Frances Lee & Stephen Macedo on Why Institutions Failed During COVID

In this book, Jonathan Haidt draws on twenty-five years of research on moral psychology to explain why people's moral judgments are driven by intuition rather than reason. He introduces the Moral Foundations Theory, which posits that human morality is based on six foundations: care/harm, fairness/cheating, loyalty/betrayal, authority/subversion, sanctity/degradation, and liberty/oppression. Haidt argues that liberals tend to focus on the care/harm and fairness/cheating foundations, while conservatives draw on all six. The book also explores how morality binds and blinds people, leading to social cohesion but also to conflicts. Haidt aims to promote understanding and civility by highlighting the commonalities and differences in moral intuitions across political spectra.

Frances Lee and Stephen Macedo's "In COVID's Wake, How Our Politics Failed Us" provides a comprehensive analysis of the political and societal responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The book examines the initial pandemic plans, the influence of the Wuhan lockdown, and the resulting policy decisions. It highlights the disproportionate impact on essential workers and less-privileged families, as well as the politicization of scientific discourse. The authors emphasize the need to uphold democratic values like tolerance and respect for evidence in future crises. Ultimately, the book serves as a critical examination of the pandemic response and offers valuable insights for future crisis management.

An Abundance of Caution is a searing indictment of the American public health, media, and political establishments' decision-making process behind pandemic school closures. It provides a rigorous and incisive account of one of the worst American policy failures in a century, focusing on the impact of extended school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.