One of the things about national or even global crises is that initially there is an upsurge of individualistic thinking by some people as they rush out and hoard vast quantities of stuff, thus denying them to others, even to those in greater need. Then we have the backlash with appeals for solidarity and sharing, that we are all in this together and that we need to be kind to others and cooperate. But as the crisis drags on, people’s patience and sense of good will may tend to wear thin and they start looking out again for just themselves or their immediate community.
In the state of New York, we may be seeing the start of the third phase as people in the less-populated upstate regions resent the surge in arrivals of people from New York City who are fleeing an area that has high rates of infection but in the process are spreading the infections to other areas.
As New York City has become the center of the coronavirus crisis in the United States many citizens, especially wealthier ones, have fled the city to second homes or rentals – but they have been met with hostility, fear and blame for potentially spreading the illness.
The flood of potentially disease-bearing city folk into countryside communities has even seen threats of violence and pleas from local politicians for them to stay away.
…The Rensselaer county Facebook page is awash with people calling for an all-out ban on people traveling north from New York City.
“Put the National Guard right at the damn Hudson River or other points, nobody crosses that line,” wrote one commenter.
“Think about our families too, STAY DOWN THERE.”
…Locals in these communities argue their hostility is not simply parochialism. Many harbor concerns about the ability of rural communities to manage an outbreak, given shortages of medical supplies, stretched hospitals and less access to food and groceries.
The more densely populated east coast is more likely to experience this kind of tension. New York City especially is the home for many wealthy people who also own homes in suburban and rural areas that they retreat to on weekends and for vacations. These people are abandoning the city in droves, causing some jealousy and resentment among those left behind in the city who do not have this option, as well as among the people in the communities they are moving to.
It’s worse than just the rich fleeing the outbreaks.
A lot worse.
This terrorist tried to ram a train locomotive into the hospital ship Mercy moored in Long Beach harbor.
The evidence that a navy hospital ship has anything to do with a government takeover is none.
This is nonsense.
The government doesn’t have to take over the USA because they already rule the USA.
More signs of social tension
The head doctor leading the effort against Covid-19 has been getting death threats from lunatic fringers and now has 24/7 security.
and
The guns stores have been busy.
I was wondering what good a gun would do against a viral disease.
The wingnuts have been using them to shoot other people instead.
I still wonder how useful they are going to be.
They are predicting around 100,000 dead in the next month.
Think about what the social tension will look like by then.
In the UK at least, this is very much a minority response:
I suspect the “fleeing the cities” response is also that of a small proportion of people -- although we do have it in Scotland (where current infection rates are quite a bit lower than in NY, even in the central belt). The Scottish government has told people not to flee to the highlands, and communities there are putting up “Not welcome” signs -- stressing that they’ll be glad to have people back when the epidenic ends -- these communities are mostly tourism-dependent. Ferries to the islands have mostly stopped -- we’ve had to cancel a holiday we booked before the pandemic got going.
KG, I live in a remote, tourism-dependent village in the Highlands. I haven’t seen any “Not welcome” signs but everything is closed apart from the Spar, and some car parks have entrances blocked. It’s a long long way to a hospital if you need it.
“people from New York City who are fleeing an area that has high rates of infection but in the process are spreading the infections to other areas”
OK, I have to admit it -- American (rightwing) government is even more stupid and incompetent that the Dutch (also rightwing) one. We at least have managed to avoid this medieval scenario.