by Tom Kando
The world is going through one crisis - the pandemic.
America is going through three: the pandemic, Black Lives Matter and Donald Trump.
I come across a lot of negativity about America’s response, both from a domestic and from an overseas perspective:
We are the pandemic’s epicenter. The number of American Covid-19 patients is approaching a staggering two and a half million, and it continues to increase by twenty to thirty thousand PER DAY. Meanwhile, most other major nations - in Europe, Asia, New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere - have turned the corner, their case numbers declining rapidly. All the same, the US is eagerly re-opening its economy and holding mass rallies, come what may. When I drive somewhere in the city, NOT ONE in twenty pedestrians I see in the streets wears a mask.
No wonder that some overseas observers are saying that “America has given up.” This was the title of a recent Atlantic article, as well as the words of the prime minister of New Zealand.
One thing I find little of, is any sort of compassion for this country.
I get e-mails and articles from Europe analyzing and ridiculing America, its politics and its response to the crisis. These are commentaries by friends, intellectuals, newspaper pundits in places like the UK, Holland and France. They are the familiar diatribes about this country’s imbecility and decline.
When Italy was the epicenter of the Covid-19 epidemic, we saw loving videos on YouTube about those marvelous Italians singing Hallelujah on their balconies in Milano, eulogizing the thousands of tragic deaths. Viewers were all teary-eyed, feeling nothing but compassion and love for that beautiful country, those beautiful Italian people...
One fourth of the world’s Covid-19 victims are Americans - over 120,000 dead so far, probably 300,000 by the end of the year. In ONE YEAR, as many Americans will have died from this disease as all American deaths in World War Two.
European editorialists pontificate about those American idiots who are incapable of solving their problems, be it public health, race relations, law enforcement or economic inequality. The insinuation is clear: our country deserves its misery (it’s a racist country, anyway).
This Schadenfreude occurs despite the fact that a disproportionate number of the dying are people of color and poor people. Neither does it matter to these critics that millions of Americans are marching, sacrificing their health and safety for social and racial progress and in opposition to Donald Trump.
So I ask you again: Where is the compassion, or even the simple civility of deploring the massive suffering of the American PEOPLE at this time? Are Americans less deserving of sympathy than Italians, or Germans, or Brazilians? Do New Yorkers (nearly half a million victims so far, over 30,000 dead) deserve to die more than Romans?
I see no editorials in American newspapers writing about those “imbecile Swedes” who are pursuing a different anti-virus strategy - aiming to reach herd immunity as rapidly as possible - and dying at a slightly higher rate than most other countries.
People need to understand that America does NOT = Trump. That Trump was elected by a MINORITY of Americans.
* * * * * * *
The world - including America - will come out of this and recover. America will overcome the corona virus, and it will return to a normal and decent presidency. Most governments in the US - at the state, city and local levels - are already “normal and decent.”
But sadly, we will also remember the widespread callousness an indifference, not to mention the thinly veiled Schadenfreude expressed at this time by some people overseas with regard to America’s plight.
Every time this country has faced huge challenges, it has surmounted them - in the end often brilliantly.
Winston Churchill (it is said) quipped that “Americans will always end up doing the right thing, after exhausting all the alternatives.” Witty.
The truthful part of this statement is that the aftermath of every tragedy befalling this country has not only been recovery, but often spectacular progress... So it was after the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Great Depression, World Wars One and Two, Vietnam, 9-11 and more.
Each time, America first bungled and fumbled. The country and its regime were caught with their pants down. Blind sided. This was usually followed by a series of defeats, blunders, confusion. Then, slowly, the country pulled together, mobilized its enormous talent, energy, courage and optimism. In the end, it triumphed over misfortune and whatever enemy it faced.
The American Revolution began as a losing proposition. The odds in favor of George Washington’s ragtag army were not good. Smart money was on the mighty British Empire.
Similarly, the Civil War’s beginnings were inauspicious. The first major battles (Bull Run One and Two, etc.) were won by the Confederacy.
The Great Depression was equally unanticipated and protracted, seemingly with no end in sight.
