thenation--2020-08-17--The Cost of ‘Singapore Inc.’? A Coronavirus Outbreak Among Migrants.

On August 9 , Singapore celebrated its 55th year as an independent nation with a parade split into morning and evening sections and with fireworks displays spread out across the island .
That same day , the country marked another milestone : its 55,000th Covid-19 case .
For the past four months , dormitories housing male migrant workers—mostly from Bangladesh , India , and China—have been the main sites of Covid-19 infection in the city-state .
As of August 13 , 52,516 dormitory residents have tested positive for the coronavirus , or more than 90 percent of all cases .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ has shone a harsh light on the inequalities and injustices in Singaporean society , and reflected our inhumane , GDP growth–chasing politics back at us .
When these clusters were identified in April , the government implemented a policy of ring-fencing the virus within these complexes , so as to prevent transmission to the rest of the population .
Reported cases were separated into “ dormitory residents ” and “ community cases.
” By the end of that month , all dormitories—housing over 320,000 men—were effectively placed on lockdown .
Singaporeans have also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But while our lockdown involved working from home , binge-watching Netflix , and getting meals delivered , migrant workers have been confined to crowded rooms , often with poor ventilation in a humid , tropical climate .
“ You [ couldn ’ t ] stay here for 10 minutes , ” a stressed-out Bangladeshi worker told me over the phone back in April .
By now , many men have endured these conditions for months , even as the rest of Singapore has emerged from our homes and gone back to dining at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The long confinement has taken its toll .
In recent weeks there have been reports of suicide and attempted suicide , and NGOs say they ’ ve seen a sharp uptick in suicide ideation among migrant workers .
The government has left some men in isolation facilities even after testing negative for Covid-19 ; the men liken the situation to being imprisoned indefinitely with little knowledge of what ’ s going on .
NGOs say some aren ’ t even allowed to open a window or step out the door .
There ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worry about catching the virus and whether they will be able to send money home when salaries are being cut and jobs are more precarious than ever .
The end to the dormitory lockdown is , thankfully , in sight .
The government says that all dormitories , barring some in quarantine areas , have been cleared of the virus .
The majority of workers have now been given clearance to return to work .
But even this comes with strings : To be allowed back to work , they ’ re expected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ authorities can keep track of their whereabouts and their health and conduct contact tracing if necessary .
After work , they ’ re ferried right back to their dorms .
Some are being moved from their dorms to temporary accommodation on construction sites , where they are expected to remain until the work is done .
Migrant labor rights groups have objected to the new rules stating that workers are only allowed to leave their dorms with the consent of their employers , but the government says that the regulations are necessary to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ the workers ’ ] resumption of work and activities.
” There is as yet no timeline for when these restrictions might be lifted .
Health care workers , civil servants , and dormitory managers have been working flat-out for the past few months to bring us to this point .
The toil of doctors , nurses , and other frontline workers—combined with luck and the relative youth of the migrant worker population—has kept the number of Covid-19 deaths low , to just 27 .
This labor is both vital and appreciated , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fact that the ongoing suffering of the migrant workers stems from a situation Singapore has put them in .
Most male migrant workers , brought in to work in the construction , shipyard , and petrochemical industries , are housed in dormitories , many in industrial parts of the island away from the rest of the population .
There are over 40 large establishments built for the sole purpose of housing these workers , and over 1,000 dormitories made out of converted industrial buildings .
Even before the pandemic , NGOs had pointed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were a recipe for disaster .
In 2016 , the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics told Reuters that the workers ’ living conditions made them “ most susceptible ” to Zika .
A 2016 study also found that living in a migrant workers ’ dormitory raised the odds of getting dengue fever .
The Covid-19 pandemic has drawn attention to living conditions in these dormitories , but they aren ’ t the migrant workers ’ only problems .
Most arrive debt-ridden , since they have to pay thousands of dollars to agents to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ companies in Singapore .
They then work for extremely low wages ; the NGO Transient Workers Count Too ( TWC2 ) says that construction workers are rarely paid more than S $ 20 ( $ 14.57 ) to S $ 30 ( $ 21.85 ) per day , which places them in positions of extreme vulnerability , as their employers can cancel their work permit and repatriate them at any time .
The authorities and the public tend to see migrant workers as threats to public order , and therefore subject them to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A 2015 article published on TWC2 ’ s website highlights the increased presence of CCTV cameras , police patrols , and fines for littering in Little India , a district popular with South Asian migrant workers .
It ’ s a system that treats migrant workers not as adults with agency and dignity , but as units of labor that can be shipped in to do “ dirty , dangerous , and demeaning ” work—often referred to as 3D jobs here—then kept out of sight when their services aren ’ t required .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ among these workers became horrifically apparent , many of us said that Singapore had to learn a lesson from this , and recognize that migrant workers have to be treated as part of our community .
On April 21 , Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong promised migrant workers , “ We will care for you , just like we care for Singaporeans.
” The government has introduced a pilot program with new standards for dormitories : Instead of the current standard of 12 to 16 men sleeping on double-decker beds , new dorms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ per room , in single beds .
They ’ re also increasing the number of bathroom , toilet , and sick bay facilities in proportion to the number of residents .
These are steps in the right direction , but they ’ re insufficient : What ’ s needed is a much more fundamental reform of the way we see workers and labor in Singapore .
Current local discussions about how to address the so-called “ migrant worker issue ” have revolved around questions like “ Can Singapore really afford to reduce the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ If we want to improve the workers ’ salary and living standards , who ’ s going to pay for it ?
” These questions are formulated within a zero-sum framework where treating migrant workers better would come at the expense of Singapore and , more specifically , the wallets of the average Singaporean .
Singaporeans—themselves workers concerned about making ends meet in a very expensive country—are thus pitted against other workers , while the narrative obscures the large corporations and businesses , such as large dormitory operators , that have reaped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much more than just a migrant worker issue .
A country that ’ s sometimes described as “ Singapore Inc. ” is one that treats all workers as digits in a game of economic growth .
Citizen workers have to be taken care of lest they vent frustrations at the ballot box , but they must also be repeatedly told that they have to work “ cheaper , better , faster ” to “ steal other people ’ s lunches.
” White-collar expatriates are welcome for the prestige and capital they bring to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hub , but politicians openly describe them as a “ buffer ” that will bear the brunt of retrenchments and downsizing when the going gets rough , even if families and lives get uprooted in the process .
Migrant workers—with no wealth , bargaining power , nor path to residency—end up the most marginalized because they can exert the least amount of pressure on those at the top .
Regardless of whether you ’ re a migrant worker or a citizen , labor protections in Singapore are limited .
The government continues to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cover both foreign and citizen workers , insisting that their residents-only and industry-specific Progressive Wage Model is preferable .
The unions have long been co-opted , and are now locked in a supposedly “ symbiotic ” relationship with the ruling party .
Organizing and collective action is also risky : When a group of Chinese bus drivers conducted a peaceful strike in 2012 to protest the discrepancy in wages and conditions between Chinese , Malaysian , and Singaporean workers , 29 of them were deported , and those accused of being the ringleaders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this “ growth at all costs ” fixation and shifts toward a more humane approach , even the most diligent civil servant working to improve dormitory standards will always only be grappling with the symptoms of a much deeper problem .
At the root of this matter isn ’ t an issue with an administrative or bureaucratic fix ; it ’ s a political problem that has nothing to do with how hard workers are working and everything to do with how leaders are leading .

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On August 9, Singapore celebrated its 55th year as an independent nation with a parade split into morning and evening sections and with fireworks displays spread out across the island. That same day, the country marked another milestone: its 55,000th Covid-19 case.
For the past four months, dormitories housing male migrant workers—mostly from Bangladesh, India, and China—have been the main sites of Covid-19 infection in the city-state. As of August 13, 52,516 dormitory residents have tested positive for the coronavirus, or more than 90 percent of all cases. It’s a humanitarian crisis that has shone a harsh light on the inequalities and injustices in Singaporean society, and reflected our inhumane, GDP growth–chasing politics back at us.
When these clusters were identified in April, the government implemented a policy of ring-fencing the virus within these complexes, so as to prevent transmission to the rest of the population. Reported cases were separated into “dormitory residents” and “community cases.” By the end of that month, all dormitories—housing over 320,000 men—were effectively placed on lockdown.
