02/10/2020
Waking up this morning, the first news story that flashed across the screen of my iPhone was that of the current POTUS and FLOTUS both testing positive for COVID-19.
I should start by saying that, no matter how much I despise Donald Trump, and it is no secret that I believe him to be a truly repulsive individual, I wouldn't wish the virus on him and would not wish him dead.
That said, with over a million people having been killed by the virus so far across the world, it would seem that life would be better if those whose lives were taken were the people in society who think only of themselves, who persecute others, who regularly show a lack of morality.
It's a moral dilemma.
I don't think I could have been a doctor; and not just because I lacked the intelligence, or the necessary skills. If I was presented with a situation whereby two patients were in front of me and I could only save one, I would struggle to be ethical in my methodology in choosing who to save.
To give an example, if the two patients were both billionaire businessmen; one Donald Trump and the other Bill Gates, I would have no hesitation in helping Gates in preference to Trump. And I used those two individuals very deliberately.
Trump is a narcissistic bully; someone who has used his good fortune and power for selfish reasons, a man that set up a charitable foundation for all the wrong reasons - Trump was ordered to pay a $2 million settlement for misusing the foundation for his business and political purposes.
Bill Gates, on the other-hand, set up the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, previously the William H. Gates Foundation, and they have donated in excess of $36billion of their personal wealth to the foundation. The primary goals of the foundation are to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty across the globe, as well as to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology in the U.S.
The only thing these two individuals have in common is that they live a very privileged life.
So, I would have no feelings of guilt in choosing Bill Gates over Donald Trump.
If I could wave a magic wand and undo the deaths of care workers, doctors, nurses, porters, taxi drivers, bus drivers, police officers and others who have contributed positively to their communities and the wider world, I would happily do so. If, for every life saved, it meant the loss of life of those who are selfish, nasty or just plain evil, I'd still do so.
I can't help but think that the world would have benefited hugely if the lives taken by COVID had primarily been those whose contribution to the world was negative.
Can you imagine a planet where the world's (current) dictators, those who have turned weapons on their own citizens or otherwise betrayed their position of trust, all lost their lives to the same virus? If you could add to that those who have committed murder, rape and child sexual offences, we could be forgiven for thinking there was a God after all. Perhaps the world's xenophobes; such as the white supremacists, the Islamaphobes and those who twist their religion to excuse evil atrocities could be thrown into the mix; purely in an effort to save those who are more deserving.
I know that life isn't that simple, but...
So, I'd better bring this back to Trump.
There is no doubt that, from the very beginning of this pandemic, the orangutan president has sought to downplay its significance. He has made so many outrageous claims about the virus, that fact checking organisations have had even more work to do than normal.
In the debate against Joe Biden on Tuesday, amongst other things, Trump mocked the former Vice President for wearing a mask. He also claimed that his much publicised suggestion, during a live press briefing, that people could protect themselves from COVID-19 by injecting themselves with bleach, was 'sarcasm'.
Seriously?
Aside from the fact that President Chump lacks the intelligence to use sarcasm as a tool, why would anyone - let alone the 'leader of the free world' - use sarcasm in such a manner, in an address to the nation, during such a crisis?
Trump is apparently displaying mild features of the virus, a day after being diagnosed.
He might not develop more severe symptoms, and I honestly hope he doesn't.
However, if he does, you'd be forgiven for thinking that his moronic behaviour has not just contributed to his illness, but might be considered karma.
Let's just hope that this experience helps him to understand just how dangerous this coronavirus is. Even better, perhaps it may lead to a new and improved attitude from him; one where he doesn't value his own increased wealth and personal satisfaction more highly than improvements in the lives of the citizens he was elected to serve.
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