Searching For Answers

THE ENDURING QUESTION, which might not be fully answered until future historians and psychologists and social scientists grapple with it, if it ever is answered, is: why did the great pandemic of 2020 afflict the United States so much harder than anywhere else in the world? With fewer than twenty million confirmed cases of Covid 19 infections throughout the world, and more than four million of them in the U.S. alone, and with a quarter of the world's deaths American, there can be no disputing the fact that the United States is and has always been the epicenter of the pandemic. Assuming that there is no conspiracy to attack the United States virally, and there is no evidence for that, then the answer must lie squarely within the borders of America itself. it has recently been suggested that it is a matter of trust, that the American people do not trust their political leaders nor their science experts, and therefore have disregarded their advice. Arguably, advice from politicians has often been so misguided that it is worthy of disregard. Most of what president Trump has told us about the virus has been outright nonsense, deliberate lies calculated only to enhance and preserve his political career, rather than to help the public. A seemingly more appropriate theory, more in keeping with /american character, is that the general arrogance of the American people and self absorbed nature of Americans tends to motivate them to think in terms of their own convenience and personal satisfaction, rather the public good. Hence the national epidemic of refusal to wear face masks, refusal to social distance, refusal to refrain from gathering together in large number, behaviors we have repeatedly seen over the past few weeks. Joe Biden points out that we need a president who leads by example and who takes responsibility instead of blaming others. In this he is correct. The country needs a number of change, including a new president. we need to restore america's connection to its allies and to the word, repair the diplomatic damage done by the Trump administration, including rejoining the world in fighting climate change and nuclear arms control, and new American leadership needs to restore healthy, intelligent relationships with other world powers, particularly Russia and China. Less pandering to Russia, less hostility towards china, less cozying up to authoritarian right wing populist demagogue tyrants, like Trump himself. Let the repair work begin.