Our Biases Undermine Our Patriotism: Why America's Response to COVID-19 is Failing
By: Caroline Jung
COVID-19 cases are rising. Fast. Exponentially. And yet, there are still people who don’t wear masks, go to “COVID-19 parties”, and believe the whole thing is a hoax. There is still pushback despite multiple scientific explanations and health experts telling people to stay home. And though some do wear masks and socially distance, I’ve seen plenty of my friends go to the beach to know that there are varying levels of caution everyone is practicing. Point blank, the virus isn’t taken as seriously as it should be right now. Why? Because everyone has bias. Yes, everyone. And it’s undermining our patriotism.
Bias now has a negative connotation attached; people think that if someone or a news source is biased, then they must be telling lies, can’t think straight, and it’s all part of an agenda from the opposing side. This happening is a slim chance but having cognitive bias is inherently human. Simply put, biases come from mental shortcuts, or heuristics, that we take when making decisions. It’s not necessarily bad—we have adapted to reach decisions quickly in dangerous situations or with information overload. What we’ve been exposed to—our hometown, classmates, teachers, books, movies, tv shows—and what we identify as make up our thoughts. To understand individual biases, we need to understand the context of someone’s life. However, bias can be consequential, like it is for the current pandemic.
Optimism bias is hurting us. It’s when people believe they’re less likely to experience misfortune than others. We sympathize with COVID patients and some of us socially distance, but deep down, we still feel exempt from the virus. I feel it. Everyone feels it. This way of thinking makes us feel good, safe. We don’t want to imagine ourselves sick, our families sick, nor want to manifest it. But this overpowers the safety of others. Because of this belief, some people won’t wear a mask and spread the virus. They won’t take it seriously until they have a personal connection to it when it’s too late. We cannot let this happen.
Confirmation bias happens when people favor information that confirms their beliefs and discredits the ones that don’t. People don’t like to be wrong or to be blamed. With this bias, the main goal is defending their beliefs regardless of doubt. I think a lot of us have felt this before. For example, when I was younger and disagreed with my mom, I would fight my side even when I found flaws in my logic and she had valid points because I had already invested into “winning” and couldn’t bear to lose. We like being right. It’s hard to let go of our beliefs and admit wrong, especially when we’ve defended it for so long. Instead, it’s easier to blame others. This is where self-serving bias plays in. It’s when people blame external factors for bad things happening and applauding themselves when good things happen. They can’t accept being wrong so they instead turn to someone else for the blame.
One of the places I see these biases play out the most in the COVID-19 pandemic is with President Trump’s and his supporters’ words and actions. There are far too many people claiming that it’s an overhyped flu, that masks don’t work, and it’s not a big deal when multiple doctors have stressed the urgency of the situation and multiple studies have proved masks work. Recently, President Trump posted a picture of him wearing a mask with the caption that it is patriotic to wear a face mask on social media. The past months, he refused to wear a mask, criticized former Vice President Joe Biden for wearing one, and downplayed the seriousness of the virus. Logically, his words don’t match up—why is wearing a mask now patriotic when it wasn’t before?
To answer that question, there is no good reason. For the confused folks, that logical fallacy has everything to do with bias. Trump is well aware masks work, but because he pushed the narrative that wearing a mask did nothing and invested so much of his efforts to support that narrative, he couldn’t admit wrong. Why would he? Admitting wrong would make him lose supporters. So no, his approach was changing the narrative that wearing a mask was patriotic and he was one of the most patriotic people without claiming that he had made a mistake.
Another example is the repeated blame to China and Trump’s belief that he is doing a great job in the US. Though COVID-19 originated in China, he references the “China virus” and the “kung flu”, phrases that hurt the Asian American community. He doesn’t acknowledge his failings of the handling of the virus on his side. As president, he had great control over America’s response and he only speaks about what he believes he did well. It’s important to highlight the wrongs. For example, he claimed it was “under control” when it wasn’t, did not prepare when briefed earlier about the virus back in 2019, opposed lockdowns and wanted reopenings too soon, and opposed health experts including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert. In a way, it seems Trump has no choice but to say he’s doing a great job. It seems like it’s the only way to keep his support. If his supporters hear him point out flaws in the US system under his presidency, the presidency they believe to be best, they’ll believe he turned his back on America.
The wrongs are never fixed if they are never acknowledged. It only hinders improvement and patriotism. Patriotism is support and devotion to one’s country. Patriotism is wanting the best for the US, improvement, and a country that breathes the principles that America was founded on—equality, freedom, and care for its citizens. Highlighting failures is the first step to improvement. Highlighting failures is not betrayal for one’s country, it’s patriotism for one’s country. I would even argue that being blind to flaws and not fixing them is true betrayal. You can only claim to be doing a good job if you try all methods of improvement, especially the hard ones.
Optimism, confirmation, and self-serving bias, is undermining our patriotism. It’s time to let go of our biases, to listen, to admit wrong, and to change, because it’s never late. It’s never late to try our best to improve America. It’s never too late to be patriotic. This is what patriotism is all about.
References: