Opinion: The pandemic worsened political polarization in the USA

Why did the pandemic, Covid-19, give rise to further polarization between the two political parties in the United States of America? The pandemic was not the cause of our division but rather it worsened it.

Some thought that the pandemic would bring us, Democrats and Republicans, closer together and we would essentially unite to fight off the common enemy but instead it brought us farther apart. Michael Macy, a professor at Cornell, stated, “Instead of uniting against a common threat, the threat itself becomes yet another polarizing issue.”

Due to the already heated environment of Donald Trump being the president of the United States of America, it became even easier for the two sides to take out their anger and uncertainty on one another.

Republicans became titled as selfish since they were mostly against the vaccine, mask mandates, and lockdowns while Democrats became titled as great advocates of the vaccine, mask mandates and lockdowns. An issue that should not have been political, once again, unsurprisingly, became political.

Our disancing imposed a large amount of unhappiness, loneliness, and misery on us and as a result we took our emotions out on each other. As we lost jobs, lost homes, and lost loved ones we took out our emotions on each other.

In addition, Anthony S. Fauci, who is deemed as far left, took charge of the health crisis in the United States of America, and mandated several stringent rules regarding the pandemic. Since a democrat was in charge, the republicans began to distrust him and everything he stood for.

For example, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent out emails warning that Fauci will turn “our communities” into “Faucian dystopias in which people’s freedoms are curtailed and their livelihoods destroyed.” Republican representative of Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene, introduced a bill to have Fauci fired, claiming that he is brainwashing our society.

You can rarely tune in to a conservative media outlet before someone starts complaining about Fauci. This is not because, as some liberals say, “republicans hate science,” but rather because of their personal hatred for Fauci. They do not believe in mask mandates, quarantining, closing schools, vaccines, etc., because Anthony S. Fauci is the one advocating for these.

Overall, the political incentives today compel politicians to make every national issue something that further pushes American citizens to one political party or the other. Since the Covid-19 pandemic was at the forefront of our society the past two years, it became the forefront of political campaigns as well.

When Joe Biden was running he claimed he would end the pandemic and ensure that everyone had equal access to the vaccine. This was a political incentive for people of all parties to vote for him. And let me tell you… it worked.

The pandemic should not be a political issue and should not be further polarizing us as a people, but it is. I do think schools should have been open everywhere and in person since Fall 2020. I do think mask mandates should have gone away once people were vaccinated, especially outdoors. I do think that all businesses should have had the right to remain open since the beginning of the pandemic. I do think that vaccination against Covid-19 should have been everyone’s personal choice.

But again, because of these opinions I, like many others, was deemed selfish, or a radical republican, which is not necessarily true of myself. I lost friends over this pandemic when I needed them the most, because it became a political issue. This is not a political issue but rather a global health issue. When we needed each other most, when we needed to become closer together, as an American people, we became further and further apart.