Leftist Policy Could Save Lives?
Article
Is there a correlation between a political party and the mortality rate?
In the face of a pandemic, politics seems to play an unlikely role in dictating mortality rates across the globe. An analysis into the coronavirus death rate charts on all available statistics worldwide providing a clear insight into this revelation. With an average of 0.2 deaths per 100,000 referring to the countries least affected by the coronavirus- a stark contrast to the 220 deaths per 100,000 relating to the countries most affected- the question asks itself, are there similarities between the ruling of these sets of states that allows a clear distinction in mortality rate?
In theory, the general consensus is that conservative and liberal governments promote varying socioeconomic benefits attune to the wants of their respective supporters, including healthcare (Verstyuk, 2004). With differing demographics, an example being the racial and gender split in support of opposing parties, the victorious party would only be negatively affecting the mortality rate of those out of favour with the ruling government. An example being the 50% gap widen in mortality rate between black and white individuals in America since the tragic instatement of Trump (The Lancet, 2021), victim to both the psychosocial and socioeconomic burdens synonymous with his terms as president. In this instance partisan politics seems to be the only detrimental factor of political influence over mortality rates in general (Maas, 2020).
A spontaneous event in which there is a lethal health concern requiring a universal effort of containment led by differing political parties provides a better platform for the judgment of a correlation between ruling political parties and mortality rates. And so, the only equitable positive to come from the coronavirus would be the exposé on political incompetence present in right-wing ruling governments (Wondreys, 2021). If appalling mask etiquette and an alarmist approach defined by nativism was not enough of an indicator (Trumps infamous use of the term “Chinese virus” spurring similar xenophobic behaviours across the EU (Kurtzman, 2021)), an analysis into the aforementioned statistics on coronavirus death rates portrayed leftist reactions to the pandemic in a positive light; as countries ruled by both socialist and communist parties held positions at the lower end of the death toll whilst right leaning and multiparty governments dominated the charts.
Pathetic excuses of economic maintenance being priority and the labelled “anti-democratic” nature of leftist policies such as social distancing and quarantine, seeming to be a common edict among conservative parties in the name of populism, may be the reason for this outcome (Vieten, 2020). Cases would also have adequately increased with supporters of right-wing politics exploiting free reign under a government with the same ideals. The irony in that being the fact that countries under right wing governments are still impeded by circumstances of the pandemic, such as the UK’s experience of three inconsistent lockdowns since March 2020 and possibly more to come; whilst countries like New Zealand (Labour party government) are free from the pandemic owing to Prime Minister Jacinda Arden’s commendable reinforcement of strict regulations. Her early closure of borders and almost immediate level 4 lockdown ensuring a significant success in containing the virus (Walls, 2020).
Though there is still a lot of territory to go through exploring this idea, namely the stance on countries that do not categorise as either having a relatively high or low death toll and the anomalies existing at opposite sides of their hypothesized spectrum, like Burundi- a socially conservative government with communitarian values and a death rate of 0.04 per 100,000- the association between a political party and the mortality rate at any given situation presents an interesting concept and a definite correlation. In the face of a pandemic, however, testing the involvement of politics in dictating morality proved a rare opportunity to assess the realistic approaches of left- and right-wing governments.
References
Kurtzman, L. (2021, March 18th). Trump’s ‘Chinese Virus’ Tweet Linked to Rise of Anti-Asian Hashtags on Twitter. Retrieved from University of California San Francisco: https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2021/03/420081/trumps-chinese-virus-tweet-linked-rise-anti-asian-hashtags-twitter
Maas, A. (2020). Elections have Consequences: Partisan Politics may be Literally Killing Us. Springer Link. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs40258-020-00621-5
The Lancet. (2021). Verstyuk, S. Partisan Differences in Economic Outcomes and Corresponding Voting Behavior: Evidence from the U.S.. Public Choice 120, 169–189 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PUCH.0000035862.22896.65. The Lancet.
Verstyuk, S. (2004). Partisan Differences in Economic Outcomes and Corresponding Voting Behavior: Evidence from the U.S. Springer Link. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:PUCH.0000035862.22896.65#citeas
Vieten, U. M. (2020). The “New Normal” and “Pandemic Populism”: The COVID-19 Crisis and Anti-Hygienic Mobilisation of the Far-Right. MPDI. Retrieved from https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/9/9/165
Walls, J. (2020, March 23rd). Covid-19 coronavirus: All Kiwis will receive financial support from Govt as NZ braces for level four lockdown. Retrieved from nzherald: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-all-kiwis-will-receive-financial-support-from-govt-as-nz-braces-for-level-four-lockdown/HSP5X5Q2TBKWNMAQUWGMPJ3V2A/
Wondreys, J. (2021). Victims of the Pandemic? European Far-Right Parties and Covid-19. Nationalities Papers. Retrieved from https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/638E1BEA8CF82CA068DBC46149BE9F42/S0090599220000938a.pdf/div-class-title-victims-of-the-pandemic-european-far-right-parties-and-covid-19-div.pdf
