“The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.” - Princess LeiaAnd so it is with California and New York in comparison to Florida.
It seems that the tighter Gavin Newsom in California, Andrew Cuomo in New York, and Bill DeBlasio in New York City tighten their grip on their states/city in their efforts to ‘contain’ Covid-19 using methods – lockdowns and business restrictions/shutdowns - that have been proven not to stop the spread while spreading misery, physical, emotional, and economic, among their constituents, the more people, businesses, and municipalities are defying the edicts, refusing to bow down to their destructive mandates. These groups are “slipping through their fingers”. The more these tacit dictators throw at their constituents, the more those constituents proclaim “Oh hell no!”
Now look at Florida, a state where Ron DeSantis has done just the opposite, loosening the state’s grip and refusing to lock down his state or slap heavy limitations on businesses.
Some might think that as a result that Florida would be seeing Covid-19 cases and deaths in much higher numbers than New York (Florida has a bigger population than New York and a much higher percentage of Florida’s population are in the most vulnerable demographic – the elderly). But just the opposite is true. Then if you compare Florida to California the differences are even more striking, with Florida still showing much lower Covid-19 numbers than California, even on a per capita basis.
Another striking difference between New York, California, and Florida?
Both New York’s and California’s economies in trouble, businesses are closing or relocating, and so are the people living there. Florida’s economy, on the other hand, has recovered and seen a growth in both population and economic activity.
So which approach seems to be working on both a epidemiological and economic basis?
Hint: It isn’t the draconian lockdowns and heavy economic restrictions.