The dumbest messaging I think I’ve ever seen in politics is the “let people die” mantra of the GOP. Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro made the argument that most people who are dying from COVID-19 are over 80 years old and life expectancy is only 80 so they shouldn’t complain. Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick told us, “There are more important things than living.” Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie compared the inevitable deaths to sending young men to fight in World War II. 

In a similar vein, conservatives are blasting Governor Roy Cooper for keeping the state closed too long. They insist people need to get back to work to save the economy and they point to other states loosening restrictions while North Carolina is keeping all but essential businesses closed. For now, though, polls are with Cooper. People are more worried about their health than their jobs. 

The re-open crowd says that the choice between opening and death is false and imply that fear of the virus is overblown. They say that people and businesses will face economic devastation that will dwarf the impact of the coronavirus if we don’t let businesses open and people start earning paychecks. But that is a choice, too, and highlights the failure of the administration to provide aid fast enough to sustain the shutdown. 

As a country, we decided to allocate support through two channels, businesses and unemployment insurance. The only direct aid comes in a one-time, $1,200 check to taxpayers making less than $75,000 a year or $2,400 to couples making less than $150,000 a year and a lot of people still haven’t received that aid. 

As for the business loans, they’ve been a disaster. Many of the smallest, most needy businesses have not received any assistance while large corporations not only have received the money but aren’t passing it along to their employees. Other businesses have received a fraction of what they need. Minority-owned businesses, in particular, are missing out on the support. 

Unemployment insurance is run through the states and is a mish-mash of programs that can be generous or stingy, depending on the state. In North Carolina, we’ve got one of the weakest programs in the nations. Republicans, in their wisdom, cut the length of time for unemployment to just 12 weeks and capped benefits at $350 per week. Fortunately, the federal government is supplementing this woefully inadequate response. The pandemic has exposed the folly of blaming workers for their own unemployment. 

We could have taken the route of other countries and offered direct deposits to families to replace lost wages. Instead, we’ve relied on businesses loans and unemployment to get money to families. The loans are too often too little or too late, leaving businesses without the funds they need to survive. Our stingy unemployment system in North Carolina will leave other families short of what they need to pay their bills and the one time checks won’t help much.

Finally, the virus isn’t going away and it’s not less dangerous or contagious than we originally thought. We’ve just kept it at bay. Opening up the state without a plan to contain the virus is playing with fire. According to models, North Carolina could see more than 50,000 deaths if the state opens quickly instead of in the phases that Cooper has laid out. The White House now estimates 3,000 deaths per day by June 1 even if we keep restrictions in place.

Conservatives are right about one thing: We can’t stay in quarantine forever. People are already getting restless. They need social interaction and productive ways to spend their time. 

But conservatives have been wrong about almost everything else. We will likely open up without the masks, tests and protections we need to curb the spread of the virus because preparation for an inevitable pandemic wasn’t worth the investment. Now, they’re urging us to sacrifice more than 3,000 people per day because the current administration has spent its time alternating between denying reality and blaming China instead of putting together a national response this plague. 

The people who will get hurt the most are the people with the least. The wealthiest among us can afford to stay relatively isolated for months, if not years. Opening up the economy will protect their fortunes while sacrificing workers’ lives. The pandemic is exposing the inequality that’s increased in our country over the past 40 years. When they say let them die, know who they’re talking about. 

Ironically, I think the re-open and let-them-die crowd are actually on a mission of self-destruction. With their advocate in control of the White House, conservatives and Republicans will pay the price for the inevitable surge in cases and deaths. The people most affected, older Americans, are also a substantial part of the GOP base. I suspect they disagree with Lieutenant Governor Patrick. They would rather live than die for the economy. Those that survive will vote their self-interests in November and oppose Republicans calling to re-open without a plan to protect them. Those that die won’t vote at all. It’s a losing proposition for the GOP.