Singaporeans have also had to endure a partial lockdown. But while our lockdown involved working from home, binge-watching Netflix, and getting meals delivered, migrant workers have been confined to crowded rooms, often with poor ventilation in a humid, tropical climate. “You [couldn’t] stay here for 10 minutes,” a stressed-out Bangladeshi worker told me over the phone back in April. By now, many men have endured these conditions for months, even as the rest of Singapore has emerged from our homes and gone back to dining at restaurants and going to the cinema.
The long confinement has taken its toll. In recent weeks there have been reports of suicide and attempted suicide, and NGOs say they’ve seen a sharp uptick in suicide ideation among migrant workers. The government has left some men in isolation facilities even after testing negative for Covid-19; the men liken the situation to being imprisoned indefinitely with little knowledge of what’s going on. NGOs say some aren’t even allowed to open a window or step out the door. There’s nothing for them to do except worry about catching the virus and whether they will be able to send money home when salaries are being cut and jobs are more precarious than ever. Related Article Why We Challenged Singapore’s ‘Fake News’ Legislation Kirsten Han
The end to the dormitory lockdown is, thankfully, in sight. The government says that all dormitories, barring some in quarantine areas, have been cleared of the virus. The majority of workers have now been given clearance to return to work. But even this comes with strings: To be allowed back to work, they’re expected to download three apps so that the authorities can keep track of their whereabouts and their health and conduct contact tracing if necessary. After work, they’re ferried right back to their dorms. Some are being moved from their dorms to temporary accommodation on construction sites, where they are expected to remain until the work is done. Migrant labor rights groups have objected to the new rules stating that workers are only allowed to leave their dorms with the consent of their employers, but the government says that the regulations are necessary to “reduce infection and prevent disruption to [the workers’] resumption of work and activities.” There is as yet no timeline for when these restrictions might be lifted. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
Health care workers, civil servants, and dormitory managers have been working flat-out for the past few months to bring us to this point. The toil of doctors, nurses, and other frontline workers—combined with luck and the relative youth of the migrant worker population—has kept the number of Covid-19 deaths low, to just 27. This labor is both vital and appreciated, but it doesn’t erase the fact that the ongoing suffering of the migrant workers stems from a situation Singapore has put them in. Current Issue View our current issue
Most male migrant workers, brought in to work in the construction, shipyard, and petrochemical industries, are housed in dormitories, many in industrial parts of the island away from the rest of the population. There are over 40 large establishments built for the sole purpose of housing these workers, and over 1,000 dormitories made out of converted industrial buildings. Even before the pandemic, NGOs had pointed out that these crowded, stuffy lodgings were a recipe for disaster. In 2016, the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics told Reuters that the workers’ living conditions made them “most susceptible” to Zika. A 2016 study also found that living in a migrant workers’ dormitory raised the odds of getting dengue fever.
The Covid-19 pandemic has drawn attention to living conditions in these dormitories, but they aren’t the migrant workers’ only problems. Most arrive debt-ridden, since they have to pay thousands of dollars to agents to facilitate their journey and place them with companies in Singapore. They then work for extremely low wages; the NGO Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) says that construction workers are rarely paid more than S$20 ($14.57) to S$30 ($21.85) per day, which places them in positions of extreme vulnerability, as their employers can cancel their work permit and repatriate them at any time. The authorities and the public tend to see migrant workers as threats to public order, and therefore subject them to surveillance even on their days off. A 2015 article published on TWC2’s website highlights the increased presence of CCTV cameras, police patrols, and fines for littering in Little India, a district popular with South Asian migrant workers.
It’s a system that treats migrant workers not as adults with agency and dignity, but as units of labor that can be shipped in to do “dirty, dangerous, and demeaning” work—often referred to as 3D jobs here—then kept out of sight when their services aren’t required. When the scale of the Covid-19 crisis among these workers became horrifically apparent, many of us said that Singapore had to learn a lesson from this, and recognize that migrant workers have to be treated as part of our community. On April 21, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong promised migrant workers, “We will care for you, just like we care for Singaporeans.”
The government has introduced a pilot program with new standards for dormitories: Instead of the current standard of 12 to 16 men sleeping on double-decker beds, new dorms will have a maximum of 10 men per room, in single beds. They’re also increasing the number of bathroom, toilet, and sick bay facilities in proportion to the number of residents.
These are steps in the right direction, but they’re insufficient: What’s needed is a much more fundamental reform of the way we see workers and labor in Singapore.
Current local discussions about how to address the so-called “migrant worker issue” have revolved around questions like “Can Singapore really afford to reduce the number of migrant workers?” or “If we want to improve the workers’ salary and living standards, who’s going to pay for it?”
These questions are formulated within a zero-sum framework where treating migrant workers better would come at the expense of Singapore and, more specifically, the wallets of the average Singaporean. Singaporeans—themselves workers concerned about making ends meet in a very expensive country—are thus pitted against other workers, while the narrative obscures the large corporations and businesses, such as large dormitory operators, that have reaped handsome profits.
But it’s much more than just a migrant worker issue. A country that’s sometimes described as “Singapore Inc.” is one that treats all workers as digits in a game of economic growth. Citizen workers have to be taken care of lest they vent frustrations at the ballot box, but they must also be repeatedly told that they have to work “cheaper, better, faster” to “steal other people’s lunches.” White-collar expatriates are welcome for the prestige and capital they bring to a country positioning itself as a regional hub, but politicians openly describe them as a “buffer” that will bear the brunt of retrenchments and downsizing when the going gets rough, even if families and lives get uprooted in the process. Migrant workers—with no wealth, bargaining power, nor path to residency—end up the most marginalized because they can exert the least amount of pressure on those at the top.
Regardless of whether you’re a migrant worker or a citizen, labor protections in Singapore are limited. The government continues to resist implementing a minimum wage that would cover both foreign and citizen workers, insisting that their residents-only and industry-specific Progressive Wage Model is preferable. The unions have long been co-opted, and are now locked in a supposedly “symbiotic” relationship with the ruling party. Organizing and collective action is also risky: When a group of Chinese bus drivers conducted a peaceful strike in 2012 to protest the discrepancy in wages and conditions between Chinese, Malaysian, and Singaporean workers, 29 of them were deported, and those accused of being the ringleaders were jailed.
Until Singapore gets over this “growth at all costs” fixation and shifts toward a more humane approach, even the most diligent civil servant working to improve dormitory standards will always only be grappling with the symptoms of a much deeper problem. At the root of this matter isn’t an issue with an administrative or bureaucratic fix; it’s a political problem that has nothing to do with how hard workers are working and everything to do with how leaders are leading.


thenation--2020-08-17--Universities Are Playing Fast and Loose With Students’ Health

Update : The existence of a fourth Covid-19 cluster has now been reported at UNC-Chapel Hill .
Also in the hours since this article was published the UNC administration announced it would be moving to all-remote classes starting August 19 and trying to reduce the population living on campus .
urham , — On October 26 , 1918 , the popular 42-year-old president of the University of North Carolina , Edward Kidder Graham , died in the night .
The cause : complications from a highly contagious flu that killed an estimated 675,000 US residents during a brutal pandemic.1 Newspapers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Graham as a fallen educational hero , the university ’ s youngest-ever chief , and a mentor much beloved by Chapel Hill students .
The Monroe Journal detailed his quick descent into illness:2 Upon UNC ’ s naming Graham ’ s successor in January 1919 , longtime university trustee William Nash Everett said in a speech , “ Marvin Hendrix Stacy was of the material of which presidents are made !
” But “ within the week—of a disease contracted during the line of duty , while attending the meeting of the committee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imagined Graham and his saintly sidekick Stacy helming some great pearly-gates public university in the sky.4 The university trustees symbolically adopted Graham ’ s young son and named Graham Memorial Hall , an early student union , after the first dead president claimed by the flu .
UNC also named Stacy Residence Hall after the second president claimed by the flu.5 This history hasn ’ t been suppressed .
UNC held a symposium for the centennial of the 1918 pandemic two years ago , and a recent article in the school ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the episode .
