he’s certainly wrong about “xenophobia.” In reality, our problem is xenophilia, as reflected in glowing portrayals of foreigners in politically correct entertainment, the multiculturalist and diversity obsessions, politicians characterizing immigrants as more American than Americans — and in Meacham’s comments themselves.
To wit, he continued, saying that “it is not impossible to imagine a scenario where blame [for coronavirus] is cast on some country or group of people if this becomes worse.”
Funny, this hand-wringing is starkly absent when leftists condemn Europeans (e.g., Christopher Columbus) as genocidal killers for accidentally bringing diseases to the New World. Note here that germ theory wasn’t even originated until 40 years after Columbus’ death.
Of course, diseases always originate with some nation/group. The Black Plague, which killed one-quarter to one-third of medieval Europe’s population, originated in Asia. So did the smallpox the Europeans later spread to the American Indians.
But Meacham’s attitude is now pseudo-elite status quo. When there’s a jihadist terrorist act, for instance, what’s leftists’ first reaction? Do they stress taking bold steps to prevent future attacks? No, their immediate concern — and the only one they’re passionate about — is preventing “Islamophobia.” This is, of course, in our country like xenophobia: almost as rare as unicorns.
Yet the pseudo-elites can’t stop playing this game, “and they won’t,” stated Carlson (video below). “Because in the end, they care more about identity politics than they care about your life.”
Carlson isn’t exaggerating, and there’s a good reason for this better red and dead (as long as you do the dying) attitude: When people lose authentic faith, it’s not that they cease having religion. It’s that they find false religion.
Unlike animals, people are creatures who crave meaning in their lives. Thus do they never believe in nothing, and when they don’t embrace the Truth, they’ll indulge a lie. So in the post-Christian West, we see people passionate about “diversity,” “equality,” or the ism of the day: socialism, multiculturalism, internationalism, etc.
In fact, our leftists are much like people of truth faith in that they place their religion before life itself, though they’re not completely like them. The Christian may martyr himself before renouncing his faith. The Muslim jihadist may sacrifice himself while killing others in the name of his faith. Our pseudo-elites are only willing to kill others (indirectly, of course — can’t get your hands dirty now).
As with the liberal NYC parent who opposed diversity efforts in his kid’s school and said, “It’s more complicated when it’s about your own children,” martyrdom is not their bag. The values are theirs — the blood, treasure, and sacrifice are yours.
It’s the stuff of which revolutions are made.
Image: undrey / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Selwyn Duke (@SelwynDuke) has written for The New American for more than a decade. He has also written for The Hill, Observer, The American Conservative, WorldNetDaily, American Thinker, and many other print and online publications. In addition, he has contributed to college textbooks published by Gale-Cengage Learning, has appeared on television, and is a frequent guest on radio.
