Enlightened thinking in Texas by Nicholas Kerr
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/enlightened-thinking-in-texas
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Tuesday that the statewide mask mandate and all restrictions on business’ operating capacity would be lifted this coming week. The following day, President Biden called these decisions “Neanderthal thinking.”
In making his announcement, Abbott focused on the fact that Texans have mastered individual habits and practices to mitigate against the risks of contracting the coronavirus. In addition, the state has already protected a majority of its most vulnerable citizens. Any seniors not already vaccinated will have access to one by the end of March, and Texas now has therapeutic drugs that are mitigating the risk of pandemic deaths and hospitalization. At its core, this decision is about personal responsibility and the importance of letting residents weigh health risks against the other risks inherent to their lives. Biden’s response was sadly predictable.
While the state mandates are to be lifted on Wednesday, businesses and people in areas that have had higher case rates are retaining mask requirements and other sensible precautions. Within hours of the governor’s decision, we received notices from our Dallas school and local businesses letting us know there will be no immediate change to the way they operate. This is as it should be and what we anticipated given how hard our city has been hit by the virus.
But it also seems appropriate that small towns and counties in the largest state in the continental United States, some of which have not had a single virus fatality, should be able to return to normal. Simply put, Texas’s governor is treating us like adults, whereas others want us to act like sheep.
Residents in our state have countless trade-offs they need to make in relation to their physical and mental health, their childrens’ educational and social development, and their economic needs, all of which are intertwined. Families with a high-risk elderly person might rightly prioritize minimizing risk and sacrifice employment, whereas young families, like ours, that are low-risk might prioritize things like in-person schooling and sports. We want our children to continue developing social skills, to avoid childhood obesity, and to gain all the other benefits that accrue from these activities.
Meanwhile, children in other states are entering an entire year with no in-person schooling, despite being at low risk from the virus. Substantial learning loss is predicted, and mental health issues are skyrocketing. McKinsey & Co. estimates that by June, children will have lost up to nine months of learning in mathematics. Much like the extinction fate of the Neanderthals, small businesses by the thousands are closing permanently, meaning livelihoods are being ruined.
Abbott made his priorities clear, stating, “We are ensuring that all businesses and families in Texas have the freedom to determine their own destiny.”
That’s not Neanderthal thinking. It’s enlightened.
Nicholas Kerr is an adjunct scholar at the Lone Star Policy Institute. The views expressed here are his and not necessarily those of LSPI. He works in marketing in the tech industry and writes a blog, the Kerrant, on policy and being a father.
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