George Washington once wrote: “The American people must feel before they act.” This is human nature; we tend not to care about something until we feel its impact on ourselves. Ebola has impacted West Africa since March, yet only recently has it become a topic of conversation in the U.S. because it appeared in America two weeks ago.
We have three options: chalk the issue up as fear mongering, fear monger and freak out, or have a serious discussion about Ebola. Our medical infrastructure and hygiene habits do not prevent 200,000 people from contracting influenza on an annual basis, so it seems that those are not enough to stop Ebola. But the fact that we are unable to stop Ebola does not indicate a sure epidemic. Freaking out is unnecessary and likely to be counterproductive. A serious discussion is in order.
What we claim to know about the disease, from our limited understanding of it, is that it is only transmitted through bodily fluids once the host demonstrates symptoms of the disease. Unfortunately, there is no known cure yet. There have been around 4,500 deaths reported in West Africa. It continues to spread through West Africa due to a lack of infrastructure, a general lack of hygiene, and no real control over the quarantine system. It is expected to get worse before it gets better.
Our government’s chosen response is two-pronged: first, attacking the disease at its source by sending American troops in to build infrastructure and establish order; and second, ensuring economic stability in West Africa so that the region does not simply dissolve into chaos.
But this approach is problematic. It is unclear that American forces will be able to fight Ebola effectively. Marines are trained to shoot bad guys, not fight diseases.
More important, we are allowing people to travel to and from West Africa freely, increasing the risk that the disease will come and spread here. The first Ebola death on American soil has occurred and American lives are hanging in quarantined suspense because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whether more people have been infected remains to be seen.
There has been little consideration of the health of the 3,000 Marines and even less consideration of the inherent risks associated with free travel between America and the heart of the outbreak. Our administration does not understand the fundamental role of American government: to protect the lives and liberty of the American people. Endangering the lives of the American people by allowing free travel for the sake of West Africa’s economy is a mistake. I understand the argument that we want to keep West Africa stable economically to better contain the situation, but there are better ways to contain the disease without needlessly endangering American lives.
We should stop air travel coming in from West Africa. We can transport resources and deliver aid without commercial airliners. We should be using troops to deliver resources and quarantine the infected region without inserting them into the midst of the outbreak. We need to address the problem at its source for the safety of Americans. The generosity of America allows us to send resources and allow volunteers to help poorer countries, but we should not allow people to come into America from West Africa.
It may be the case that this does not spread throughout the United States. Should that be so, it will not be on account of the American government protecting its people. Instead, I am concerned that we shall fail to destroy it and it shall continue to leak out to the rest of the world, cropping up across America as we race from one fire to the next, trying to put out the flames.
If George Washington was right, we will not act to contain the disease seriously until we feel the effects of outbreak. By then, it could be too late.
