From Worldometer (new COVID-19 deaths yesterday):
DAY USA WORLD Brazil India South Africa
June 9 1093 4732 1185 246 82
July 22 1205 7128 1293 1120 572
Aug 12 1504 6556 1242 835 130
Sept 9 1208 6222 1136 1168 82
Oct 21 1225 6849 571 703 85
Nov 25 2304 12025 620 518 118
Dec 30 3880 14748 1224 299 465
Jan 14 4142 15512 1151 189 712
Feb 3 4005 14265 1209 107 398
Mar 2 1989 9490 1726 110 194
April 6 906 11787 4211 631 37
May 4 853 13667 3025 3786 59
June 1 287 10637 2346 3205 95
July 7 251 8440 1595 817 411
Aug 4 656 10120 1118 532 423
Sept 1 1480 10470 703 505 235
8 1700 9836 250 339 253
14 1934 9001 709 281 300
22 2228 9326 839 279 124
29 2190 8859 643 309 108
Oct 5 1811 7495 686 285 103
6 2102 8255 543 315 59
12 1819 7544 201 249 37
19 2005 7528 401 160 80
26 1451 7535 409 584 53
27 1594 8671 433 734 62
Nov 2 1059 6883 164 294 18
3 1436 7830 186 458 23
Summary:
- As I feared, the Tuesday data usually show a lot fewer new cases and deaths than on Wednesday.
- The USA seems to have plateaued at around 1500 deaths/day for now a month.
- The World has been stuck at 7500 deaths/day for almost two months.
- The former Soviet countries are especially hurting, with Russia now consistently #2 to the U.S. in new deaths, showing 1189 yesterday.
- There are reports indicating that China is concerned about new cases across the country. However, yesterday there were only 109 new cases and no new deaths.
- The state with the lowest number of new cases yesterday was Hawaii, with 176, and 3 new deaths.
- China has around 1000 times the population of Hawaii.
The results of those elections on Tuesday aroused me to reflect on what happened and where we are relative to the world. There is a growing consensus that Republicans will on November 8, 2022 gain control of both houses of Congress.
- Non-Hispanic White 60.3%
- Latino 18.5%
- Black 13.4%
- Asian 5.9%
- Other (including mixed) 4.3%
Historically, Caucasians have dominated the rich and upper middle classes. All races want to attain that status. Thus, a good core of ethnicities vote Republican for this reason.
The racial issue came to a head with the killing of George Floyd. While progress has generally been made because of his death, civil rights took a hit when he was made the symbol of equality. He was a convicted criminal who left his family in Houston and escaped to Minneapolis.
While on one hand, the humanitarian virtues of Americans are laudable, there is that undercurrent of resentment about matters dealing with social welfare. Republicans especially seem to have an attitude that you need to make an effort to get ahead. Liberal democrats can't tolerate poverty and want the more able in society to help out the poor and uneducated. There will be a slide of liberalism.
There is also the matter of religion. Most polls show that 80% of Americans believe in a God, Heaven and the afterlife. Republicans are more religious than Democrats. Thus, issues like abortion come into play. This does not seem to make much sense, but Evangelicals tend to support an immoral Trump than a strong Catholic Biden. Republicans play the religion card well.
Democrats identify more with education and racial equality. Republicans want lower taxes and a stronger nation. As we spend so much on war, how can our taxes pay for many desirable social welfare programs?
For example, a comparison I show whenever possible, we spend more on defense than the next eleven nations combined (a few years ago it was only 7 countries):
China spends $149/person, while the U.S. is at $2341/person. In other words, each person in the USA pays just about 16 times more than one from China on war. How did we get caught in this overspending? The military industrial complex plants stories every so often to scare Americans. Yesterday you probably saw a blurb hinting that China is thinking about invading Taiwan sometime in the coming year. Then, typically, the Defense of Defense only lightly poo-poohs such contentions. They work together on these releases. This strategy has worked since World War II.
But, mind you, our defense spending is expected to continue to decline as a percentage of our GDP:
In any case, seems like all parties support a strong defense, part of this because military bases and defense manufacturing sites are located in every state. Hawaii is hopelessly Democratic, but scream when funding is cut for Pearl Harbor. Republicans nevertheless do well with this issue. They say they are more patriotic, which makes you wonder why they strayed on January 6.
There is that matter of not voting for someone, but voting against the opponent. This is what happened in the Virginia gubernatorial race. Here is where independents hold special powers, for they are swayed by a variety of factors.
This off-year election showed that Independents are the difference makers. This historic graph will surprise many:
How many knew we now have 44% Independents, 30% Democrats and 25% Republicans? Eight years ago 46% were Independents, so this is nothing new.
There are innumerable factors that can't be synthesized into a coherent plan for 2022 or 2024. No doubt, though, that the party that can best influence Independents will prevail.
One other possible factor is Donald Trump. I'm not sure if I represent any kind of national sense, but a year ago, November 4, we still did not know who won the presidential election. Over the next few days it became clear that Biden beat Trump. The nation and world are now a lot more stable and secure.
You would think Trump's failed attempt at a national coup on January 6 would have forever condemned him. But something happened to the Republican Party that is worrisome about the future of our democracy. Not that we are any kind of international model today, for we rank only #16, with Slovenia at #17:
- #1 Norway
- #2 Switzerland
- #3 Sweden
- #4 Finland
- #5 Denmark
- #6 Netherlands
- #7 New Zealand
- #8 Germany
- #9 Ireland
- #10 Australia
- #11 Belgium
- #12 Canada
- #13 Austria
- #14 UK
- #15 France
- #18 Japan
- #26 Israel
- #36 Singapore
- #50 El Salvador
- #65 India
- #96 Russia
- #107 China
- #112 Yemen
I would think that most Americans are proud of our democracy. The U.S. Constitution was the world's first formal blueprint for a modern democracy. While we have declined, I don't think there is any kind of compelling support for a Trump-like coup. This matter will gain in prominence this year into the 2024 presidential election. But who knew when was Constitution Day? It's always on September 17.
Now toss in global warming, which gives Democrats a huge advantage. Republican politicians depend on fossil fuel funding for re-election. Donald Trump regularly makes fun of what someday will rise to a higher prominence. Climate change was only #7 among the issues for the 2020 presidential election. As world weather conditions worsen--whether it be more severe hurricanes, heat domes, and the like--and who knows when this will become cataclysmic.
We have truly suffered from this pandemic and Tuesday was a kind of wake up call. However, opportunities and unknowns dot the future. Our frayed nation might here and there be declining, but we remain as the only dominant country in the world. I remain optimistic and look forward to some needed progress.
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