Politics, opinions, individualism shouldn’t matter in times of national crisis. Over and over we are told that we are in this together, heck, our national motto is, “E Plurubus Unum” or “Out of Many One”.

Despite that heartwarming sentiment,governors in some southern states evidently feel their economies are somehow more valuable and their residents are more valuable than the rest of the country’s.

It’s incredibly selfish for these governors to try to get on the president’s good side and don’t want their state budgets to hurt, at what cost? For context, the United States was supposed to have 60,000 deaths by August and we now have exceeded that number and it’s not even May. There can be no shred of doubt that the decisions of states like Florida, Georgia and Texas are going to kill potentially tens of thousands more Americans than perhaps otherwise would have.

For a country that prides itself so much on individual freedoms, is robbing another person the right to a long healthy life because one can’t sit tight for two months like the rest of the country? What happens when these people travel around the country?

When we say we are in this together, we need to mean it. The economic consequences of this virus are vast and frankly difficult to comprehend. The human toll could be catastrophic, more than it already is. We need to unite as one, and not just talk a big game. Let’s take care of our first responders, follow the guidance from scientists and beat this virus, together, really together.