(Transcription of an article published in the Guardian on 13 April 2020)
Trump n Bolsonaro hv bn a lạbiḷti in ɖ fes v c’roṇvîṛs. W nīd līdrz wɖ a difṛnt imośnl scilset
Robin Dembrof, Munde, 13 Epril 2020
Fr ɖ intîṛti v Ronld Regn’z frst trm, dspt oṿẃlmñ evidns ɖt Edz wz a public-hlʈ crîsis, h bruśt of ɖ dziz’z sveṛti, seyñ “it wd g awe”. Bî 1987, Edz hd cild mor ɖn 29,000 Americnz. In ɖt sem yir, Don Fransis, an ofiśl at ɖ Sntrz fr Dziz Cntrol n Privnśn, tsṭfaid bfr Congres ɖt Regn’z admiṇstreśn cōzd “untld hardśp, miẓri n xpns t ɖ Americn public” bî obstructñ, rzistñ n inṭfirñ wɖ poḷsiz n programz dzînd t privnt ɖ Edz eṗdemic in ɖ YS.
Srtn factrz at ple in ɖ Edz eṗdemic r nt at ple in ǎr cuṛnt pandemic: most obvịsli, Covid-19 z nt asośietd wɖ ɖ ge cḿṇti. Nnɖles, ɖr r ecoz v Regn’z rspons t ɖ Edz eṗdemic. Last munʈ, dez aftr Caḷforńa hd dclerd a stet v imrjnsi n Siatl scūlz hd bgun t cloz, Doṇld Trump asrtd ɖt Covid-19 wd simpli “g awe”. Śortli bfr ɖt, h sd ɖt it wd “dis’pir … lîc a miṛcl”. Trump wz jônd in hiz p’red v dnayl bî uɖr far-rît popylist līdrz, ispeṣ́li Bṛzil’z prezidnt, Jair Bolsonaro. In Marć, h dscrîbd Covid-19 az a “litl flu” ɖt dz nt woṛnt “hstiria”, n clemd ɖt Bṛzil wd b pṛtctd fṛm ɖ vîṛs bî its clîṃt n yʈfl popyleśn.
W nīd līdrz hu alǎ public-hlʈ xprts, rɖr ɖn ɖer p’liticl slf-inṭrest, t gîd poḷsi
Ẃt moṭvets men lîc Trump n Bolsonaro t dnî, fōlṣfî n dsmis evidns abt public-hlʈ crîsīz?
Wn sełnt fīćr standz ǎt az comn amñ ɖz men: toxic maskliṇti. Ɖ consept hz bcm popylr, wɖ Gūgl srćz fr ɖ trm scîroc̣tñ in Jańri 2019 ẃn ɖ śevñcumṗni Źilét rlist a siriz v advrtismnts ɖt ćalinjd tṛdiśnl xpreśnz v maskliṇti, sć az bŭliyñ, s’presñ imośnz n sx́l hrasmnt. Ɖoz advrtismnts set of a public dbet abt ẃɖr toxic maskliṇti z a hlpfl consept. Sm tc t Twitr n uɖr mīdia t cmplen ɖt “maskliṇti z’nt a sicnis”, ẃl uɖrz, lîc ɖ Americn Sîc̣lojicl Asośieśn, mntend ɖt ɖz tṛdiśnl formz v maskliṇti harm nt onli men, bt olso ɖoz arnd ɖm.
Ɖ cuṛnt pandemic ʈroz intu starc rlif hǎ ysfl ɖ consept v toxic maskliṇti cn b. Dr. Rojr Crbi, a men’z hlʈ xprt, obzrvz ɖt toxic formz v maskliṇti, ẃć līd t “dominnt, agresiv, [n] risc-tecñ” bhevyr, cōz men t si ilnis or uɖr hlʈprobḷmz az ifemiṇt n wìc, līdñ ɖm t ćūz risc n dscumf̣t ovr ɖ “imaskleśn” v sīcñ medicl trītmnt. Az a rzult, men hu psy ɖz formz v maskliṇti dsple “ɖ strongist pridictrz v indivijl risc-bhevyr ovr ɖ lîfcors”.
Trump n Bolsonaro r clir xamplz v men hu clñ t toxic formz v maskliṇti. Ɖe laś ǎt at enʈñ ɖt ʈretnz ɖer dominns, n rlî on msojni n vayḷns t bolstr ɖer īgoz. Ɖe deṇgret wimin n feṃniṇti in ordr t riinfors ɖer frajîl sns v ɖer manhd, rfŕñ t wimin az “slut[s]”, “dog[z]” n “pìs[s] v as”. Trump hz bostd abt hiz pīnișîz n tstosṭron levlz, n Bolsonaro sd ɖt h wd rɖr hv a ded sun ɖn a ge wn. Bʈ frīqntli incurij or xkz vayḷns, n rej at ɖoz hu dis’gri or mc fun v ɖm. Ɖe r tū piz in a pod. N in ǎr cuṛnt crîsis, ɖer toxic maskliṇti z a deʈli ʈret. It plez ǎt in ɖ most litṛl sns: it riscs fizicl harm t uɖrz n ɖmslvz.
Tru t ɖs pridix́n, Trump rīsntli md hedlînz fr iniṣ́li rfyzñ t tec a tst fr Covid-19, obe fizicl-distnsñ gîdlînz or wer a fesmasc, unḍmainñ hiz ǒn hlʈxprts’ rec̣mndeśnz. Bolsonaro, folowñ sūt, dclerd ɖt hiz manli hisṭri “az an aʈlīt” wd pṛtct him fṛm ɖ vîṛs. N ẃl it z tmtñ t laf at ɖ absrdti v Bolsonaro’z clem, ɖ soḅrñ riaḷti z ɖt Trump n Bolsonaro’z bhevyr hz an evr-rîzñ bodicǎnt.
Nǎ ɖt ɖs lî z no longr ssteṇbl, Trump n Bolsonaro hv piṿtd. Bʈ cuṛntli atmt t cast ɖmslvz az hîpr-masklin “wortîm” hiroz, cmitd t pṛtctñ ɖer cuntriz fṛm a “hidn eṇmi”. Wn form v musklr īgoizm rplesz anɖr. Ɖz miliṭristic slf-portrits mc clir ɖt Trump n Bolsonaro r foc̣st on stǒcñ parṭzan dvîdz n winñ riilex́n, n nt on dwñ ẃt z nīdd t sev livz.
W d nt nīd patrịtizm n wepnz; w nīd gloḅli cnctd medicl rsrć, sośl seftinets n hlʈcer. W nīd līdrz hu alǎ public hlʈxprts, rɖr ɖn ɖer p’liticl slf-inṭrest, t gîd poḷsi. W fînd ǎrslvz in a tîm ɖt cōlz fr tṛdiśṇli “feṃnin” trets, sć az emṗʈi, soḷdaṛti n cmpaśn. Ɖ men in ćarj hv ćozn t prîoṛtîz ɖer pricerịs sns v manhd, rjctñ sạntific evidns, dployñ reṭric v vayḷns, wor n dviźn, n plesñ s ol in harm’z we.
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Robin Dembrof z asistnt pṛfesr v f’loṣfi at Yêl Yṇvrṣti
