Bill Maher: Why won’t blue states recognize that the pandemic is over? HotAir

I travel in every state now, back on the road, and the red states are a joy and the blue states are a pain in the ass. For no reason, he told his panelists, who included Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, on Friday. I wonder if the situation that s developing in New York City might steer more Dems around to Maher s position that they ve gone too far on COVID precautions. Firehouses are being shuttered there because the city can t convince a minority of firefighters to get vaxxed before today s mandate deadline. Desperate to make up that shortfall, they re now resorting to calling for volunteers from around the state to fill the gap.

via hotair.com

On the (far or hard?) Right the claim is, because the Democrats want to exploit pandemic fears to increase their power. I’m sympathetic to that view and I’m sure it’s true of AOC and the like. But many Democrats are genuinely afraid of the pandemic infecting them, their parents or their children. Hence the heat and fear around the issue of when the pandemic is over. I think the real issue is risk aversion. How much of a chance are you willing to take? I would bet that upper middle and upper class people are more risk averse than lower middle and lower class people. I’m even more sure that (and this may be the same point) lower and lower middle class people have higher discount rates than more upper class people, so are willing to discount the future more. I wonder if anyone has studied this.