Restarting economy isn’t an either/or

In March, in response to President Trump’s desire to get the economy moving again, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo tweeted that elderly people are “not expendable.”

I’m glad the governor reminded me. I was seriously considering calling mom and workshopping a few scenarios.

“Anyhow, we really need to get this economy going so what do you say you take one for the team?”

I’m trying to figure out why not wanting to see people lose their livelihoods, homes and businesses is the equivalent of giving my mother — or anyone else’s mother for that matter — the Fredo treatment.

The question of reopening is now being demagogued into submission. The argument goes something like this: If you want to get back to work now, the illnesses and deaths of all future COVID-19 victims are on your hands. It’s a matter of “public health versus the economy,” as Cuomo continues to repeat like a mantra.

It’s simplistic to say, as many politicians and pundits have, that reopening sooner rather than later means that more people will get sick and more people will die. That’s almost certainly true. Without a vaccine or any real treatment options in the short term, we can’t keep everyone 100 percent safe. But that’s not only a reality in a COVID-19 world, it’s a reality of life in general. That doesn’t mean I want people to needlessly perish.

The economic damage to the country is already overwhelming — 15% unemployment, the highest level since the Great Depression, with some 33.5 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits in the last seven weeks. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has already said unemployment will get worse before it gets better. Are you willing to concede to 30% unemployment? How about another depression? The physical and mental health ramifications of such a catastrophe are incalculable.

Our elected officials and medical experts need to find the acceptable middle ground, for the sake of our mothers and everyone else.