Xinhua News Agency, Washington, May 3. Question: The absence of helping “coronavirus orphans” highlights the falsehood of “American-style democracy”
Xinhua News Agency reporter Deng Xianlai Xu Yuan
According to US media reports, due to the impact of the new crown pandemic, about 200,000 children in the United States lost their parents or primary caregivers and unfortunately became “new crown orphans”. According to the latest statistics from the “Epidemic Orphans” project of Imperial College London, the number of “new crown orphans” in the United States has exceeded 240,000 at most. When such a large number of children are in urgent need of care and help, the U.S. government has a lack of management and responsibility, and “turns a blind eye” to the protection of children’s physical and mental health.
Children are vulnerable, they are in the initial stage of life and need more careful care from family, government and society, both physically and psychologically. It is not difficult to imagine that losing a close relative at a young age is a very heavy blow to children. Rachel Kidman, a social epidemiologist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, pointed out that the difficulties faced by “coronavirus orphans” deserve great attention. Talking is gone forever.”
Protecting children is the responsibility of all governments. UNICEF makes it clear that the actions or omissions of governments affect children more than any other organization in society. However, even though the number of “coronavirus orphans” in the United States has been so staggering, the US government, which has always talked about “democracy” and “human rights”, has not taken any practical measures to help children tide over the difficulties.
In a memorandum signed in early April to provide support for people long-affected by the new crown virus, US President Biden only mentioned “new crown orphans” briefly, and did not introduce any substantive policies at all. The US “Atlantic Monthly” quoted Mary Wall, senior policy adviser of the White House New Crown Epidemic Response Task Force and leader of the “new crown orphans” work, as saying that the Biden administration will not form a special team to help “new crown orphans”.
Reading through the memorandum is not difficult to find that the US government has no plans to provide necessary psychological guidance for “new crown orphans” – words related to “psychology” do not even appear in the relevant texts at all. Doesn’t the US government know that orphans are almost twice as likely to commit suicide as other children, and are at higher risk of substance abuse, dropping out of school and falling into poverty!
Facts have once again proved that the so-called “American-style democracy” simply cannot stand the test. When the people need help, the US government is weak and the US Congress is torn. Mary Wall said that today, the U.S. Congress cannot even reach a consensus on whether to continue to provide funds to ensure the supply of basic anti-epidemic materials such as new crown treatment, testing and vaccines, and helping “new crown orphans” is even more faced with funding problems.
However, when US interest groups find it profitable, the US government will become “active” and the US Congress can quickly become “united”. Look at how active the U.S. government has been in applying to Congress to provide assistance to Ukraine since the escalation of the current round of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and how efficient the U.S. Congress has been in approving the U.S. government’s related applications. Is it not clear enough what the so-called “American-style democracy” is?
The experience of the “new crown orphans” in the United States is very sympathetic. The U.S. government should earnestly fulfill its responsibility to protect and care for children, and take concrete actions to help these innocent children out of their predicament. The U.S. government should also reflect on its own merits. A government that does not even protect the normal rights and interests of its own children has the right to talk about democracy and human rights!
[Editor in charge: Yan Yujie]