Still , my alma mater is not exactly shouting these facts from the rooftops overlooking the Quad , where until recently students sunbathed en masse.6 Those UNC trustees named the institution as Graham ’ s son ’ s caretaker—a literal expression of the common claim that universities are one big family and that they exist to prepare and protect the young .
And though we can ’ t do historical contact tracing , the claim that Stacy got infected after visiting campus feels plausible.7 Yet despite this ghastly history of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ once but twice ( not to mention at least seven known student deaths ) , amid buildings meant as brick-and-mortar reminders of the 1918 pandemic , the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reopened its campus earlier this month .
Move-in started August 3 .
Classes began a week later , and the university initially reported that 43 percent of classes are in-person or have components that require physical attendance .
That statistic comforted no one.8 This past Friday , the university confirmed Covid-19 clusters in two housing communities , meaning at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ novel coronavirus .
On Sunday , a third cluster , based at the Sigma Nu fraternity house , made headlines .
By the time this article goes live , I ’ m sure there will be more cases and more clusters.9 These weren ’ t the disease ’ s debut on campus .
When a late July New York Times investigation found 6,600 coronavirus cases at US colleges and universities , it listed 37 at UNC—all related to athletics.10 News of the recent clusters circulated in official e-mail alerts—after headlines about large gatherings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at a fraternity house ) and the ejection of three students from campus housing for failure to social distance.11 How to Cover an Uprising ( Without Causing Harm ) ‘ We Were Asking Ourselves , How Can We Support Black Farmers ?
’ Let ’ s not unthinkingly embrace the conventional wisdom , or swallow the university-dispensed Kool-Aid , which defaults to student blaming .
As a resident of the Triangle region—which is chockablock with universities and many of the state ’ s historically Black colleges—I occasionally engage in mild student bashing myself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ twice-yearly “ Return of the Undergraduates , ” a season fully deserving of capitalization .
Year-round residents recognize its symptoms in minor inconveniences : longer grocery lines ; newly crowded libraries ; a proliferation of lithe jaywalkers in short shorts and yoga pants ; and the sudden parties and lack of parking around campuses.12 However , this year I faced this season with trepidation rather than peevishness , fearing the outbreaks that were sure to follow—entirely preventable outbreaks if UNC Chapel Hill , the state university system , and other area schools had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public health advice and not reopened on the usual fall schedule.13 I know , from my reporting and work on reproductive and sexual health , that asking people to change their behavior is the hardest thing to do—even when the correct thing to do has been clear for decades .
Right now , scientists and public health practitioners are still debating the growing evidence that the virus may be spread by even the tiniest floating drops spewed when we talk or cough.14 I also know that young people can be inveterate risk takers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their masks at the same rate as seniors ; the Pew Research Center found that 74 percent of people 65 and older it polled said they wore a mask most or all of the time in the last month , compared with 62 percent of interviewees in the 18–29 range.15 But plunking people—especially young people—into a common space and asking them not to socialize is likely to be just as effective as telling them not to have sex until marriage .
And what a miserable failure moralizing and inaccurate abstinence-only sex education has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ debacle is another rank failure and an embarrassment—especially for a university with a respected school of public health.16 Because the fact is , those students should have never had the chance or choice to move back in .
The local Orange County Health Department recommended that UNC go to all-virtual instruction for fall 2020 or , at least , delay reopening for five weeks .
It wanted to buy more time to assess the virus ’ s trend in a rare North Carolina city where public transportation is widely used .
Their request—framed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ higher-ups—also recognized that North Carolina ’ s “ curve ” has never approached anything close to “ flattening.
” 17 Obviously , the university didn ’ t heed the all-remote semester recommendation .
I didn ’ t expect it to ; when I was a student there , it was a matter of pride that the university didn ’ t close during the Civil War , even when under Union occupation .
( Forget about snow days , kids . )
18 Nor did UNC consult with the school ’ s Faculty Council @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the university workforce most affected by instructional changes .
Instead , it charged ahead with its reopening plans , and as of August 14 , on-campus housing was about 61 percent full.19 I refuse to lay primary blame for the outbreaks at the feet of young people , some of whom who may believe in their own invincibility and act with little regard for our collective safety .
They might be young and reckless , but it ’ s the prematurely reopening universities that are more reckless—and ultimately responsible ( no matter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Universities are deluding themselves about campus outbreaks in the making—their making .
They should take a page from the world of sexual health , where the language and understanding has shifted subtly but significantly from “ safe sex ” to “ safer sex ” and the recognition that no sex is 100 percent risk-free—condoms , backup methods , and compassionate partners notwithstanding.21 There is no safety in residential education at this juncture.22 I ’ ve watched universities in central North Carolina and beyond emphasize mask-wearing and individual-level choices , with good reason .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( “ we ’ re doing it for the students ” ) and avoid the obvious : that their decision-making has pushed some people—students , faculty , and staff—to risk their health for an education or a livelihood.23 At Durham ’ s North Carolina Central University , a 36-page guide to campus life and operations during the pandemic has more bullet points about safety in campus research facilities than in dormitories .
Across town , my doctoral alma mater , Duke University , argued that first-year students deserve to start their nonpareil Duke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campus.24 That won ’ t help town-gown relationships in Durham , which alternate between fraught , cautiously friendly , collaborative , and symbiotic .
It won ’ t convince university housekeepers , graduate students , staff , and faculty that their lives matter .
Duke ’ s exceptionalist rhetoric and the precious-metals price tag of its tuition won out over safety.25 And for what ?
Its “ Ivy of the South with basketball ” brand will not wither on the vine after a virtual semester or two .
Its $ 8 billion endowment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Haiti ’ s gross domestic product in 2017 .
Its technology game is tight , with the university building an entire campus complete with its own Internet system in Kunshan , China .
Higher-education hubris and profiteering are not pretty .
They ’ re also dangerous—and can be deadly.26 Maybe no one will die on campus like they did in previous pandemics .
Medicine has progressed in a century ; some of these universities have state-of-the-art hospitals ; and Duke reported only four coronavirus cases among more than 3,116 incoming students tested ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here again , history may be a guide about what ’ s to come.28 Duke ( then known as Trinity College ) identified what was believed to be its first flu case in late September 1918 .
By November , “ six or seven profesors [ sic ] , twenty or more young ladies , several of the ladies of the faculty , and nearly two hundred boys were affected , ” according to an update in the school newspaper .
“ Thermometer Squads ” took the temperatures of the ill twice a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Corps chipped in .
Meanwhile , an adjacent article noted , Alpha Delta Phi sorority had just taken an idyllic motor trip to the country , laying down all burdens but their lunch baskets ; “ owing to the scarcity of servants , the young ladies rolled up their sleeves and prepared dinner , while the gentleman helped.
” 29 One might think that all was well , as those young men and women toasted marshmallows and listened to Victrola tunes .
Yet months later , in April 1919 , freshman J.W .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Watts Hospital .
By mid-February 1920 , Duke implemented another round of voluntary quarantine ; the school newspaper reported 16 mild flu cases among students and urged the student body to “ carry on ” without going into town and without basketball games or a coming Phi Beta Kappa induction ceremony .
Class schedules continued to be disrupted ; the same article noted that an English professor was recovering from the flu .
When he ’ d resume teaching was anyone ’ s guess.30 North Carolina State University—to the east of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sweeping the nation either .
In October 1918 , the same month UNC President Graham perished , 450 NCSU students got the flu and 13 died .
Nine were freshmen .
That same month , 300 of the 400 students at Elon College ( now Elon University , about a half-hour ’ s drive to the west of Duke ) contracted the flu , which killed three of them .
The university ’ s gym was transformed into a makeshift hospital , and students nursed each other .
The young people we now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were the frontline responders of the flu pandemic.31

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Nation believes that helping readers stay informed about the impact of the coronavirus crisis is a form of public service. For that reason, this article, and all of our coronavirus coverage, is now free. Please subscribe to support our writers and staff, and stay healthy.
Update: The existence of a fourth Covid-19 cluster has now been reported at UNC-Chapel Hill. Also, in the hours since this article was published, the UNC administration announced that it would be moving to all-remote classes starting August 19 and trying to reduce the population living on campus.
