In the study of economics, the term “rational actor” and rational choice theory both rely on the idea of an individual making an informed cost-benefit analysis based on objective, material reality. The idea is ubiquitous not only in economics, but in criminology, and it has migrated into the public imagination as a near-universal truth.
The problem is, rational actors are a myth.
The larger problem is that the people at the CDC don’t seem to know this, or at the very least are pretending that they don’t.
The entire fields of advertising and public relations are constructed around the manipulation of people, (usually by appealing to strong feelings) the timely presentation of cherry-picked facts, and obfuscation of the information needed to make rational choices. Politicians have learned these maneuvers as well, and have made damn effective use of them.
The changes the CDC have implemented will no doubt support gains on Wall Street, but designing policy around the assumption of rational actions would be unforgivably naive, even had we not benefited from the data on human behavior in the pandemic thus far. People panic, they hoard, they lie and obfuscate, and they don’t follow best practices.
A policy that allows for corporations to demand that their vaccine-boosted employers need only quarantine for 5 days following a positive test and instead simply return to work without a negative test, and relying on an individual wearing a mask to protect others (something people have been and continue to be terrible at) is going to kill and cripple an insane amount of people. It also allows employers much greater leverage in forcing sick people to return to work against their own better judgment. It is worth noting that even vax-boosted healthcare workers are advised by the CDC to obtain two negative tests at least 72 hours apart if they have even potentially been exposed, and, if any infection is present, to completely isolate at home for the full 10 days (7 days, if asymptomatic and testing negative).
There have been resounding lamentations regarding the politicization of public health, and much of the uproar has been directed at right-wing politicians pandering to rabid anti-vax/anti-mask/anti-mandate types, (and justly so) but we need to remember that neoliberal centrists, like those steering the Biden administration, are also more than happy to let their need for higher approval numbers and the perceived “strength of the economy” override the concerns of experts and best practices for public health. Their hands are not clean, either.
My initial Substack publication dealt specifically with Kevin McCarthy, and it’s easy enough to go after comically corrupt toadies like him, but altogether too many people seem willing to give “their side” a pass.
Centrist neoliberals are putting their own chances of reelection ahead of public health, and many people are getting sick, and many are still dying.
Establishment Democrats ignored vaccine apartheid, and even exacerbated it, and they did so over loud and compelling protestations by the experts, and now we have Omicron.
Both sides of the political spectrum in America (or the ones with access to power, at least) will always owe their allegiance to the donor class, and will prioritize keeping employers and markets happy and stable, no matter how many bodies pile up.
(Follow my thoughts and experiences regarding Long COVID recovery in my SubStack email newsletter: https://substack.com/profile/58917637-sean-vansickel?utm_source=user-menu)
