Suggesting that the Chinese coronavirus could be one of the best things to happen to America in a long time might sound like the kind of statement you would hear from a tone-deaf, leftist college student—the sort who likes to imply that every bad thing that happens to America is punishment for her “white supremacy,” or some such nonsense.
Of course, the virus itself has been a terrible disaster. Though not nearly as lethal as doomsayers predicted—once suggesting that over 2 million Americans would die—the current toll approaching 100,000 dead Americans is still a tragedy. But if there is one thing that is quintessentially American, it is our ability to rise above a national tragedy and use that solidarity to emerge from the ashes stronger than ever.
Given this potential new unity, the implications for our post-coronavirus world and the numerous actions that have been taken to get us there, it is not impossible that the coronavirus may actually end up forcing America into a far better state than it was in the pre-coronavirus era.
The Rise of Immigration Hawkishness
Few societal ills are more damaging to the fabric of American society than modern mass migration. Democrats have openly touted the shifting demographics in this country as being much more politically favorable to them, and conducive to making the kind of permanent transformation they seek for America not only possible, but inevitable.
Now, thanks to the virus, the Overton Window has shifted significantly further to the Right on this subject. While Democrats initially decried President Trump’s travel ban on China, reality eventually forced them to concede that it was the right thing to do; now they are trying to argue that this ban they once condemned didn’t go far enough. And not a single complaint was heard when he enacted a similar travel ban on Europe.
Under the cover of the media’s obsessive virus coverage, one major front in the war on immigration has gone largely underreported: The progress of President Trump’s wall. Construction on the wall not only has continued, but has sped up during the quarantine. The media’s silence on this, too, is deafening.
But by far the most consequential of the new immigration restrictions is the moratorium on foreign workers, and the significant public support for such a move. Even a Washington Post poll showed that at least two-thirds of Americans support halting all immigration during the pandemic. To top it off, the Left’s favorite weapon against any of President Trump’s initiatives—a left-wing judicial activist masquerading as a judge—failed almost immediately when a District Judge upheld the president’s moratorium.
When the Left has lost both public opinion and the courts on such a crucial issue as immigration, it is a sign that the times are truly changing. Who’s to say that this shift will not be a permanent one, even when the virus clears?
The End of Chinese Supremacy
Another seismic shift in public opinion that seamlessly complements the shifting mood on immigration is the spectacular downfall of China in the eyes of Americans. In the decades following President Nixon’s historic decision to open relations with Red China, it became the new norm for just about every product on a store shelf to bear the tag “Made in China.”
But now that China’s biggest global export is their knockoff of the common flu, global attitudes have changed, and rightfully so. Donald Trump’s history of criticizing China dating back as far as the 1980s, which his opponents dismissed as an obsession and scapegoating, is now one more reason that President Trump looks like one of the smartest and most prescient men of our time.
And, just like on immigration, the public overwhelmingly backs President Trump’s America First approach: Nearly three-fourths of Americans agree that China is completely to blame and should be held accountable. The Chinese virus has laid bare all of the fundamental flaws with such a massive outsourcing of American labor, American jobs, and American products to the Communist powerhouse.
As such, plans allegedly are already in the works for a historic geo-political shift in the Pacific. At the very least, this may involve a plan to create a new Pacific alliance that will see much of the manufacturing that was once in China redistributed among smaller, friendlier nations, including Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand, as well as the rising power of India.
Better yet, the administration may offer tax incentives and other economic carrots to persuade American companies to bring those jobs back home. The president has even admitted that he is open to the possibility of completely severing all ties with China, which would be equal to the historic Nixon move, and would provide a somewhat poetic, if not tragic, end to the saga of the U.S.-China power struggle.
Breaking the Back of Public Education
One seemingly intractable issue that has been brought back to the forefront by the Chinese virus is the state of American public education, a concern that normally gets only perfunctory mention and inspires frustrating apathy. Aside from our abject failure in recent years to increase the quality of American education (as best exemplified by the disastrous Common Core program), it has become a far more invasive institution than it ever was supposed to be.
In recent decades, the Left has adopted Hillary Clinton’s “it takes a village” mentality, wherein our education system is supposed to teach children things that their parents normally would not, and over time take away many “parental” responsibilities from their actual parents.
Not only has this far-Left and anti-American mentality the Frankfurt School envisioned long since infected our universities, but now such teachings are extended to even younger children in a manner disturbingly reminiscent of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Look no further than the recent recommendations from the organization we are ostensibly supposed to trust with the coronavirus, the World Health Organization, as to what they believe children younger than four should be taught about sex, masturbation, and “gender identity.”
But just as all hope seemed lost on this front too, against all odds, the coronavirus may have come to the rescue.
With the shuttering of schools nationwide, many parents have turned to a tradition that almost seemed dead: Homeschooling. And as recent polls seem to indicate, a sizable portion of the population—having rediscovered the value of educating their own children without teachers and classrooms as intermediaries—are prepared to fully commit to homeschooling even after the pandemic is over.