* * *
d urham, n.c. — On October 26, 1918, the popular 42-year-old president of the University of North Carolina, Edward Kidder Graham, died in the night. The cause: complications from a highly contagious flu that killed an estimated 675,000 US residents during a brutal pandemic.1
Newspapers around North Carolina eulogized “Sonny” Graham as a fallen educational hero, the university’s youngest-ever chief, and a mentor much beloved by Chapel Hill students. The Monroe Journal detailed his quick descent into illness:2
Dr. Graham had been ill less than a week, being stricken with the influenza some time last Monday. The disease quickly assumed the most malignant type, and turned into the dread pneumonia on Wednesday. Dr. Graham had a high fever from the start, but doctors did not despair of saving him until yesterday.3
Upon UNC’s naming Graham’s successor in January 1919, longtime university trustee William Nash Everett said in a speech, “Marvin Hendrix Stacy was of the material of which presidents are made!” But “within the week—of a disease contracted during the line of duty, while attending the meeting of the committee, Dean Stacy was dead.” Everett imagined Graham and his saintly sidekick Stacy helming some great pearly-gates public university in the sky.4
The university trustees symbolically adopted Graham’s young son and named Graham Memorial Hall, an early student union, after the first dead president claimed by the flu. UNC also named Stacy Residence Hall after the second president claimed by the flu.5 Current Issue View our current issue
This history hasn’t been suppressed. UNC held a symposium for the centennial of the 1918 pandemic two years ago, and a recent article in the school’s excellent newspaper The Daily Tar Heel explored the episode. Still, my alma mater is not exactly shouting these facts from the rooftops overlooking the Quad, where until recently students sunbathed en masse.6 Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
Those UNC trustees named the institution as Graham’s son’s caretaker—a literal expression of the common claim that universities are one big family and that they exist to prepare and protect the young. And though we can’t do historical contact tracing, the claim that Stacy got infected after visiting campus feels plausible.7
Yet despite this ghastly history of an administration robbed of its leadership not once but twice (not to mention at least seven known student deaths), amid buildings meant as brick-and-mortar reminders of the 1918 pandemic, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reopened its campus earlier this month. Move-in started August 3. Classes began a week later, and the university initially reported that 43 percent of classes are in-person or have components that require physical attendance. That statistic comforted no one.8
This past Friday, the university confirmed Covid-19 clusters in two housing communities, meaning at least five people tested positive for the novel coronavirus. On Sunday, a third cluster, based at the Sigma Nu fraternity house, made headlines. By the time this article goes live, I’m sure there will be more cases and more clusters.9
These weren’t the disease’s debut on campus. When a late July New York Times investigation found 6,600 coronavirus cases at US colleges and universities, it listed 37 at UNC—all related to athletics.10 More From Cynthia Greenlee How to Cover an Uprising (Without Causing Harm) June 26, 2020 Durham Isn’t Burning, but Don’t Light a Match June 12, 2020 ‘We Were Asking Ourselves, How Can We Support Black Farmers?’ April 22, 2020
News of the recent clusters circulated in official e-mail alerts—after headlines about large gatherings off campus (including at least one at a fraternity house) and the ejection of three students from campus housing for failure to social distance.11
Let’s not unthinkingly embrace the conventional wisdom, or swallow the university-dispensed Kool-Aid, which defaults to student blaming. As a resident of the Triangle region—which is chockablock with universities and many of the state’s historically Black colleges—I occasionally engage in mild student bashing myself. I never look forward to the twice-yearly “Return of the Undergraduates,” a season fully deserving of capitalization. Year-round residents recognize its symptoms in minor inconveniences: longer grocery lines; newly crowded libraries; a proliferation of lithe jaywalkers in short shorts and yoga pants; and the sudden parties and lack of parking around campuses.12
However, this year I faced this season with trepidation rather than peevishness, fearing the outbreaks that were sure to follow—entirely preventable outbreaks if UNC Chapel Hill, the state university system, and other area schools had heeded common sense, caution, and public health advice and not reopened on the usual fall schedule.13
I know, from my reporting and work on reproductive and sexual health, that asking people to change their behavior is the hardest thing to do—even when the correct thing to do has been clear for decades. Right now, scientists and public health practitioners are still debating the growing evidence that the virus may be spread by even the tiniest floating drops spewed when we talk or cough.14
I also know that young people can be inveterate risk takers. Younger Americans aren’t wearing their masks at the same rate as seniors; the Pew Research Center found that 74 percent of people 65 and older it polled said they wore a mask most or all of the time in the last month, compared with 62 percent of interviewees in the 18–29 range.15
But plunking people—especially young people—into a common space and asking them not to socialize is likely to be just as effective as telling them not to have sex until marriage. And what a miserable failure moralizing and inaccurate abstinence-only sex education has been. UNC’s ongoing coronavirus debacle is another rank failure and an embarrassment—especially for a university with a respected school of public health.16
Because the fact is, those students should have never had the chance or choice to move back in. The local Orange County Health Department recommended that UNC go to all-virtual instruction for fall 2020 or, at least, delay reopening for five weeks. It wanted to buy more time to assess the virus’s trend in a rare North Carolina city where public transportation is widely used. Their request—framed as a mere friendly suggestion by university higher-ups—also recognized that North Carolina’s “curve” has never approached anything close to “flattening.”17
Obviously, the university didn’t heed the all-remote semester recommendation. I didn’t expect it to; when I was a student there, it was a matter of pride that the university didn’t close during the Civil War, even when under Union occupation. (Forget about snow days, kids.)18
Nor did UNC consult with the school’s Faculty Council about the recommendation, a brazen disregard for the university workforce most affected by instructional changes. Instead, it charged ahead with its reopening plans, and as of August 14, on-campus housing was about 61 percent full.19
I refuse to lay primary blame for the outbreaks at the feet of young people, some of whom who may believe in their own invincibility and act with little regard for our collective safety. They might be young and reckless, but it’s the prematurely reopening universities that are more reckless—and ultimately responsible (no matter how they dodge legal culpability).20
Universities are deluding themselves about campus outbreaks in the making—their making. They should take a page from the world of sexual health, where the language and understanding has shifted subtly but significantly from “safe sex” to “safer sex” and the recognition that no sex is 100 percent risk-free—condoms, backup methods, and compassionate partners notwithstanding.21
There is no safety in residential education at this juncture.22
I’ve watched universities in central North Carolina and beyond emphasize mask-wearing and individual-level choices, with good reason. But they engage in egregious institutional gaslighting (“we’re doing it for the students”) and avoid the obvious: that their decision-making has pushed some people—students, faculty, and staff—to risk their health for an education or a livelihood.23
At Durham’s North Carolina Central University, a 36-page guide to campus life and operations during the pandemic has more bullet points about safety in campus research facilities than in dormitories. Across town, my doctoral alma mater, Duke University, argued that first-year students deserve to start their nonpareil Duke experience with that all-important freshman year on campus.24
That won’t help town-gown relationships in Durham, which alternate between fraught, cautiously friendly, collaborative, and symbiotic. It won’t convince university housekeepers, graduate students, staff, and faculty that their lives matter. Duke’s exceptionalist rhetoric and the precious-metals price tag of its tuition won out over safety.25
And for what? Its “Ivy of the South with basketball” brand will not wither on the vine after a virtual semester or two. Its $8 billion endowment is obscenely healthy—about the same size as Haiti’s gross domestic product in 2017. Its technology game is tight, with the university building an entire campus complete with its own Internet system in Kunshan, China. Higher-education hubris and profiteering are not pretty. They’re also dangerous—and can be deadly.26
Maybe no one will die on campus like they did in previous pandemics. Medicine has progressed in a century; some of these universities have state-of-the-art hospitals; and Duke reported only four coronavirus cases among more than 3,116 incoming students tested (a surprisingly low number).27
But here again, history may be a guide about what’s to come.28
Duke (then known as Trinity College) identified what was believed to be its first flu case in late September 1918. By November, “six or seven profesors [sic], twenty or more young ladies, several of the ladies of the faculty, and nearly two hundred boys were affected,” according to an update in the school newspaper. “Thermometer Squads” took the temperatures of the ill twice a day, and the Student Army Training Corps chipped in. Meanwhile, an adjacent article noted, Alpha Delta Phi sorority had just taken an idyllic motor trip to the country, laying down all burdens but their lunch baskets; “owing to the scarcity of servants, the young ladies rolled up their sleeves and prepared dinner, while the gentleman helped.”29
One might think that all was well, as those young men and women toasted marshmallows and listened to Victrola tunes. Yet months later, in April 1919, freshman J.W. Neal died from flu complications in Durham’s Watts Hospital. By mid-February 1920, Duke implemented another round of voluntary quarantine; the school newspaper reported 16 mild flu cases among students and urged the student body to “carry on” without going into town and without basketball games or a coming Phi Beta Kappa induction ceremony. Class schedules continued to be disrupted; the same article noted that an English professor was recovering from the flu. When he’d resume teaching was anyone’s guess.30
North Carolina State University—to the east of Duke—couldn’t hold off the flu sweeping the nation either. In October 1918, the same month UNC President Graham perished, 450 NCSU students got the flu and 13 died. Nine were freshmen. That same month, 300 of the 400 students at Elon College (now Elon University, about a half-hour’s drive to the west of Duke) contracted the flu, which killed three of them. The university’s gym was transformed into a makeshift hospital, and students nursed each other. The young people we now assume to be careless agents of contagion were the frontline responders of the flu pandemic.31


thenation--2020-08-17--QAnon Is the Future of the Republican Party

Marjorie Taylor Greene , the Republican nominee for Georgia ’ s 14th congressional district , is a harbinger of her party ’ s post-Trump future .
