Was Trump justified to try to buy the rights to a COVID-19 vaccine?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: Was Trump justified to try to buy the rights to a COVID-19 vaccine?
Position‹4 of 4: There are sinister implications to this failed sale
Argument‹2 of 2: There are eugenicist implications

Wanting to save just Americans, and leave other countries to suffer, incurring millions of avoidable foreign deaths? This action smacked troublingly of a 'master race' vision for the future.

The argument

Similar to the way in which some pharmaceutical companies may push the price for drugs that are in high demand to astronomically lofty prices to promote exclusivity, by allowing only Americans to have access to a COVID-19 vaccine the preventable deaths of countless innocent will be incurred; specifically, those of low socioeconomic statuses like minorities, the disabled, and the elderly. The idea that Americans alone will be saved has eugenic implications on its own as it suggests that the life of an American is somehow more valuable. However, it is extremely poignant when looking to the groups that will be most affected within both the United States and countries outside of the US. That is to say, these groups (minorities, the disabled, and the elderly) have experienced deep ties to eugenic policies long before as well as long after the rise of the Nazis. For example, in looking to the COVID-19 pandemic alone, conversations are not free from statements explaining that a now-deceased individual had a preexisting condition/disability, or that they were elderly. By implying that the death of an individual is somehow less emotionally impactful due to the aforementioned reasons also suggests that such persons are expendable during this pandemic as they hold less value to society— a clear eugenicist idea that is reflected in disabled individuals being denied ventilators in favor of able-bodied persons within the United States. All of which is playing into an effort to develop a 'master race.'

Premises

[P1]Restricting a COVID-19 vaccine to Americans alone would cause preventable deaths abroad, disproportionately among minorities, the disabled, and the elderly — groups historically targeted by eugenic policies. [P2] Treating American lives as uniquely worth saving implies that other lives are less valuable, mirroring the same logic that already devalues the disabled and elderly during the pandemic. [P3] Policies premised on the differential worth of human lives are eugenicist in character and contribute to efforts to engineer a 'master race.' [C] Therefore, Trump's attempt to buy exclusive vaccine rights for Americans carries sinister, eugenicist implications.

Counter-arguments

There are no eugenic implications in regards to Trump attempting to buy the rights to a COVID-19 vaccine, instead, the situation is far too over analyzed. For starters, the eugenic ideology entails that President Trump, and in turn, the American people believe that they are superior to other nations, and are actively attempting to purge the world of international populations. However, that is not the case. Instead, Trump is simply looking to put the American people first, a sentiment that all citizens should hold their own leaders too. Thus, this does not translate into a vision of a 'master race.' It is just an example of a good world leader.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Exclusive access by nationality is a policy of national preference, objectionable on grounds of global equity without being eugenic. Eugenics concerns deliberate selection over who reproduces and which inherited traits persist, and preferential distribution by citizenship is a different thing. [Rejecting P2] Two separate matters are run together: an attempt to secure early supply for one country, and clinical triage decisions taken under scarcity. The second raises serious questions about disability discrimination in its own right, but it was not a consequence of the attempted purchase. [Rejecting P3] A 'master race' requires an intention the premises never evidence. Governments across the world competed for early doses and signed advance purchase agreements; describing that as an engineering project reads a motive into procurement that is criticisable on other grounds entirely.