Your money or your health?

"I'm worried about the surge," my friend said as he prepared to roll the garbage can home from the street.

Neither one of us can understand why some people refuse to follow the public health protocols.  Nine months into the pandemic, it is no longer about any lack of information about the virus and the damage it could cause to the infected person.  If the specter of being lonely in the hospital and perhaps even intubated doesn't humble them enough to wear a mask and maintain a social distance, well, what will?

What motivates these deviant minds?

Researchers set out to do just that: "Just who are these unmasked deviants, and what motivates them to ignore COVID-19 restrictions?"

I would hypothesize a few motives: Money (jobs/income); youthful indiscretion; and political affiliation.

What did the researchers find from 60,000 responses from more than 30 countries?

not a single country ranked the likelihood of getting infected with COVID-19 as a higher risk than suffering economic consequences stemming from the coronavirus. On average, people around the world are more motivated by their wallets than their health.

So, the jobs/income motive hypothesis is validated.

In many countries experiencing second and third waves, there are people who simply ignore or actively protest against governmental restrictions on their movement.The politicization of COVID-19 suggests that people have other pressing concerns that motivate them to de-emphasize the pandemic.

Do these people protest because the restrictions affect their jobs and incomes, or ... The article doesn't include a discussion on this.

The youth angle? "age is not a reliable indicator of rule flaunting."  Interesting.  This finding contradicts the general opinion that is ready to blame the youth.

So, what can be done?

To help mitigate financial strains, a key concern of publics around the world, policy makers can do more to support state-run welfare systems and encourage private solidarity. To depoliticize virus control, bipartisan leaders can communicate the long-term economic benefits of virus control. To reduce grievances, there can be public recognition of essential workers and less blame applied to entire groups. In other words, we recommend a focus on addressing human needs and motivations that could determine whether individuals are willing and able to participate in virus control.

Bipartisan?  With these maniacal Republicans actively engaging in partisan politics contesting the election results and telling their voters that Covid is a hoax?  Bipartisan ain't gonna happen!

Focusing on human needs?  Of course we must.  But, not with these maniacal Republican leaders who are eager to help only one kind of a person--corporation!  A bipartisan deal is not looking possible anytime soon.

Such is life in the good ol' US of A!