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| For more cartoons by Pat Bagley, click here. |
By Robert
Reich
We have to get a grip. Ebola is not
a crisis in the United States. One person has died and two people are infected
with his body fluids.
The real crisis is the hysteria over Ebola that’s being fed
by media outlets seeking sensationalism and politicians posturing for the
midterm elections.
That hysteria is causing us to lose our heads. Parents have
pulled their children out of a middle school after learning the school’s
principal had traveled to Zambia. Zambia happens to be in Africa but it has not
even had a single case of Ebola.
A teacher at an elementary school has been placed on paid
leave because parents were concerned he might have contracted the Ebola virus.
When and how? During a recent trip to Dallas for an educational conference.
Are we planning to quarantine Dallas next?
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| For more cartoons by Bill Day, click here. |
So do they want to ban all commercial flights that might
contain someone from any of these countries, who might have transferred
planes? That would cover just about all commercial flights coming
from outside the United States.
The most important thing we can do to prevent Ebola from
ever becoming a crisis in the United States is to help Liberia, Sierra
Leone, and Guinea, where 10,000 new cases could crop up weekly unless the
spread of the virus is slowed soon.
Isolating these poor nations would only make their situation
worse. Does anyone seriously believe we could quarantine hundreds of thousands
of infected people a continent away who are infecting others?
The truth is quite the opposite. If the disease is allowed
to spread in these places, the entire world could be imperiled.
These nations desperately need medical professionals in the
field, more medical resources, isolation facilities, and systems in place to
detect early cases.
Even at this stage, that’s not an impossible task. Nigeria
is succeeding in checking the spread of the disease. It has not had a new case
of Ebola in over a month.
But I’m worried about America. I’m not worried about Ebola.
I’m worried about our confidence and courage.
Every time a global crisis arises these days – the drug war
in Latin America, terrorism in the Middle East, climate change that’s straining
global food and water supplies and threatening many parts of the world with
flooding – the knee-jerk response of some Americans is to stop it at our
borders.
As if we have the option. As if we live on another planet.
What’s wrong with us? We never used to blink at taking a
leadership role in the world. And we understood leadership often required
something other than drones and bombs.
We accepted global leadership not just for humanitarian
reasons but also because it was in our own best interest. We knew we couldn’t
isolate ourselves from trouble. There was no place to hide.
After World War II, we rebuilt Europe and Japan. Belatedly,
we achieved peace in Kosovo. We almost eradicated polio. We took on
tuberculosis, worldwide.
Now even Cuba is doing more on the ground in West Africa
than we are. It’s dispatching hundreds of doctors and nurses to the front
lines. The first group of 165 arrived in Sierra Leone in the past few days.
Where are we?
We’re not even paying attention to health crises right under
our own noses.
More people are killed by stray bullets every day in America
than have been killed by Ebola here.
More are dying because of poverty and
hunger.
More American kids are getting asthma because their homes
are located next to major highways. One out of three of our children is obese,
at risk of early-onset diabetes.
We’re not even getting a flu shot to all Americans who need
one.
Instead, we bicker. For the last eight months, Republicans
have been blocking confirmation of a Surgeon General.
Why? Because the President’s nominee voiced support for
expanded background checks for gun purchases, and the National Rifle
Association objected.
We’ve got to get our priorities straight. Media outlets that
are exploiting Ebola because they want a sensational story and politicians
using it to their own ends ought to be ashamed.
Public fear isn’t something to be played with.
There’s a huge job to be done, here and abroad. Let’s roll
up our sleeves and get on with it.
ROBERT B. REICH, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at
the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center
for Developing Economies, was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration.
Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of
the twentieth century. He has written thirteen books, including the best
sellers “Aftershock" and “The Work of Nations." His latest,
"Beyond Outrage," is now out in paperback. He is also a founding
editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause. His new
film, "Inequality for All," is now available on Netflix, iTunes, DVD,
and On Demand.
