CNN posted today an article that is well worth reading. Titled “The dangerous morality behind the ‘Open It Up’ movement. You can find it by clicking here. You should read that article before reading this post.
“One answer to that question — letting a minority suffer so that the majority may benefit — is known as utilitarianism. And it’s one of the most common, and controversial, ways of making moral choices.”
“‘There are things more important than living,’ Texas Lt. Gov Dan Patrick said on Tuesday. Last month Patrick suggested elderly Americans might be ‘willing to take a chance’ on their survival for the country’s economic health.”
From the CNN article cited before
A strong part of the conservative movement is adopting the very ethics that are used by pro-choice people. It is inconvenient and will cause economic harm for a pregnant woman bear a child to term, therefore, she can get rid of the fetus, say pro-choicers. There are several countries that now allow euthanasia for incurable illnesses, even if the patient is not necessarily suffering pain. The problem with the utilitarian argument is that if the majority benefits, then many things can be approved. There was a prescient article published in 1975 titled, “Utilitarian Reasoning in Nazi Medicine,” in which the author showed how many of the Nazi elimination policies were based on pure utilitarianism. So the “feeble-minded”, disabled, homosexuals etc., were put to death alongside the Jews.
The Texas Lt. Gov. is by far not the only conservative making that type of utilitarian argument. We know that some additional people will die if we open up too soon, but it is more important that the majority benefits. It is striking how quickly he and the Open It Up movement have discarded any semblance of a pro-life stance in favor of a utilitarian anti-life stance. This is the same state that won plaudits just in the last month for closing abortion clinics due to the pandemic.
This type of utilitarian approach is different than triage in a battlefield or disaster situation. Triage is the assignment of degrees of urgency to wounds or illnesses to decide the order of treatment of a large number of patients or casualties. Sadly, in severe situations, it means that you ignore those who are going to die and those who are going to live to concentrate on those who might be saved if you act fast.
But, it is not triage that is being proposed. Triage is only used when the number of casualties exceeds the treatment capacity. Stay-at-home is about maximizing the number of people who survive without overwhelming the medical capacity. Two things happen with stay-at-home. Some who would have died without the order will not die, either because they do not become infected or because there is enough medical capacity (ventilators, etc.) to save those who could still be saved. And, as the spread of the virus is slowed, there is more of a chance to build some type of herd immunity.
What is being proposed is that we are being inconvenienced by the economic pounding we are taking through stay-at-home. Therefore, the economy is more important for the majority than for the additional minority who will die. That additional people will die, some because medical capacity will be overwhelmed, is a price that we should be willing to pay as a country in order that no one may be economically inconvenienced. It reminds me of that line from the movie Shrek, in which Lord Farquaad says, “Some of you may die, but it is a sacrifice I am willing to make.” Conveniently, this approach allows the proponents to wash their hands of the additional deaths since they will not be doing the killing. It will be the virus doing the killing.
One can see the irony in those who are among the strongest saying that a mother must bear even a child born of rape to term and raise it, despite the economic difficulties, are now some of the ones saying that it is OK to let some die to keep from having economic difficulties. Let me say since some will now doubt it, that I am pro-life, yes and that means anti-abortion.
But, I am fully pro-life, which means pro-life after someone is born as well. Sadly, the situation of the Open It Up movement, their refusal to listen to medical data, and their utilitarian approach to themselves gives life (pun intended) to an old canard about conservative pro-lifers. And that is that they are only pro-life until the baby is born.
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