To start section one we share a piece of writing that explains bluntly the state of U.S. Covid affairs while getting this Atlantic article to the top of your reading/listening list. Here are the “five ways America failed:"
1. It fixated on the wrong things at the onset.
Trump could have spent those crucial early weeks mass-producing tests to detect the virus, asking companies to manufacture protective equipment and ventilators, and otherwise steeling the nation for the worst. Instead, he focused on the border.
2. Its public-health system was underfunded and ill-prepared.
Today, the U.S. spends just 2.5 percent of its gigantic health-care budget on public health. Underfunded health departments were already struggling to deal with opioid addiction, climbing obesity rates, contaminated water, and easily preventable diseases.
3. Its long-running racial inequities were exploited by the virus.
Far from being a “great equalizer,” the pandemic fell unevenly upon the U.S., taking advantage of injustices that had been brewing throughout the nation’s history.
4. Its (mis)information ecosystem allowed untruths to fester.
An infodemic of falsehoods spread alongside the actual virus. Rumors coursed through online platforms that are designed to keep users engaged, even if that means feeding them content that is polarizing or untrue.
5. Its president actively made the situation worse.
Trump is a comorbidity of the COVID‑19 pandemic. He isn’t solely responsible for America’s fiasco, but he is central to it.