It is no wonder, then, that the Holy City of American education, Harvard University, launched a blistering attack on the concept of homeschooling, using the same tired insults that have been used against the practice for years. But as many have pointed out, this screed has nothing to do with the well-being or education of the children, but everything to do with these institutions’ weakening power over such young and impressionable minds. Their efforts to tighten that grip in recent months should not be surprising.
Baby Boom 2.0?
One of the domestic factors that has exacerbated the aforementioned ill effects of mass migration is the declining birthrate of the native population in the United States. With the coronavirus representing an historic upheaval, quite unlike anything we have ever seen, there has been speculation that we could see a new baby boom once the danger has officially passed.
So-called “experts” are already trying to insist that we should not expect such a baby boom. Such skepticism should be met with a reminder of the historic context of the current times. As some have pointed out, in an effort to emphasize what a gross overreaction this whole situation has been, even the Spanish Flu of 1918 and 1919 did not lead to the entire American economy shutting down. We shook off that pesky virus and, at the height of that epidemic, won a World War.
The coronavirus outbreak and subsequent global response truly has been unlike anything we have seen before in our history, even global war. The vast majority of the population understands this, and it goes without saying that the eventual end of this crisis will lead to a period of celebration, and perhaps peace, the likes of which we’ve not enjoyed in a long time.
Only time will tell if the “experts” will be proven right, or if this truly unprecedented and historic event will indeed lead to a second baby boom. If it does, then it will lead to a widespread and greater appreciation of life, which can also provide a much-needed sense of healing and gratefulness in our society.
Blue States Seeing Red
Lastly, the response to the coronavirus along party lines may prove to be one of the most eye-opening moments in modern American history, especially for those who were once loyal to the Democratic Party.
Republicans, led by President Trump, are now insisting that it is time to reopen the economy, lest the job loss and subsequent societal collapse surpass the virus itself in terms of total devastation. Democrats, by contrast, are now more determined than ever before to sink the economy in order to hurt President Trump. As such, a handful of Democratic governors have been prolonging the suffering in their states for as long as possible.
And yet, despite the mainstream media always running defense for the Democrats, and trying (and failing) to promote the narrative that President Trump has not done enough, reality is proving too strong for even their influence. The average American is waking up to the truth, and overwhelmingly has made it clear which of these two approaches actually appeals to the national mood.
Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) is facing widespread criticism over his decision to force nursing homes in the state to take in more COVID patients, a fatal and downright scandalous directive that has led to thousands of entirely avoidable deaths. Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) is now constantly looking over her shoulder for angry mass protests that, for the time being, have become a permanent fixture in Michigan’s capital. And Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) is facing a revolt from numerous counties and towns throughout the state of California which have vowed to defy his statewide lockdown order, on top of mass protests, similar to those in Michigan, against his directive to close all beaches and parks.
For definitive proof that there truly is a groundswell of opposition to the party of lockdown, look no further than the first two major political tests of this new political dichotomy: California’s 25th congressional district, and the city elections in Staunton, Virginia.
With the threat of the virus looming heavily over the former race, and thus with mail-in voting mandated for the entire district, Republican Mike Garcia resoundingly defeated Democrat Christy Smith by a ten-point margin, in a complete reversal from when disgraced former Congresswoman Katie Hill won the seat by nine points in 2018.
And in the latter election, Republican challengers swept away all three Democratic city council members running for reelection, completely flipping the council to Republican control. What makes this a victory that is, as one reporter described, “stunning almost beyond words,” is the fact that this took place in a city that previously had voted for Barack Obama twice, voted for Hillary Clinton, voted for both Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam as governor, and voted for the Democratic candidate in the most recent election for the House of Representatives. Democrats in the city even managed to double their 2016 turnout, yet the Republican turnout still far surpassed them and completely wiped out the Democrats.
Of course, these elections alone are far from proof that California or New York are about to suddenly flip red. But it is nevertheless clear proof that there is a rising restlessness with the ultra-authoritarian approach of the Democratic Party, one that unites Republican voters with a sizable majority of independents, and even a significant number of minority voters who traditionally lean Democratic. The implications do not bode well for the Democrats’ chances in November.
From the Ashes
Throughout our history, America has defied the odds time and time again to stage impossible comebacks. From the underdogs that defeated the world’s largest empire, to the shattered nation that slowly rebuilt after a civil war, our nation has come close to the brink of total annihilation, but has never fallen off that precipice.
In recent decades, numerous insidious forces have been working in tandem to finally tear down America, both from within and abroad. Whether it be the cultural rot coming from the far-Left’s takeover of public education, societal unrest due to open borders and mass migration, or economic gutting from foreign markets, America was right on that edge once again.
The coronavirus has now forced us to peel back the curtain on all of these issues in a way that even the most bitter of partisan actors can no longer ignore. The eyes of the American public have been opened to all of the ills that pose a truly existential threat to our country, with the Chinese virus as the catalyst for this awakening.
We now have the tools, not only to kill the virus, but to kill these other viruses that have been exposed as a result. This is the once-in-a-generation opportunity to save America, fighting a perfect storm of disaster with a perfect storm of countermeasures at every level of society. It is up to us to use these methods, lest our nation finally crumble away and never rebuild.