Delta Straussians Know How to Live with Covid

As the delta variants spread, and as the number of vaccinations continues to rise, a new Covid stance is evolving: Namely, we should not look too closely at the new situation for fear of being spooked by high case numbers.

There is the hyper-careful view found in “blue” locales such as San Francisco, there is Covid denialism (most prominent in the South), and now a third attitudinal alternative is emerging — what I call delta Straussianism, after the 20th-century political theorist Leo Strauss. Invoking Plato’s idea of the “noble lie,” Strauss had argued more broadly that polities could not look all social truths squarely in the eye: The “noble lie” in this instance is that it is better not to obsess too much over case numbers. Proponents of this attitude — let’s call them delta Straussians — simply proceed with their lives and business and hope for the best.