In both World Wars One and Two, the US was a Johnny-come-lately to the conflict. Pearl Harbor was a surprise and a disaster. 9/11 caught the government, as usual, totally unprepared. America is always slow to react, always somewhat reluctant. But in the end, success triumphs over defeat, the good defeats the bad.
To be sure, the pendulum of progress swings both ways. Reconstruction after the Civil War was followed by the emergence of the KKK and the Jim Crow era. Recent decades have seen an increase in inequality. Race relations, especially between the black community and law enforcement, have not improved.
As to the present plague, once again, this country is slow and seemingly inept in its response. America is currently the epicenter of the plague, and the worst part of the “Covid-19 accident” is that it is - also accidentally - happening at a time when the country is led by the most inept and malevolent president in history. This aggravates the crisis tenfold.
Arnold Toynbee analyzed history as a challenge-and-response process. Doesn’t this apply to most societies, and to none more than to the US?
In recent history, when it comes to defeating a common enemy, defeating evil, be it the abomination of slavery, the German Kaiser, fascism, terrorism, dictators Left or Right, Ebola, HIV, mass starvation, America has been the ESSENTIAL country. It has been the country without which the abomination at hand could not be destroyed.
In the end, this vast, powerful, diverse, innovative “world country” may once again triumph over its enemy - this time an invisible virus capable of as much death and destruction as Hitler, Tojo and Stalin. As in the past, America is slow and unsure in its initial response. But once it flexes its muscles and measures up to the task at hand, it may yet surprise the rest of the world, as it has done so often in the past.
Will America save itself, and save the day? Or is it giving up the fight?
© Tom Kando 2020;All Rights Reserved
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12 comments:
Hey Tom, this is really a very sad but true assessment of this terrible situation.
Merci... Comme aurait dit mon pere:
On est dans la merde....je revois les SS de mon enfance pendant l’occupation.
Hi Tom,
This is one of your blog posts I enjoyed a great deal and commend.
It undoubtedly needs saying, that there is a certain amount of superiority/glee in the European response and scolding. God knows the American “approach” (or lack thereof) needs scolding. But probably not glee or an attempt to pile on criticism for other things.
And America will recover, and of course its numbers, even now, are still passable by world comparison, above the per capita mortality rate in Sweden and many other places. I too am appalled by the blissful ignorance or patriotism or whatever it is that makes Sacramentans parade around without masks and, from what I’ve heard, had large backyard birthday parties and wedding celebrations that the County has traced to an uptick in numbers. I really wish Americans as a group had both more discipline and more caring concern for others (which they regularly evince in a variety of charitable behaviors). I also wish they would pay attention to numbers and experts and at least regularly explain their thinking, approach, for dealing with a virus that is still there.
Perhaps, in some defense of the criticism from foreigners, I would admit a pandemic is far different from social/income inequality, racism, and so forth. In that Americans’ seeming indifference to the needs to protect themselves and others from the virus not only harms other Americans, but since the pandemic is worldwide, ultimately harms foreigners too.
But your main point is right on, the “others” are quick to jump on the anti-American bandwagon when there is some justification—and it’s probably a combination of resentment and jealousy. I remember, at these times, a commentator on—I think—Charlie Rose during the beginnings of the Great Recession when, in a panel with other economists who were badmouthing America (which was suffering greatly at the time, and appeared to be the source of the worldwide economic panic), said:: “Never count America out, don’t underestimate its potential for recovery.” It was optimistic, hopeful, and—in the end—right.
The hard thing in these times is to pry away legitimate criticism from simple resentment bile and envy. Of course Trump could have/should have done better, as should have his immediate public health underlings, who often didn’t offer much push back to his wrongheaded policies. But so should have Cuomo and de Blasio, who have since shaped up. And there’s a much broader list of world leaders (Boris Johnson, the poster boy for bad coronavirus responses, perhaps) who have stumbled and keep stumbling.
I just wish there were a group of Americans who would say, let’s study hard (and consult) the methods of Germany, Iceland, New Zealand, et. al. and try to emulate the best of them. Instead of the hodgepodge of ad hoc approaches that exist (of course the underlying problem here is the vacuum at the top: we don’t really have a national government on this issue any more).
