Stephan: Here is another view conforming to my own. The big take away from the Coronavirus pandemic is that it has shown America to be a country that is no longer “can do” because it is a society now run on only one social value, profit or, as it is formally known, Neoliberal economics. Every day we see further proof of this. American policies are structured to support rich individuals and the corporations they control. As a result, we have the worst wealth inequality in the developed world, and an appallingly bad healthcare system, amongst the worst education system in the developed world, the largest prison gulag, the highest maternal mortality rate, and on and on.
The election in November is the chance Americans have, perhaps their last chance, to go back to the values the Founders espoused, "all men are created equal" and a society whose function is "is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
Frankly though, I am not sure a majority of Americans even realize the democratic republic bequeathed to them by their parents, and grandparents is vanishing before their eyes. Millions of Americans no longer seem capable of rational thought, preferring instead the authoritarian fantasies and lies spewed out by Trump and the Trumplicans. As each day reveals Trump's nastiness, incompetence, and personal greed, and the corruption now rife in the Congress, his approval ratings go up.
One thing is now certainly clear, we are a "can't do" society as this article describes.
People wait outside an urgent-care facility in Queens, N.Y., on Wednesday. Credit: John Minchillo/AP
In February, as the novel coronavirus began to attract attention from the media, President Trump’s national security adviser, Robert C. O’Brien, went on CBS’s “Face the Nation” to reassure the American public. “We’ve got the greatest medical system in the world,” he said. “We’re taking steps to keep Americans safe and the government is functioning in that direction.”
Shame on us for believing him. As the United States becomes the world’s leader in confirmed coronavirus infections, it’s clear that whatever else our medical system may be, it is most certainly not the best in the world. Hospitals don’t have enough protective masks to safeguard staff members. We’re impossibly behind on testing. New York — currently the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States — is likely short thousands of ventilators. Not hundreds. Thousands.
The average US white racist is happy with their miserable lot in life as long as the average brown person has less.