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Wednesday, June 24th, 2020

The U.S. is falling behind its peers. Americans — if not their leaders — are starting to notice.

Author:     Catherine Rampell
Source:     The Washington Post
Publication Date:     June 22, 2020 at 4:24 p.m. PDT
 Link: The U.S. is falling behind its peers. Americans — if not their leaders — are starting to notice.
Stephan:   It is very painful to learn that all the lies that you have been telling yourself about yourself are just that, lies. And that is true whether it is an individual or a country. In the years of Trump we have become just like Trump himself: Fat, too rich for our own good, corrupt, dishonest, and incompetent. And about 40% of us just can't seem to admit that to themselves. But the facts are the facts.

Americans’ belief in American exceptionalism is declining — and that could be a good thing.

National narcissism has rendered us complacent, even impotent, in the face of multiple crises.

On our biggest societal problems, the United States seems to have given up. Not because we can’t do better — but because many political leaders, particularly Republicans, apparently don’t think we need to. Their faith that America is already Living Its Best Life means there’s no need to learn from peer countries, or even gauge our relative performance. Consider:

Most of the rest of the developed world has managed to get covid-19′s spread under control. New cases across the European Union have plummeted; in New Zealand, the virus has been virtually wiped out. These and other places that have successfully mitigated the spread have enabled more citizens to safely return to their pre-covid-19 lifestyles, including even attending athletic events with packed crowds.AD

Instead, they simply declare the virus vanquished, even as it claims more lives.

“There is no second wave coming,” White House economic adviser Larry […]

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