She ’ s running in a strongly Republican district with an almost certain prospect of going to Congress .
She disdains Black Lives Matter and argues that Muslims shouldn ’ t be allowed to serve in government .
She ’ s also an adherent of QAnon , the amorphous conspiracy theory that holds that Donald Trump is battling a secret cabal of Satanic cannibalistic pedophiles who control the Democratic Party , Hollywood , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ video , Greene said , “ There ’ s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out , and I think we have the president to do it.
” For his part , Trump returned Greene ’ s regard .
On August 12 , the president tweeted , “ Congratulations to future Republican Star Marjorie Taylor Greene on a big Congressional primary win in Georgia against a very tough and smart opponent .
Marjorie is strong on everything and never gives up—a real WINNER.
” Asked about QAnon on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ theory and reiterated his praise of Greene .
This tweet is in keeping with Trump ’ s general approach of aligning himself with the QAnon movement but not explicitly affirming it .
As The New York Times notes , “ Trump has not directly addressed QAnon , but he has conspicuously avoided denouncing it , and has shared dozens of posts from believers on his social media accounts.
” A few Republicans , to their credit , have spoken out against Greene and QAnon—but they all are much less well-known than Trump .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ s warm words for Greene , Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois tweeted , “ Qanon is a fabrication , ” adding that there is “ no place in Congress for these conspiracies.
” Another Republican , Virginia Representative Denver Riggleman , tweeted , “ QAnon is the mental gonorrhea of conspiracy theories .
It ’ s disgusting and you want to get rid of it as fast as possible.
” Why Trump Is Using Birtherism Against Harris The Ambition of Kamala Harris Will Serve America Well The Last Temptation of Jerry But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more Republicans are getting infected , and party leaders are doing nothing to stop the spread .
Kinzinger and Riggleman are lonely voices in their own party .
As CNN reports , “ Top Republicans , including President Donald Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy , are embracing their party ’ s nominee for a House seat in Georgia , despite her history of racist and anti-Semitic remarks and promotion of the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory.
” Other Georgia Republicans , notably Senator Kelly Loeffler and Representative Doug Collins , have joined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The response of the GOP to Greene echoes the way the party handled Trump in 2016 .
At first there was some trepidation about Trump , with a few voices denouncing what he was doing to the party .
But eventually , Republicans made their peace with Trump when they realized that they had to support him as their standard-bearer or suffer humiliating defeat as a divided party .
“ The future of the Republican Party very well may be Marjorie Taylor Greene , ” argues Dan Pfeiffer , former Obama adviser @ @ @ @ @ @ @ QAnon supporting Republican congressional nominees on the ballot this fall.
” The conservative writer Bill Kristol , although a critic of the Republican Party under Trump , disagrees with this assessment .
According to The New York Times , Kristol is “ skeptical about QAnon ’ s influence on the Republican Party .
He pointed out that there had always been extreme outliers in both parties of Congress whose influence tended to be diluted by more moderate voices over time.
” But even Kristol acknowledged that Trump ’ s embrace could give QAnon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the president , and he ’ s embracing this , are we so confident that it ’ s not the future ?
” Kristol wondered .
QAnon is a byproduct of the Trump era and is likely to be part of his lasting legacy , long outliving his presidency .
QAnon is best understood as a myth that helps Trump supporters reconcile themselves to his manifest flaws as a man and political leader .
Trump thrives on negative partisanship , which requires that he be seen as preferable to his rivals .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and corruption , the only way he can be acceptable is if his foes have committed the worst crimes imaginable .
The embryonic version of QAnon was Pizzagate , which painted Hillary Clinton as a leader of a child sex ring .
The current version of QAnon took off on social media in 2017 when Trump was enmeshed in the Russiagate investigation .
The conspiracy theory emerged on 4chan , a message board that facilitates anonymous posting .
“ Q ” claimed to be a high-level insider with “ Q ” security clearance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigation was a false flag operation used by Trump to hide his war against powerful pedophiles .
Again , it served a narrative function : Building on the Pizzagate story line , it portrayed Trump as a heroic battler against a “ deep state ” conspiracy , thus helping to wave away evidence of actual corruption .
It ’ s no accident that prominent Russiagate figures like former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Trump crony Roger Stone have embraced QAnon .
The current upsurge of QAnon is a response to the Covid-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ While QAnon bubbled on the fringes of the internet for years , researchers and experts say it has emerged in recent months as a sort of centralized hub for conspiracy and alternative health communities .
According to an internal document reported by NBC News this week , Facebook now has more than 1,000 of these QAnon groups , totaling millions of members.
” The report goes on to note that social media users “ who started off in wellness communities , religious groups and new-age groups on Facebook , Twitter , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to extremist groups like QAnon , aided by shared beliefs about energy , healing or God—and often by recommendation algorithms.
” QAnon has been resilient because it ’ s a myth that serves to explain Trump ’ s failures and wretched personal behavior .
QAnon has helped recast a sexual predator as a covert fighter against pedophilia and an incompetent response to Covid-19 as a heroic battle against a pro-mask conspiracy .
If we understand QAnon as a conciliatory myth that evolves to excuse the horrific truth about Trump and Trumpism , then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life after he is defeated .
It ’ ll become a Lost Cause myth about how a great man was felled by a sinister conspiracy .
Donald Trump Jr. has already shared an Instagram post suggesting that Joe Biden is a pedophile .
The president ’ s son explained the post by saying he was only “ joking around.
” QAnon is not a nonviolent movement .
As Media Matters reports : If Trump loses and QAnon evolves into a narrative about how a conspiracy of pedophiles won , then it ’ ll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is .
QAnon is sometimes treated as if it were analogous to the Tea Party movement or the John Birch Society , a right-wing faction within the GOP coalition .
But in fact it is much more violence-prone than those groups .
It ’ s closer in spirit to terrorist organizations like the KKK , which had ties to political elites but also instigated extrajudicial violence .
Trump could leave the White House in January of next year , but QAnon will be with us for a long time to come .

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Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican nominee for Georgia’s 14th congressional district, is a harbinger of her party’s post-Trump future. She’s running in a strongly Republican district with an almost certain prospect of going to Congress. She disdains Black Lives Matter and argues that Muslims shouldn’t be allowed to serve in government. She’s also an adherent of QAnon, the amorphous conspiracy theory that holds that Donald Trump is battling a secret cabal of Satanic cannibalistic pedophiles who control the Democratic Party, Hollywood, and the American government.
In a 2017 video, Greene said, “There’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out, and I think we have the president to do it.” For his part, Trump returned Greene’s regard. On August 12, the president tweeted, “Congratulations to future Republican Star Marjorie Taylor Greene on a big Congressional primary win in Georgia against a very tough and smart opponent. Marjorie is strong on everything and never gives up—a real WINNER.” Asked about QAnon on Friday, Trump avoided disavowing the conspiracy theory and reiterated his praise of Greene.
