Encouraging Helplessness

There's a consistent theme I'm noticing in the left's response to our current situation that I think requires comment. Sayeth the Twitterati:

• "Governor [Name] had to act because Trump's not doing anything! How terrible!"
• "Why should we depend on a private charity to build a field hospital? Our government sucks!"
• "Why isn't Trump instituting a national quarantine? He doesn't care!"
• "Trump should nationalize [insert essential industry here] and force these businesses to make [critical item]! Why is he sitting on his hands?"

Have you spotted the thread that ties all of that bitching and moaning together? Why yes: it's that these folks don't understand the United States constitutional system. Like -- at all. Not even a little bit. They expect Trump to act like the god-emperor of the memes - not like the chief executive of a federal system he actually is - because they've been maleducated into helplessness and stupidity.

The Founders didn't design our country to be run from a single administration in Washington. For one thing, they legitimately distrusted that sort of centralized power. For another thing, they understood that the U.S. is both enormous and diverse and therefore can't be run effectively by D.C. bureaucrats with zero intimate knowledge of each individual region. No: said Founders intended for governors, mayors, and private citizens to take up some of the responsibilities of governing because it's those people who will know best how to handle the unique challenges of their respective localities. And that holds true even in a pandemic!

There are certain places - cities, mainly - that require more supplies and stiffer restrictions because higher population density means a greater susceptibility to widespread infection. (Which reveals an evolutionary reason why lots of people love sprawl, eh?) And there are other places - rural areas - that are at lower risk. It's simply not rational to tell the three people who live in Wyoming that they need to follow the exact same guidelines as the people who live in New York.  (I kid, I kid. Wyoming's great.) Hell, it's not even rational to tell every county and city in a single state to follow one standard! Arlington, Virginia, is a massive hot spot (relatively speaking); unincorporated Rappahannock County - the location of our new homestead - has still not reported a single case. That's because the former is very urban and the latter is in the middle of nowhere! 

Different places have different needs. And who's in the best position to know those needs? Local politicians -- not Trump and his task force. The only thing Trump can and should do is offer support if it should be requested from below. Otherwise, people closer to the situation absolutely do need to take charge -- not sit around in a stupor waiting for Daddy Fed to tell them what to do.

We Americans are not supposed to sit on our thumbs. That's not what our Founders wanted for us. Thank eff my late father taught me that so I don't fall for the bull excrement that passes for intelligent commentary in our media.