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Here’s the big piece I’ve been promising: an Atlantic cover story about the US’s catastrophic mishandling of the pandemic. It’s a full autopsy of what went wrong, every unattended weakness & unheeded warning, every festering wound & reopened scar. 1/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
I know these times are hard, that we’ve frayed and maxed out on bad news. If you’re wondering if you can cope with a big piece on this topic, I don’t know. But fwiw, I don’t write these to stoke fear or drain hope. I hope to clarify and embolden. 2/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
Across these months, I’ve been repeatedly struck by how foreseeable everything seemed—how every vulnerability that the pandemic tore open was predictable & preventable. We had built a world “ever more prone to a pandemic but ever less ready for one.” 3/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
This is about Trump, obviously, but also America’s legacy of racism, neglect of public health, devaluation of expertise, & devotion to individualism. “COVID‐19 is an assault on America’s body, and a referendum on the ideas that animate its culture.” 4/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
This story, then, is about prisons & hospitals, social media & supply chains. It's about virology, psychology, sociology, architecture. It's about how we built a world "ever more prone to a pandemic but ever less ready for one.” 5/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
We long to return to normal, but **normal led to this**. To avert the future pandemics we know are coming, we MUST grapple with all the ways normal failed us. We have to build something better. I hope this piece, in showing what went wrong, helps. 6/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
This is the culmination of months of reporting, those other big pieces, & 100+ interviews. I hope even people who’ve followed the pandemic closely will find fresh perspectives here, and a sense of coherence. I hope it provides clarity and purpose. 7/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
This is one of 2 cover stories for this month’s issue & Ibram X. Kendi's piece on America’s racial reckoning will be out Wed. For now, check out this stunning cover.
HOW DID IT COME TO THIS?
Well, here’s how:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/ 8/
HOW DID IT COME TO THIS?
Well, here’s how:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/ 8/
(For those who pointed out that the piece was behind the paywall, that was a technical glitch that has now been rectified; it's now free for everyone to read.)
Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who's reading & sharing the cover story. I know these are trying times but if this work has been valuable to you, and if you have the means, subscriptions (or gift subscriptions) help us do our best possible journalism. https://accounts.theatlantic.com/products/
