This is the first in a series of blog entries that will be made for the purpose of highlighting the division within our country.
The ways in which our country is divided are numerous, with Americans holding fundamental disagreements over a multitude of issues and policies. Perhaps no issue has been more eye-opening in recent memory, however, than the gulf that has been exposed by the difference in approach between states in how they have handled the pandemic over the past couple years.
Take masking, for instance. While Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, signed legislation to limit the ability of school systems and businesses to impose mask mandates on their students and employees, the state government of California has continued to enforce just such a mandate among all of its residents—including, at this point, those who have been fully vaccinated.
The differences perhaps get even more extreme if we move outside those two states. While some states, like South Dakota, Tennessee, and Missouri, never issued a mask mandate at the state level, others, such as Illinois, Oregon, and Washington, began enforcing mask-wearing even for those who were fully vaxxed before the recent omicron wave arrived (this has since become more common). Washington state even has an outdoor mask mandate, for situations involving crowds of 500 or more.
The approach towards lockdowns was decidedly different between states, as well. Florida, for example, initially locked down with the rest of the country in March of 2020, but lifted most of the limitations on its residents on September 25, with governor DeSantis resisting reimposing restrictions on businesses and other public facilities in the year-plus since. Meanwhile, California’s lockdowns, while being relaxed and retightened to varying degrees over the course of the pandemic, were not completely done away with until mid-way through 2021 — June 15, to be precise — and then only as a result of the proliferation of the vaccines.
Speaking of which, the approach toward vaccinations — and, more specifically, the handling of the unvaccinated — has varied consistently on the ground as well. While many cities, especially in blue states, have instituted “vaccine passports” (i.e. required proof of vaccination) for entry to many public venues, other cities in more conservative parts of the country have no such restrictions in place.
To be clear: the point here is not which approach has worked out better. What matters here, rather, is how the fact of how different the approaches have been, in and of itself.
There are many other areas where similar differences are visible. They will be covered here soon. In the meantime, we invite our readers to contemplate how America is to try and stick together as a country in the face of such differences.