What do you believe would happen if there was a total stock market collapse?Socialism, not free-market capitalism, will do most to help save lives and the economy during the coronavirus pandemic.
Donald Trump is running for reelection on an anti-socialist message. But the COVID-19 outbreak demonstrates the emptiness of ideological labels.
In Trumpās case, he may try to have it both ways: using socialism as a convenient campaign slogan, while battling the coronavirus with extraordinary measures comparable to what other modern presidents have done to beat back a crisis. Critics have panned his methods so far. As infections spread, heās kept up his golf outings and fundraising schedule, while downplaying a virus that could have reached his outstretched hand: At CPAC, he greeted Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, who was in contact with the infected participant.
Trumpworld would like the 2020 general election to be a referendum on socialism; the Democrats want it to be a referendum on Trump. āWe will have it out,ā Kudlow said at CPAC. āPresident Trump is more than prepared to show the world why what he called ā¦ āthe American model of free enterpriseā will whip socialism every time.ā
Trump, though, is no doctrinaire economic conservative. His political brand is rooted in personality and celebrity, and heās bent on capturing a second term. If he decides that the quickest path to quashing the coronavirus is activist, interventionist government, free-market doctrine is unlikely to get in his way. If thereās some dissonance in his reelection message and his practices, heāll live with it.
There Are No Libertarians in an Epidemic - The Atlantic
Everyone's a Socialist in a Pandemic - The New York Times