This tweet is in keeping with Trump’s general approach of aligning himself with the QAnon movement but not explicitly affirming it. As The New York Times notes, “Trump has not directly addressed QAnon, but he has conspicuously avoided denouncing it, and has shared dozens of posts from believers on his social media accounts.”
A few Republicans, to their credit, have spoken out against Greene and QAnon—but they all are much less well-known than Trump. On the same day as Trump’s warm words for Greene, Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois tweeted, “Qanon is a fabrication,” adding that there is “no place in Congress for these conspiracies.” Another Republican, Virginia Representative Denver Riggleman, tweeted, “QAnon is the mental gonorrhea of conspiracy theories. It’s disgusting and you want to get rid of it as fast as possible.” More From Jeet Heer The Indigenous Roots of Robbie Robertson’s Rock and Roll Revolution August 14, 2023 Why Does This Racist Keep Getting Silicon Valley Money? August 11, 2023 When Phallocrats Go Limp August 4, 2023
But if QAnon is gonorrhea, more and more Republicans are getting infected, and party leaders are doing nothing to stop the spread. Kinzinger and Riggleman are lonely voices in their own party. As CNN reports, “Top Republicans, including President Donald Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, are embracing their party’s nominee for a House seat in Georgia, despite her history of racist and anti-Semitic remarks and promotion of the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory.” Other Georgia Republicans, notably Senator Kelly Loeffler and Representative Doug Collins, have joined in welcoming Greene’s primary victory. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
The response of the GOP to Greene echoes the way the party handled Trump in 2016. At first there was some trepidation about Trump, with a few voices denouncing what he was doing to the party. But eventually, Republicans made their peace with Trump when they realized that they had to support him as their standard-bearer or suffer humiliating defeat as a divided party.
“The future of the Republican Party very well may be Marjorie Taylor Greene,” argues Dan Pfeiffer, former Obama adviser. “Greene is one of eleven QAnon supporting Republican congressional nominees on the ballot this fall.” Current Issue View our current issue
The conservative writer Bill Kristol, although a critic of the Republican Party under Trump, disagrees with this assessment. According to The New York Times, Kristol is “skeptical about QAnon’s influence on the Republican Party. He pointed out that there had always been extreme outliers in both parties of Congress whose influence tended to be diluted by more moderate voices over time.”
But even Kristol acknowledged that Trump’s embrace could give QAnon a greater reach. “If Trump is the president, and he’s embracing this, are we so confident that it’s not the future?” Kristol wondered.
QAnon is a byproduct of the Trump era and is likely to be part of his lasting legacy, long outliving his presidency. QAnon is best understood as a myth that helps Trump supporters reconcile themselves to his manifest flaws as a man and political leader. Trump thrives on negative partisanship, which requires that he be seen as preferable to his rivals. Given numerous reports of his sexual predations and corruption, the only way he can be acceptable is if his foes have committed the worst crimes imaginable. The embryonic version of QAnon was Pizzagate, which painted Hillary Clinton as a leader of a child sex ring.
The current version of QAnon took off on social media in 2017 when Trump was enmeshed in the Russiagate investigation. The conspiracy theory emerged on 4chan, a message board that facilitates anonymous posting. “Q” claimed to be a high-level insider with “Q” security clearance who had information that the entire Mueller investigation was a false flag operation used by Trump to hide his war against powerful pedophiles. Again, it served a narrative function: Building on the Pizzagate story line, it portrayed Trump as a heroic battler against a “deep state” conspiracy, thus helping to wave away evidence of actual corruption. It’s no accident that prominent Russiagate figures like former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Trump crony Roger Stone have embraced QAnon.
The current upsurge of QAnon is a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. As NBC news reports, “While QAnon bubbled on the fringes of the internet for years, researchers and experts say it has emerged in recent months as a sort of centralized hub for conspiracy and alternative health communities. According to an internal document reported by NBC News this week, Facebook now has more than 1,000 of these QAnon groups, totaling millions of members.”
The report goes on to note that social media users “who started off in wellness communities, religious groups and new-age groups on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram during the pandemic were then introduced to extremist groups like QAnon, aided by shared beliefs about energy, healing or God—and often by recommendation algorithms.”
QAnon has been resilient because it’s a myth that serves to explain Trump’s failures and wretched personal behavior. QAnon has helped recast a sexual predator as a covert fighter against pedophilia and an incompetent response to Covid-19 as a heroic battle against a pro-mask conspiracy.
If we understand QAnon as a conciliatory myth that evolves to excuse the horrific truth about Trump and Trumpism, then it is likely to have a long life after he is defeated. It’ll become a Lost Cause myth about how a great man was felled by a sinister conspiracy. Donald Trump Jr. has already shared an Instagram post suggesting that Joe Biden is a pedophile. The president’s son explained the post by saying he was only “joking around.”
QAnon is not a nonviolent movement. As Media Matters reports:
The QAnon conspiracy theory has been tied to multiple violent incidents and threats of violence, including a man accused of murdering his brother with a sword, a man accused of murdering an alleged crime boss, a man who reportedly threatened to kill YouTube employees, an armed man who blocked the Hoover Dam with an armored vehicle, and even a man who threatened to assassinate Trump, among numerous other incidents.
If Trump loses and QAnon evolves into a narrative about how a conspiracy of pedophiles won, then it’ll become even more violent than it already is.
QAnon is sometimes treated as if it were analogous to the Tea Party movement or the John Birch Society, a right-wing faction within the GOP coalition. But in fact it is much more violence-prone than those groups. It’s closer in spirit to terrorist organizations like the KKK, which had ties to political elites but also instigated extrajudicial violence.
Trump could leave the White House in January of next year, but QAnon will be with us for a long time to come.


thenation--2020-08-17--Bernie Sanders on How He’ll Rally Progressives Tonight

Bernie Sanders will address the Democratic National Convention this week , not as the nominee of the party he had hoped to lead against Donald Trump but as a supporter of the ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris .
Since Sanders and Biden stopped competing for the nomination , Sanders has worked with Biden to unify the party .
He will continue to do so this fall .
But the senator from Vermont still sees himself as an outsider , who is battling against status quo politics and the caution of contemporary Democrats who lack @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outlined in his 1944 “ Economic Bill of Rights.
” This is a subject Sanders and I began to explore last year when I interviewed him for my new book , The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party ( Verso ) .
We returned to it last week when the senator and I discussed whether Covid-19 , mass unemployment , and the demand for racial justice might create an opening for the bolder politics he advocates .
Sanders offered a vision for the party that is rooted in its history and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of what he ’ ll talk about at the convention .
ohn ichols : When you were campaigning for president , you spoke quite frequently about the New Deal and Franklin Roosevelt ’ s “ Economic Bill of Rights.
” It was part of your effort to frame the 2020 election around fundamental issues and the need for structural change .
Obviously , you didn ’ t know at the time that Covid and mass unemployment , and a rising demand for racial justice , would heighten the sense of urgency .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saw a need for a politics that was focused on transformative change .
Donald Trump and His Postmaster General Are Sabotaging Democracy in Plain Sight Kamala Harris Will Shred Mike Pence in the Vice Presidential Debate ernie anders : Absolutely .
Absolutely .
It is imperative that we not only deal with all of the injustices and inequalities that exist in our society today , which of course have been made worse by the pandemic and the economic meltdown , but it is also imperative that we start , in the 21st century @ @ @ @ @ @ @ What Roosevelt did in his State of the Union speech in 1944 was really quite extraordinary .
For whatever reason—we were in the middle of a war then and , of course , he died a year later ; the media was not particularly sympathetic—what he said back in 1944 has been largely forgotten .
But what he said was extraordinarily profound and revolutionary .
What he said is that , yes , our country has political freedom .
We have a Constitution .
We have a Bill of Rights .
We have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , freedom of religion , etc.
, and that ’ s all great .
But what we have to do is go beyond just political rights and into economic rights .
In other words , it ’ s not good enough that you just have the constitutional right to vote ( that ’ s good ! )
, to protest ( that ’ s great ! )
, to assemble ( that ’ s wonderful ! )
, and freedom of religion ( great ! )
.
What we have got to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is that economic rights are human rights , and that means you are entitled , as an American , to decent housing , to decent health care , to a decent job , to a decent retirement .