Thanks for your comments.
Claude is reminded of some of the situation during World War Two, when he was a child in France under German occupation.
To Jon: It’s true that our CFR (Case Fatality Ratio) is still somewhat lower than those of several other countries. However, don’t be mistaken about it: We not only have the world’s highest absolute number of cases (obviously, in part because America is large), but our RELATIVE number of cases is also the highest of any country - except a few tiny city-states such as Qatar and San Marino. It’s important to realize that among “regular” sized countries, we have the worst record, bar none.
We're an international laughing stock thanks to Trump. And, as Bolton has said, dictators (Putin in particular) have played him like a fiddle.
Right. And is it a coincidence that the top three countries in the world in terms of Covid-19 cases are the US, Brazil and Russia, all three led by strongmen - Trump, Bolsonaro and Putin?
Your words sound hopeful, at least I am taking them that way, hopeful
Thank you for striking this tone of hope for the future. That is where I choose to put my faith. Big picture--things are not as bad as they feel in miniature. The 24-hour news cycle of negativity blinds us to the positive, evolutionary trends.
The American character is indeed showing through in this pandemic, for better or worse. One might say we aren't "giving up" but rather "sucking it up", by which I mean Americans live risky, and damn the consequences, in many arenas (not just coronavirus).
In the end, too, we have less power over the long-term outcome of the pandemic than many seem to think. Really, all we can do is (1) slow transmission to keep hospitals open (2) learn best medical techniques for treatment of critical cases (3) develop a vaccine (4) essentially lock up people at high risk of dying. No matter what, the endgame is herd immunity. We can only influence how we get there (slowly = good, fast = excess deaths; by vaccination = good, by mass infection = bad)
It’s especially gratifying to get comments from Amy (Science Thrillers). She is an incredibly well qualified physician and epidemiologist, who has written and published a great deal on Covid-19, epidemics and pandemics. I urge everyone to check out her website and her writings. We can learn a lot. Learn not to be stupidly reckless, and also not to expect miracles.
I do not fully share the trend of optimism in Tom’s statement and most comments. I share the hope that it might be so, but doubt persists. If the Corona virus crisis has taught us anything is that “Sh.t happens.” It happened decades ago in highly civilized countries such as Italy, Spain and Germany. I don’t want another civil war, but I cannot exclude some version of it here. In his Tulsa speech, Trump had words that encouraged it. “We will protect…the right to keep and bear arms, and when you see these lunatics all over the place, it’s damn nice to have arms…the right to keep and bear arms will protect your second amendment.” Notice the implication of reversing the order in this last sentence. He is assailing the validity of the next election (while doing everything he can to rig it himself by preventing many from voting.) If he loses, he may not go down easily during the last few months of his term where he still has the power. A dog-whistle that it’s time to use those arms against “these lunatics all over the place” that deprived him of his win could lead to violence. I pin my hopes on the better angels in the courts, the army and the nation at large, but, on the same day as Tulsa, University of San Diego President Harris had an article in the Bee in which he lamented: “We have (leaders and) a large percentage of citizens who are both scientifically illiterate and incapable of discerning fact from fiction.” The US is not immune from some version of what happened not so long ago across the ocean. That it would recover afterwards, I share your hopes, but what “sh.t” might happen in between is not completely out of the question.
Edric:
You are absolutely right. Anything is possible. Over the years, several people have speculated about the possibility of America going fascist. Sinclair Lewis in his 1936 novel It Can’t Happen Here, Philip Roth in his 2004 book Plot Against America, etc. That undercurrent has always been there (see Bram’s comment above). So far, America has managed to avoid going off the deep end. My post is meant as a pep talk. But you are right. I can’t predict the future.
It felt good reading your praise of this country. Most of us are fearful about the Constutiton and the USA, but the examples you gave to show this country's resiliency, creativity and strength gives me a cheerful heart. Yes, there is a lot to praise. What I fear the most is the seeming loss of respect for truth and fact. But maybe the young people will devise ways to fix the . . .
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