Is it ever okay to wish someone harm? Is it ever okay to wish death on someone? These questions are being asked by many in the wake of the president’s recent COVID-19 diagnosis.
Let me be clear. Though I genuinely hate him and all of the others around him who have been infected, I don’t wish death on anyone. I’m a firm believer in karmic retribution and wouldn’t want my death wish to boomerang and bite me in the ass.
That said, I wouldn’t mind seeing them ALL get sick enough to need ventilator help. U.K. Prime minister Boris Johnson dramatically changed his tune about the Coronavirus after nearly succumbing to it. Maybe that would do the same for our republican leadership and, hopefully, bring about a better federal response to a pandemic that has now killed over a million people worldwide.
However, it’s a different story on social media where many immediately wished him the worst when his diagnosis went public. It was so prevalent that Twitter had to post a warning on their site:
Even if I don’t agree with these postings, it does beg the question of whether it’s ever appropriate to wish death on someone – in this case our ‘head of state’ – because of their past reprehensible actions.
Osama Bin Laden. Saddam Hussein. Muammar Gaddafi. Nicolae Ceaușescu. Did these men all deserve to die? If so, what’s the metric used to make that determination? Is it the number of deaths attributed to their actions? Is it the effect of their authoritarianism and the misery it gave to their people?
Bin Laden’s World Trade Center attack caused the deaths of almost 3,000 individuals and injured 6,000 others. However, he was also responsible for thousands of other terrorism-related deaths. Is that the measure?
Hussein and Gaddafi were brutal authoritarians who were responsible for the deaths of many countrymen. Both also met brutal ends at the hands of those they had mercilessly ruled. Is brutality towards one’s citizenry the measure of ‘deserving death’?
Ceaușescu’s regime in Romania was a regime marked by repression, human rights abuses, shortages, rationing of necessities, and severe censorship. His downfall accelerated after he ordered the military to fire on anti-government demonstrators. He was ousted in the ensuing Romanian revolution, executed along with his wife after being tried and convicted. Did he warrant death?
To suggest that trump belongs in this same category suggests he has caused, by his actions (or calloused indifference) a level of death and misery that warrants inclusion. Unfortunately for him, there’s ample evidence to support this.
Remember when Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico with over $90B in damages and 3,000 dead? Remember the president’s response to their pleas for help? He tossed out rolls of paper towels during a press visit, had media fights with the Puerto Rican Governor and several mayors, and withheld aid until releasing within the past month as an election-year ploy.
Remember when trump withdrew troops from Syria (to the delight of Putin and Erdogan) even after his advisors warned that it would put our Kurdish allies at risk? He did it anyway, and the Kurds were targeted for death.
How about the timeline of denials about a pandemic virus that our administration was warned about in December? The continual assertions that it was under control or would go away? The denial of responsibility for a Federal response? The cessation of a plan to contain the virus when they thought it would only hit blue states the hardest? The denial of supplies to states because the governor didn’t treat him as nicely as he felt they should have? He did ALL of these things, and more, even as the death toll has surpassed 200,000.
I don’t mention these past actions as proof that he deserves the avalanche of COVID-19 death wishes that he’s received. But it’s understandable when, through his actions (or lack thereof), he’s contributed directly to the deaths of so many.
Will trump die from COVID-19? That remains to be seen. Should he die? Does he deserve to die? Though he’s certainly an awful human being, that’s not for me or anyone else to decide. But that’s just my opinion.
Feel free to wish him death as you so choose. But do so at your own karmic peril.
Normally I would not wish for someone else’s demise, no matter how reprehensible a person. HOWEVER
These are different times. He has changed each of us, I dare say none for the better.
There is so much death, so much wrongdoing, so much irreversible decimation of our planet with him at the helm.
I like to see karma in action, not hoping/expecting for it to be meted out in the future.
My preference is that he goes away. After that, whatever happens to him – I’m good.
That also goes for the current senate majority leader.