No One Is Getting a Social Distancing Trophy

Winston Churchill once said, “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.”

In today’s United States, it appears there is nothing so exhilarating as not contracting COVID-19. Just as a soldier in Churchill’s army would feel liberated and borderline invincible after dodging a bullet from enemy fire, it appears many virus-free Americans have been equally exhilarated over the last few weeks and have come to believe they are just as invulnerable to the ravages of the pandemic.

We saw the result of self-convinced omnipotence this past weekend when millions of our fellow citizens defied the urgings of elected leaders and health officials and flocked to beaches, swimming pools and backyard barbecues. After weeks of shutdown, far too many Americans seem to have concluded that they have done their part to save our country from pandemic and now are continuing with their lives as if the coronavirus has been cured.

Just as the disease does not respect city or state boundaries, the mass civic failure to follow social distancing necessities also crosses partisan and cultural divisions without regard. Large numbers of residents of red-state America have mimicked President Donald Trump as he continues to dismiss the need to wear a mask or take other health and safety precautions. But equally large numbers of blue-state residents have taken their cues from the many maskless protestors who have taken to the streets in recent weeks. The end result is an explosion in the number of coronavirus cases, positive test ratios and hospitalizations across the country, as the COVID-19 virus spread from the coasts into the South and the country’s heartland, from big cities to small towns.

We’re still in the first steps of a long and difficult journey back to pre-pandemic lives.

While most of Europe has regained control over the pandemic and begun to move back toward some semblance of normalcy, the United States is floundering. States that were moving quickly toward reopening just a few weeks ago now are closing back down, and mayors and governors across the country are urging, pleading and occasionally ordering their citizens to abide by renewed restrictions. Many experts had predicted a second wave of cases would not hit until later in the year when the weather cooled, but epidemiological science is non-predictive in the face of human nature and American-bred entitlement.

The growing impact of the pandemic in communities that had supported Trump in 2016 may change the political dynamic in the weeks ahead, as more of the president’s backers have begun to experience the effect of the virus firsthand. But Democratic leaders such as Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti will readily attest that even the most committed Trump-haters among their constituents are not immune to the allure of face-to-face socializing.

What’s peculiar is that most of us do recognize the likely danger that will result from our behavior. Polling shows that 8 in 10 Americans believe a second wave is coming — but apparently are not worried enough to do anything to minimize its likelihood. One third of us would not abide by a second round of self-quarantining if it were required.

The end result is that we know the pandemic is not going away, we recognize the renewed health and economic crises that await, but we continue to move toward a haphazard, unsatisfying and occasional version of normal.

This is what happens when every kid on the soccer team gets a trophy at the end of the season. Generations of young people have grown up believing effort and good intentions are enough. “I did everything they told me to do, so I should be rewarded by being allowed to go back to my real life, because I tried so hard for so long.”

But there’s no such thing as a social distancing trophy. We’re still in the first steps of a long and difficult journey back to pre-pandemic lives. Governors and mayors and public health officers may offer us reminders and encouragement, but how long and how difficult that path back ultimately turns out to be is largely up to us.

Dan Schnur teaches political communications at UC Berkeley. He hosts the weekly webinar “Politics in the Time of Coronavirus” at 11 a.m. Thursdays.