Open Sesame me me
How ready are Americans for things to return to normal?
How accurate was your prediction?
What story does the data tell?
How have the survey numbers changed over time?
Explain why these numbers have changed?
What is one consequence of these changing numbers?
As the death toll from COVID-19 continues to grow, how do you think these numbers will change?
Did you know that 37% of statistics are made up on the spot!?!?
20% of Americans say that once government restrictions on social contact are lifted, they would immediately return to normal activities. The rest of Americans say they would NOT immediately return to normal activities. How do you think these two groups are demographically different?*
Once government restrictions on social contact are lifted and business and schools start to reopen, how quickly do you think you would return to your normal activities?
Let’s say that the governor of your state said, “Okay, Trump tweeted that our state should be liberated, we are going to reopen all schools tomorrow.” Explain whether you would go to school tomorrow.
What do you think most of your classmates would do?
What do you miss most about school being closed?
Describe how school reopening tomorrow would impact public health.
What do you personally think America needs to do before we can get back to normal?
Donald Trump has recently tweeted that American states like Michigan should be “LIBERATED”. While many Americans do want things to go back to normal, if America was “liberated” and things opened back up like normal, do you believe that most Americans would go about their business as usual?
What most surprised you about the results of this survey?
Are you more of an American or an American’t?
If you were the president of the United States (but you’re not 35) and you were considering reopening the country, how much would you listen to public opinion and how much would you listen to health experts?
If you were the president of the United States (but you aren’t) and you were considering reopening the country, describe how these survey results might impact your decision.
If you were the president of the United States (would you want to be?) and you were considering reopening the country, what would you do right now?
If you were the president of the United States (you’d look very presidential in those clothes) and you were wanted to “reopen” the country right now. Explain whether the Article II powers you have would make this actually happen.
What has the coronavirus pandemic taught us about federalism?
What has the coronavirus pandemic taught us about the powers of the president?
Presidents and Governors can say all they want but when do you think most Americans will really feel okay about getting back to normal?
I would argue that the coronavirus pandemic is our biggest test since at least WWII. How do you imagine history will judge our government’s response to the coronavirus?
Can you imagine a world without hypotheticals?
My friend Hubert loves to quote Oliver Wendel Holmes, “your right to swing your fist ends where someone else’s nose begins.” (BTW: other people attribute this to John Stuart Mill, others still to Abraham freakin’ Lincoln). When people violate social distancing restrictions are they hitting someone else’s nose?
When you violate social distancing restrictions by protesting social distancing restrictions are you are more like the civil rights legend Rosa Parks or are you more just a danger to the public?
What would the following ideologies probably say about reopening society:
Liberals
Conservatives
Libertarians
