Common Sense and the COVID-19 pandemic.

CBC radio news recently featured a story about demonstrators congregating at the state legislature in Lansing, Michigan to protest stay-at-home orders issued by Governor, Gretchen Whitmer. A comment made by one of the protesters confused me for a couple of reasons. First that he would say it. Second that CBC broadcast it.

Mike's on the far right. 

Mike Detmer, a Republican congressional candidate and one of the participants at the protest stated that the government needed a common-sense approach to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. He elaborated by saying that the citizens can’t just sit back and allow their freedoms to be stripped away. “Once you do that, you don't get them back.” What did he mean by common sense? Was his approach common and did it make sense?

According to the Merriam Dictionary, common sense can be defined as “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.” Could the simple perception of Mr. Deitmer’s and other participants at the Michigan rally be considered common sense? I watched video footage by news organizations such as The Detroit Free Press to find out.

  

One interview featured a heavyset, middle-age guy sporting a green goatee seated in a large SUV beside the little woman who listened with rapt attention. He had an interesting take on the origin of the coronavirus. He said that “politicians, behind everybody’s back are making their children do [COVID] testing before they go back to school. We’re against these big corporates that are trying to rack in all these dollars who created this disease and now want to make people pay for the cure eh?”

Another larger individual this time who left his goatee white wears a flak jacket and holds a sign on the sidewalk in front of the Michigan legislature. His hefty friend carries a handgun by his side with an automatic rifle slung across his chest. He’s also strapped a flak jacket across his chest. White goatee man proclaims that “every able-bodied individual in the United States is part of the militia except for a few politicians.” Whether or not that’s the case, he and his buddy are ready.

The camera moves through the crowd past a large lady dressed all in black who shouts “No paycheck for us. No paycheck for you.” Another guy with a #RecallWhitner sign over his head yells “Who’s ready to stand defiant against this governor and open up business tomorrow? Don’t wait, don’t beg, don’t ask, just open up the business tomorrow. They don’t care about you. We don’t care about them. Shut down the government and open up this country.”

The camera moves into a line of cars. A woman wanders past carrying Trump sign. A thickset, middle aged guy stands beside his car and announces, “Gotta work. Gonna go broke.” Two middle-aged ladies stand through the sunroof of their SUV. One carries an American flag and announces that “Some of us can go back to work. Time to get our liberties back that our veterans fought so hard for.”

A bunch of men on the legislature steps chant “Lock her up,” meaning Governor Whitner. A guy in a camo ball cap stands front and centre holding a blue “Trump Pence” campaign sign.

On the lawn in front of the legislature, a woman in her thirties wearing glasses and a toque holds a

banner that reads “Small Businesses are Essential.” She says, “I believe in my constitutional rights and I think the executive orders have gone too far. I think that small businesses can operate safely and the big box stores can and too many people are out of work who have nothing right now. We need to open the city back up and at least have a plan to get this moving forward.”

Stopped in traffic, a woman wearing a pink hoody and driving a pickup holds two signs through the window that read, “Standup Michigan.” When asked what she has to say, she replies, “Hello Melania and Governor, you have overstepped. We can take care of ourselves. Thankyou. We want to work.”

My wife’s favourite complaint was by a woman speaking from a car who whined that she couldn’t go to the store or the hairdresser. She then leaned her head toward the camera so reveal her grey roots.

Common-sense might cause a person to deduce that Michigan must have the virus under control and the governor is being unreasonable. Let’s look at the stats. Canada is a country that doesn’t yet feel it’s ready to begin opening itself up for business. How does the incidence of COVID-19 infections and deaths in Michigan compare with Canada?

With a population of just over 10 million, Michigan had 33.000 cases of COVID-19 with 2,464 deaths at the time of writing. Canada, with a population of 37.5 million had 36,670 cases of infection and 1,680 deaths. That’s 3,214 cases of infection per million in Michigan and 248 deaths per million. The same stats for Canada are 971 cases per million and 45 deaths per million.

Donald Trump supported the protesters in tweets like “LIBERATE MINNESOTA,” “LIBERATE MICHIGAN” and then, “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!”

Washington governor, Jay Inslee (D), struck back with his own Tweets stating that Trump’s statements “encourage illegal and dangerous acts. He is putting millions of people in danger of contracting COVID-19. . . His unhinged rantings and calls for people to “liberate” states could also lead to violence.”

Demonstrators gathered in front of other state legislatures over the weekend demanding the economy be opened up. These included Kentucky, Minnesota, Virginia, Utah, North Carolina and Ohio.

Is there a different kind of common sense going on here? Or, does common sense mean something different than I thought? In her book, “Common Sense: A Political History”, Sophie Rosenfeld argues that common sense has been used throughout history by a minority of individuals as an appeal to the many. Thomas Payne entitled his pamphlet “Common Sense” as an appeal to fellow colonialists for separation from Britain. Common sense was used by reactionaries after the French Revolution. Ms. Rosenfeld states that “common sense is simultaneously a means and an end, the ground on which true democracy forms and the product that true democracy creates” (p. 252)

An alternate view of common sense might be illustrated by the “One World At Home,” a concert of musicians performing in their homes to an audience also confined to their homes. Organized by Lady Gaga, it featured performers such as Elton John, Paul McCartney, Eddie Vedder, Keith Urban, and Sheryl Crow. Before performing a song, every artist thanked the first responders and encouraged everyone to do their part by staying home. One could argue this to be an alternative version of common sense. Which will win out? Continue the state-at-home orders or end the lockdown. I guess that will depend on where you live. At the moment, I’m glad to be living here.