Economic rights are human rights , and you ’ re not going to be a really free person unless we guarantee those rights .
That was an extraordinarily profound statement !
What I tried to do in the 2020 campaign is talk about Roosevelt ’ s 1944 speech and how we make it relevant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ You often said during the 2020 campaign that the Democratic Party had to engage more with movements and ideas , that it had to extend its vision in order to not just beat Trump but frame the future .
I presume that you still believe that this is the most morally and politically valid way to go forward .
BS : Yes , I do .
Look .
I think—and you ’ re beginning to see it—that our movement , which is taking on the entire corporate establishment , and the political establishment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not only in congressional races but in state legislative races , in county prosecutor races , and in school board races .
I mean , really , it ’ s all across the board.… I think what we are forging is a movement that is prepared to ask questions that have not been asked for a long time .
To ask , as Roosevelt did in 1944 , what are we guaranteed ?
What are our human rights ?
What are we entitled to as human beings in a democratic , civilized society @ @ @ @ @ @ @ understand that every person in this country is entitled to a dignified standard of living .
That ’ s decent housing , decent jobs , decent educational opportunity , a decent retirement , a clean environment .
JN : You now have a proposal to get serious about taxing the rich at a level that FDR and Henry Wallace and others might have thought appropriate .
As with the Pentagon cuts you have proposed , that ’ s a battle .
You ’ re going to have to work to get the Democratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ What ’ s your sense of the progress there ?
BS : I think it ’ s going to be very hard .
What we ’ re trying to do right now , by the way—which is above and beyond the fight for progressive taxation—is that in this terrible pandemic and this economic meltdown , when 30 million people have lost their jobs , when half the people in this country are living paycheck to paycheck , when people are losing their health insurance , when people are being evicted from their apartments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is absolutely unacceptable that , I think , 467 billionaires have seen their wealth just during this pandemic , John , increase by over $ 700 billion .
Progressives , Get Ready to Push Them Left For people like Jeff Bezos , for the Walton family , for Elon Musk , for a tiny , tiny sliver , a tiny fraction of 1 percent of the people , they are doing phenomenally well , while so many of the people of this country are falling into desperation .
What this amendment says is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are going to have a pandemic tax of 60 percent on the huge increase in wealth that we have seen among the richest people in this country just in the last four or five months.
” We ’ re going to take that money , many hundreds of billions of dollars , and use it during this pandemic , use it for the next year , to make sure that , A , everybody in America has health care ( if you don ’ t have health care , we will provide it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ B , if you do have health care , we ’ ll make sure that you ’ re not going to be paying out-of-pocket expenses , because Medicare will cover those out-of-pocket expenses .
This is a struggle to begin changing the priorities of America , John .
Should we allow 467 billionaires to make huge profits ?
An unbelievable increase in wealth !
Or should we provide health care for all people as a right , at least during this crisis ?
That ’ s what it is : It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ examine .
I think the American people are with us .
Just as I think they are with us in support of Medicare for All , which we ’ ll continue to fight for .
JN : The polls suggest the American people are with you .
I ’ m interested in whether you think that Democrats in Congress and perhaps a President Biden will be with you .
BS : Well , all I can say is that taking on the ruling class of this country is not easy .
They have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ movement to create a Democratic Party that is prepared to do that .
Are we there now ?
No , we ’ re not .
We started off with this amendment having , I think , two cosponsors , Ed Markey and Kirsten Gillibrand .
We ’ ll probably get a couple more .
But taking on the corporate elite and the big money interests is not so easy , and we ’ re going to have to rally the American people to move the Democratic Party in that direction .
JN : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you believe electing Joe Biden is a big deal because of the necessity to beat Donald Trump , But it ’ s also fair to say that you have developed a relationship with Joe Biden where you think you can talk to this guy and—even if you do not always agree on everything—to work with him on at least some issues .
BS : Well , number one , the first absolute necessity is to defeat Donald Trump .
Trump is the most dangerous president in American history .
Trump is an authoritarian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Trump is a pathological liar .
Trump does not understand or believe in the Constitution of the United States or the separation of powers .
He does not respect Congress .
He is a racist , a sexist , a homophobe , a xenophobe , and a religious bigot .
For all those reasons and more , Trump must be defeated .
My view is that after we elect Biden , what we ’ re going to do is everything that we possibly can to move his administration in a progressive direction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I would not say it if he hadn ’ t made the same statement publicly , that he intends to be the most progressive president since FDR .
That ’ s a noble ambition , and our job is to hold him to that goal .
I think millions of people are prepared to do that .
JN : There ’ s a story , told with many variations , that FDR , when confronted by activists making demands for economic and social and racial justice , would say , “ Go out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : So the hope is that a good Democratic president , a wise Democratic president , understands this dynamic of wanting to have pressure for a more progressive agenda , or at least to have the activism that makes demands , that opens things up .
That makes it easier for a president to move into a more progressive space .
BS : Right !
Look , on issue after issue , the American people are supporting the progressive agenda , while the corporate elite is vigorously opposed to that agenda .
Our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ understand that it makes a lot more sense to be supportive of what the American people want rather than what the moneyed interests want .
That ’ s what our task will be the day after the election .
Right now , obviously , the most important task is to elect Biden .
I think it ’ s going to be difficult .
I know a lot of people are assuming , “ Oh , the polls look so good , Biden ’ s going to win—no problem.
” I don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think this is going to be a very tough election for a whole lot of reasons .
I worry very much about what happens on Election Day and the counting of ballots , how mail-in ballots are counted , whether people in fact can even cast those ballots , whether the Postal Service is going to be sabotaged , etc .
What I am pledged to do in the next three months is everything I can to see that Biden is elected ; and the day after that election , when he wins @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him in a progressive direction .
JN : We ’ re speaking shortly before the Democratic National Convention begins .
This is going to be the weirdest Democratic Convention in history , because nobody ’ s going to be there .
You ’ ll be a speaker at the convention .
What will the message be ?
BS : The message will be that at this particular moment , tens of millions of working-class people are living in fear and desperation .
We have got to hear their pain .
We have got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ got to respond to their pain in an unprecedented way , in a bold manner .
We need to create the jobs that people need .
We need to provide the wages , decent wages that people need .
We have to make sure that workers have the right to join unions .
We have to provide health care to all people as a human right and quality education as a human right .
We have to create millions of jobs by addressing the existential threat of climate change .
We have to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and wealth inequality .
On one hand , obviously we have got to beat Trump for all the reasons and more that I just mentioned .
But it is not good enough just to defeat Trump .
We need to create a new America and a government and an economy that works for all and not just a few .
And it ’ s absolutely the case that when we talk about creating an economy and a government based on justice , it means racial justice , the end of systemic racism in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well beyond police brutality and police murders .
It goes to every aspect of our lives .
We have , as a nation , got to be as aggressive as we can in ending all forms of racism and bigotry .

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Bernie Sanders will address the Democratic National Convention this week, not as the nominee of the party he had hoped to lead against Donald Trump but as a supporter of the ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris. Since Sanders and Biden stopped competing for the nomination, Sanders has worked with Biden to unify the party. He will continue to do so this fall.
But the senator from Vermont still sees himself as an outsider, who is battling against status quo politics and the caution of contemporary Democrats who lack the bold vision that Franklin Delano Roosevelt outlined in his 1944 “Economic Bill of Rights.” This is a subject Sanders and I began to explore last year when I interviewed him for my new book, The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party (Verso). We returned to it last week when the senator and I discussed whether Covid-19, mass unemployment, and the demand for racial justice might create an opening for the bolder politics he advocates. Sanders offered a vision for the party that is rooted in its history and focused on its future—and gave a glimpse of what he’ll talk about at the convention.
