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The central idea behind this piece on why the US failed so badly to control the pandemic is that it fell under the combined weight of a multitude of weaknesses, every one of which was predictable.
I want to unpack that idea.
A thread. 1/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
I want to unpack that idea.
A thread. 1/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
This paragraph at the top hints at some of those weaknesses--all discussed, all left to fester. 2/
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
But I think that while everyone saw the cracks in their particular area, few people saw all the pieces--or weighted them correctly. Which is why we had pre-pandemic indices that assessed the US as the most prepared of all nations. 3/
(From March: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/how-will-coronavirus-end/608719/)
(From March: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/how-will-coronavirus-end/608719/)
It's striking, e.g., how many books/features were written about pandemic preparedness & how many make zero mention of health inequalities as an *entirely obvious* magnifier. Including mine. Where's the inequalities section in this piece? Doesn't exist. 4/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/07/when-the-next-plague-hits/561734/
The same could be said for the online misinformation problem. I'm still thinking about what Renee diResta told me about the need for methods that catch emerging infodemics just as we have some for new diseases. 5/
(Back to the new cover story: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/)
(Back to the new cover story: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/)
Which brings me to That Sentence. Yes this is a list of Trump's many failings (and a paean to the semicolon) but note the recurring predictability theme: Trump has always shown us who he is, before, during, and after his election. 6/
See, for example, this piece I wrote in Dec 2016, before his inauguration. At the time, someone wrote to me saying "This is ridiculous. I'm no fan, but Trump's not going to let us die of Ebola." I guess the Ebola part was right. 7/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/12/outbreaks-trump-disease-epidemic-ebola/511127/
So: lots of problems, all foreseen by some and unattended by most.
This bit's important. It's not that other countries did everything right, but that they did most things right. And by corollary, the US failed because it did most things wrong--and its errors are coupled. 8/
This bit's important. It's not that other countries did everything right, but that they did most things right. And by corollary, the US failed because it did most things wrong--and its errors are coupled. 8/
The piece that's linked in the middle of those paragraphs is this one by @zeynep, which *you should really read*. If there's any one piece that influenced my new one, it's this. 9/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/03/what-really-doomed-americas-coronavirus-response/608596/
The point of this story, then, was to document as many of those weaknesses as possible. I don't claim to have got it all. But it's as full as accounting as I could manage in 8000 words. 10/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
Folks who responded to the headline with "It's easy: Trump", or some other equally witty variant, are spectacularly missing the point. And are still looking away from the many systemic problems at hand. 11/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
. @DrIbram makes a similar point in his amazing story, with which mine shares the cover. (Pairing these was a really smart editorial move.) 12/
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/the-end-of-denial/614194/
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/the-end-of-denial/614194/
"COVID‑19 is an assault on America’s body, and a referendum on the ideas that animate its culture. Recovery is possible, but it demands radical introspection."
This is the choice: Look away and behind, or inward and ahead.
Choose. /Fin https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
This is the choice: Look away and behind, or inward and ahead.
Choose. /Fin https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
PS. Several ppl have said to me they're not feeling up to reading this yet. To that:
- It's not an easy topic; take care of yourself first.
- I've tried to make the writing as lyrical as possible to compensate.
- There *is* a note of hope at the end. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
- It's not an easy topic; take care of yourself first.
- I've tried to make the writing as lyrical as possible to compensate.
- There *is* a note of hope at the end. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
