Here’s why a Quarantine on New York Would Make Things Worse
…And what will work.
When I was in tenth grade, I was called to the Guidance Counselor’s office for a college planning meeting. It was the first time I realized how powerfully, other people could control my life. Miss E. told me that I wasn’t going to college. She explained, I just wasn’t smart enough. And on her signature, Biology, Chemistry, History, Algebra, and all of my college preparatory classes were replaced with Culinary Arts. I was going to be a cook, whether I liked it or not.
I didn’t like it. And I didn’t become a cook. I didn’t even attend the second year of the Culinary Arts program. In fact, I skipped 93 days of my senior year in high school to get a job. But I did continue going to English class and Gym and I did graduate. Then I enlisted in the Air Force, where I started attending college. First, I earned an Associate’s degree and then a Bachelor’s. Then I went on to become a doctor, a teacher, a realtor, an administrator and a financial adviser, among other things. Maybe it was just to prove Miss E. wrong, maybe not. But I do have her to thank for telling me, “I can’t” when I knew I could.
When the Coronavirus reached a point where China decided to quarantine entire cities it was successful because China is a draconian government that has day to day control over it’s people’s lives. When I traveled to Beijing in 2011, I met a family who owned a car. Not everyone owns a car in China. In fact, many don’t. This family told me that they were only allowed to drive on certain days, depending on the last number in their license plate. They also told me that they have two license plates. Even the Chinese rebel when they need to. It’s human nature to control our own destiny.
“More people got infected. More people died…”
Italy learned the lessons of quarantine the hard way. When Italy’s death rate started to get high, it quarantined the northern part of the country. But that backfired. Italians who were supposed to be in quarantine in the north, simply went south. More people got infected. More people died and the death rate spiraled out of control. As of today, Italy has the highest percentage of deaths from Coronavirus in the world.
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Taiwan was successful in stopping the virus from entering its country because it acted in time. It’s too late for that. The virus is already here. The next thing to do is to mitigate the spread. Italy tried quarantine and that failed because Italy isn’t China. Neither are we.
The United States was founded on the principles and promise of independence. New York is the hallmark of that promise. Even if you’re too young to remember Frank Sinatra, you would recognize his songs, “New York, New York,” and “I did it my way!”
New York is the epitome of success when others believe you can’t.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was confined to a wheelchair and got elected President. Howard Stern became a famous celebrity after being fired from the radio. Tracy Morgan was bullied in high school and became a successful actor. There are countless New York stories just like these that are rooted in the notion of, “you can’t.” But they did.
New Yorkers believe in their dreams and they believe in themselves, especially when someone tells them, “you can’t.” It drives something inside them to prove just how much they can. And they do.
…would be a death sentence for thousands of more Americans.
So, do we really think we can control such a resilience-minded city with a quarantine? People aren’t going to stay under a partial quarantine in New York or anywhere else in the country because Americans will do what the people in the cities of Italy did, seek freedom. A quarantine of New York would be a death sentence for thousands of more Americans. Our death toll would exponentially surpass Italy’s.
We need a better plan.
Here it is: “New York, you can’t stop the virus.” (But we know you will. And the world thanks you!)
