Republicans used to laud ‘personal responsibility’. Not with Covid | David Litt

The Republican party is encouraging Americans to make objectively selfish, harmful choices - then using the tools of government to shield them from accountability

It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions," declared Ronald Reagan at the 1968 Republican National Convention.

By the time he became president 12 years later, this idea - that individuals can be trusted to act wisely and should be held accountable when they don't - was firmly entrenched in Republican rhetoric. Reagan even included personal responsibility" in his list of America's bedrock values, right up there with faith in God, honesty, and caring for others.