WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Richard Lipsitz is President of the Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation (WNYALF), whose Regional Labor Federation’s 140 affiliated Local Unions combine to represent 145,000 Union Workers in the Public and Private Sectors and the Building Trades.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has been raging for over five months in the U.S.

It is a pandemic that has reached every corner of the world.

The U.S. has been hit hard, recording nearly 25% of the world’s cases - despite only representing about 3.5% of its population.

The death rate for the disease here is third highest in the world.

In the U.S., certain states followed the advice of scientists and medical professionals in the field and were able to flatten the percentage of cases and deaths - because they issued stay at home orders for all but those deemed as Essential Workers, and required masks for moving about in public.

In addition, the reopening of the social and economic life was done slowly - and with great caution.

Other states did not do so and now are the center of the intensification of the epidemic.

From the very beginning, the response of the Trump Administration has been a combination of impatience and denial.

Its response has resulted in a downturn of the economy at a higher rate than any society in the world.

So now, we are on the precipice of a depression without having a clear path out of the expansion of the disease.

How is it we find ourselves in such an awful situation?

Looking back, n 1978, an incident took place on Guyana, South America.

A communal society had been established by a religious minister from Northern California, the Reverend Jim Jones, called Jonestown.

The group based its existence on the infallible and unerring leadership of Jim Jones.

It sought refuge in the jungles of South America.

It was a personality cult which fooled almost 1,000 people that a “heaven on earth” could be created by following the teachings of Jones.

On November 18th, 1978, almost the entire population of Jonestown committed suicide at the order of Jones.

Many of those who died were infants, children and the elderly.

The population drank a toxic mix of Flavor Aid (a cheaper brand name than Kool-Aid), cyanide and valium - which produced agonizing death within 30 minutes.

From this the term, “drinking the Kool-Aid” was coined.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic in our country, the chief denier of the deadly nature of the disease has been and continues to be Donald Trump, the President of the United States.

At various times, he has minimized, underplayed and outright denied the existence of the disease.

He has proposed phony therapeutics like hydroxychloroquine (an anti-malarial drug) and the injection of disinfectant into human beings as a cure.

And he has asked that testing for COVID-19 be curtailed or stopped.

Finally, he has sought to blame others, including President Obama for the spread of the problem.

He has pushed a reckless plan to reopen the economy and is now in the midst of forcing the reopening of schools - whether they are ready or not.

With each development of the COVID-19 crisis, the Trump Administration is proving it only cares about one thing: The making of money for the richest 1%.

And the health and livelihood of the rest of us be damned!

These are the actions of a snake oil salesman, a cult leader who is increasingly isolated and caught in a web of deceit.

His deceit is aimed at confusing the masses of the American People and imposing on them a false narrative and a warped consciousness.  

His end goal is to hold power and somehow survive Election Day on November 3rd, 2020.

For the masses of the American People, the prospects of another four years of Trump will result in a terrible folly.

Another Trump Administration would codify the same type of personality cult that lead to the phrase - “drinking the Kool-Aid.”

His administration is leading our country and the world on a path of hunger, extreme authoritarianism and war.

His is the path where science and international cooperation are things to be ignored and destroyed.

We must not rest until he is out of power.  

Let us work together to establish science, international cooperation and peace as the driving force behind the programs of our government.

Let us unite to work for the resounding defeat of Trump and all his enablers on November 3rd.