Opinion: Bard’s Ian Buruma on the Dangers of Using Virus as Metaphor
President Trump and some of his allies have made a point of calling the coronavirus a “Chinese virus,” the “Wuhan virus,” or, simply, a “foreign virus”—a type of rhetoric that taps into ancient and primitive fears, writes Professor Buruma. “A leader who applies chauvinism and prejudice to a frightening disease is not best equipped to deal with a pandemic. Nationalism should have no place in medical discourse. And medical language should never be applied to politics. Coronavirus isn’t Chinese or foreign; it is global. Blaming alien forces, whether in the name of God, or science or simple prejudice, is bound to make things a great deal worse.”
Post Date: 04-08-2020
Post Date: 04-08-2020