# "Liberal/Leftist/Progressive" causes that might be in trouble thanks to COVID-19 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 10, 2020, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-leftist-progressive-causes-that-might-be-in-trouble-thanks-to-covid-19/851525 "2020-04-10T20:31:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-leftist-progressive-causes-that-might-be-in-trouble-thanks-to-covid-19/851525/21 "2020-04-11T22:04:21Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > I fear we’ll sea a global rise of authoritarian regimes imposing rigid social controls - mandatory tracking of all residents, checkpoints at internal borders, suppression of dissidents, rule by decree, _bracero_-type immigrant worker programs, ubiquitous surveillance, et fucking cetera. We’ve seen it before. We’ll see it again. Not just that, but communicable pathogens cause psychological changes in people that make them more prone to accepting authoritarian rule. People become withdrawn, paranoid, hateful of outsiders, stronger levels of disgust, etc. when exposed to pathogens as an evolutionary form of germ theory that make them more accepting of authoritarian regimes. > **[Pathogens and Politics: Further Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts...](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3641067/)** > > According to a "parasite stress" hypothesis, authoritarian governments are more likely to emerge in regions characterized by a high prevalence of disease-causing pathogens. Recent cross-national evidence is consistent with this hypothesis, but there... Plus when political leaders have an internal or external enemy to rally around, the leader becomes more popular. George HW Bushs approval rating skyrocketed to near 90% during the first gulf war. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-leftist-progressive-causes-that-might-be-in-trouble-thanks-to-covid-19/851525/22 "2020-04-11T22:20:59Z")
And that shows how pathetic Trump is. His polls did only increase about 5% and reached about 50% of approval 2 weeks ago, and now his popularity is going down to the usual 44% approval and 51% disapproval in the last polls. > **[How Popular Is Donald Trump?](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/?cid=rrpromo)** > > FiveThirtyEight is tracking Donald Trump’s approval ratings throughout his presidency. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-leftist-progressive-causes-that-might-be-in-trouble-thanks-to-covid-19/851525/23 "2020-04-11T23:01:09Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > And that shows how pathetic Trump is. > > His polls did only increase about 5% and reached about 50% of approval 2 weeks ago, and now his popularity is going down to the usual 44% approval and 51% disapproval in the last polls. > > [How Popular Is Donald Trump? | FiveThirtyEight](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/?cid=rrpromo) And real hardship is not yet widespread. He can’t bullshit his way out of this problem. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-leftist-progressive-causes-that-might-be-in-trouble-thanks-to-covid-19/851525/24 "2020-04-12T03:12:08Z")
I wonder if most Americans actually see Trump as authoritarian? Or do Conservatives think of Democrats as the authoritarian party? ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-leftist-progressive-causes-that-might-be-in-trouble-thanks-to-covid-19/851525/25 "2020-04-12T05:14:37Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Liberal/Leftist/Progressive" causes that might be in trouble thanks to COVID-19 … What other holes will Republicans use to shoot holes in pet Democrat causes because of this mess To me, the most obvious one is the fact that leftists push affirmative action and other efforts based on the assumption that various institutions should be “diverse”, as opposed to granting entrance based solely on merit. [They do this in medicine](https://quillette.com/2020/04/11/declining-med-school-standards-in-a-time-of-pandemic/) as well as every other field. The COVID-19 pandemic has given a rude reminder why we sometimes want only the best people doing a particular job, rather than a group chosen entirely or partially to be “diverse”. Everybody wants a vaccine. Nobody seems to much care whether the vaccine is invented by a rich white man or a disabled Latina transwoman. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-leftist-progressive-causes-that-might-be-in-trouble-thanks-to-covid-19/851525/26 "2020-04-13T17:22:41Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > To me, the most obvious one is the fact that leftists push affirmative action and other efforts based on the assumption that various institutions should be “diverse”, as opposed to granting entrance based solely on merit. [They do this in medicine](https://quillette.com/2020/04/11/declining-med-school-standards-in-a-time-of-pandemic/) as well as every other field. The COVID-19 pandemic has given a rude reminder why we sometimes want only the best people doing a particular job, rather than a group chosen entirely or partially to be “diverse”. Everybody wants a vaccine. Nobody seems to much care whether the vaccine is invented by a rich white man or a disabled Latina transwoman. Has there been some evidence that the unlike their white collegues health workers of color are somehow not up to the job in this pandemic or that a white invented vaccine is being suppressed in favor of one invented by a disabled Latina transwoman. If not I’m going to dismiss this as racist BS. If there is anything that is hurting our response to this virus it is one very prominent rich white (well orange actually) guy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-leftist-progressive-causes-that-might-be-in-trouble-thanks-to-covid-19/851525.md?page=1)