—John Nichols
J ohn N ichols: When you were campaigning for president, you spoke quite frequently about the New Deal and Franklin Roosevelt’s “Economic Bill of Rights.” It was part of your effort to frame the 2020 election around fundamental issues and the need for structural change. Obviously, you didn’t know at the time that Covid and mass unemployment, and a rising demand for racial justice, would heighten the sense of urgency. But even before the crisis unfolded, you saw a need for a politics that was focused on transformative change. More From John Nichols A GOP Debate Without Trump Is the Definition of Pointlessness August 11, 2023 A Win for Abortion Rights, a Win for Democracy: Ohio Voters Reject Issue 1 August 9, 2023 The Biggest Threat to Donald Trump Could Be the Constitution Itself August 4, 2023
B ernie S anders: Absolutely. Absolutely. It is imperative that we not only deal with all of the injustices and inequalities that exist in our society today, which of course have been made worse by the pandemic and the economic meltdown, but it is also imperative that we start, in the 21st century, to rethink our value systems.
What Roosevelt did in his State of the Union speech in 1944 was really quite extraordinary. For whatever reason—we were in the middle of a war then and, of course, he died a year later; the media was not particularly sympathetic—what he said back in 1944 has been largely forgotten. But what he said was extraordinarily profound and revolutionary.
What he said is that, yes, our country has political freedom. We have a Constitution. We have a Bill of Rights. We have freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, etc., and that’s all great. But what we have to do is go beyond just political rights and into economic rights. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Current Issue View our current issue
In other words, it’s not good enough that you just have the constitutional right to vote (that’s good!), to protest (that’s great!), to assemble (that’s wonderful!), and freedom of religion (great!).
What we have got to be talking about, Roosevelt said in 1944, is that economic rights are human rights, and that means you are entitled, as an American, to decent housing, to decent health care, to a decent job, to a decent retirement. Economic rights are human rights, and you’re not going to be a really free person unless we guarantee those rights. That was an extraordinarily profound statement!
What I tried to do in the 2020 campaign is talk about Roosevelt’s 1944 speech and how we make it relevant to the year 2020.
JN: You often said during the 2020 campaign that the Democratic Party had to engage more with movements and ideas, that it had to extend its vision in order to not just beat Trump but frame the future. I presume that you still believe that this is the most morally and politically valid way to go forward.
BS: Yes, I do. Look. I think—and you’re beginning to see it—that our movement, which is taking on the entire corporate establishment, and the political establishment, is bringing some major victories, not only in congressional races but in state legislative races, in county prosecutor races, and in school board races. I mean, really, it’s all across the board.…
I think what we are forging is a movement that is prepared to ask questions that have not been asked for a long time. To ask, as Roosevelt did in 1944, what are we guaranteed? What are our human rights? What are we entitled to as human beings in a democratic, civilized society?
I think more and more people understand that every person in this country is entitled to a dignified standard of living. That’s decent housing, decent jobs, decent educational opportunity, a decent retirement, a clean environment.
JN: You now have a proposal to get serious about taxing the rich at a level that FDR and Henry Wallace and others might have thought appropriate. As with the Pentagon cuts you have proposed, that’s a battle. You’re going to have to work to get the Democratic Party on your side for that. What’s your sense of the progress there?
BS: I think it’s going to be very hard. What we’re trying to do right now, by the way—which is above and beyond the fight for progressive taxation—is that in this terrible pandemic and this economic meltdown, when 30 million people have lost their jobs, when half the people in this country are living paycheck to paycheck, when people are losing their health insurance, when people are being evicted from their apartments, that in this terrible moment it is absolutely unacceptable that, I think, 467 billionaires have seen their wealth just during this pandemic, John, increase by over $700 billion. Push Them Left Progressives, Get Ready to Push Them Left Robert L. Borosage
For people like Jeff Bezos, for the Walton family, for Elon Musk, for a tiny, tiny sliver, a tiny fraction of 1 percent of the people, they are doing phenomenally well, while so many of the people of this country are falling into desperation.
What this amendment says is, “You know what? We are going to have a pandemic tax of 60 percent on the huge increase in wealth that we have seen among the richest people in this country just in the last four or five months.”
We’re going to take that money, many hundreds of billions of dollars, and use it during this pandemic, use it for the next year, to make sure that, A, everybody in America has health care (if you don’t have health care, we will provide it to you through Medicare), and B, if you do have health care, we’ll make sure that you’re not going to be paying out-of-pocket expenses, because Medicare will cover those out-of-pocket expenses.
This is a struggle to begin changing the priorities of America, John. Should we allow 467 billionaires to make huge profits? An unbelievable increase in wealth! Or should we provide health care for all people as a right, at least during this crisis?
That’s what it is: It’s a choice that we have got to examine. I think the American people are with us. Just as I think they are with us in support of Medicare for All, which we’ll continue to fight for.
JN: The polls suggest the American people are with you. I’m interested in whether you think that Democrats in Congress and perhaps a President Biden will be with you.
BS: Well, all I can say is that taking on the ruling class of this country is not easy. They have enormous power. We are growing our movement to create a Democratic Party that is prepared to do that.
Are we there now? No, we’re not. We started off with this amendment having, I think, two cosponsors, Ed Markey and Kirsten Gillibrand. We’ll probably get a couple more.
But taking on the corporate elite and the big money interests is not so easy, and we’re going to have to rally the American people to move the Democratic Party in that direction.
JN: You’ve made it clear that you believe electing Joe Biden is a big deal because of the necessity to beat Donald Trump, But it’s also fair to say that you have developed a relationship with Joe Biden where you think you can talk to this guy and—even if you do not always agree on everything—to work with him on at least some issues.
BS: Well, number one, the first absolute necessity is to defeat Donald Trump. Trump is the most dangerous president in American history. Trump is an authoritarian who is trying to undermine American democracy. Trump is a pathological liar. Trump does not understand or believe in the Constitution of the United States or the separation of powers. He does not respect Congress. He is a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, a xenophobe, and a religious bigot. For all those reasons and more, Trump must be defeated.
My view is that after we elect Biden, what we’re going to do is everything that we possibly can to move his administration in a progressive direction. Biden has told me, and I would not say it if he hadn’t made the same statement publicly, that he intends to be the most progressive president since FDR. That’s a noble ambition, and our job is to hold him to that goal. I think millions of people are prepared to do that.
JN: There’s a story, told with many variations, that FDR, when confronted by activists making demands for economic and social and racial justice, would say, “Go out and make me do it.”
BS: Right.
JN: So the hope is that a good Democratic president, a wise Democratic president, understands this dynamic of wanting to have pressure for a more progressive agenda, or at least to have the activism that makes demands, that opens things up. That makes it easier for a president to move into a more progressive space.
BS: Right! Look, on issue after issue, the American people are supporting the progressive agenda, while the corporate elite is vigorously opposed to that agenda. Our job is to make the Biden administration understand that it makes a lot more sense to be supportive of what the American people want rather than what the moneyed interests want.
That’s what our task will be the day after the election. Right now, obviously, the most important task is to elect Biden. I think it’s going to be difficult. I know a lot of people are assuming, “Oh, the polls look so good, Biden’s going to win—no problem.” I don’t believe that for a second.
I think this is going to be a very tough election for a whole lot of reasons. I worry very much about what happens on Election Day and the counting of ballots, how mail-in ballots are counted, whether people in fact can even cast those ballots, whether the Postal Service is going to be sabotaged, etc.
What I am pledged to do in the next three months is everything I can to see that Biden is elected; and the day after that election, when he wins, to make sure that we move him in a progressive direction.
JN: We’re speaking shortly before the Democratic National Convention begins. This is going to be the weirdest Democratic Convention in history, because nobody’s going to be there. You’ll be a speaker at the convention. What will the message be?
BS: The message will be that at this particular moment, tens of millions of working-class people are living in fear and desperation. We have got to hear their pain. We have got to acknowledge their pain. We have got to respond to their pain in an unprecedented way, in a bold manner.
We need to create the jobs that people need. We need to provide the wages, decent wages that people need. We have to make sure that workers have the right to join unions. We have to provide health care to all people as a human right and quality education as a human right. We have to create millions of jobs by addressing the existential threat of climate change. We have to deal with the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality.
On one hand, obviously we have got to beat Trump for all the reasons and more that I just mentioned. But it is not good enough just to defeat Trump. We need to create a new America and a government and an economy that works for all and not just a few.
And it’s absolutely the case that when we talk about creating an economy and a government based on justice, it means racial justice, the end of systemic racism in this country. That goes well, well beyond police brutality and police murders. It goes to every aspect of our lives. We have, as a nation, got to be as aggressive as we can in ending all forms of racism and bigotry.