I’m really surprised more hasn’t been said about the national security implications of America’s absolutely abysmal response to COVID-19. Yes, the Federal Government failed terribly, but they can (and will? https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙏" title="Folded hands" aria-label="Emoji: Folded hands">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤞" title="Crossed fingers" aria-label="Emoji: Crossed fingers">) be replaced. Way more concerning to me was *society’s* failure.

We all saw it. Even when there were appropriate rules, we all knew people who refused to follow them and made special allowances for themselves. Yes, a lot of people did what was needed, but huge numbers of folks selfishly didn& #39;t, and that& #39;s a big part of why we are where we are.

But here’s the scary part: Sure, COVID-19 wasn& #39;t developed in a lab. But future viruses *can* be, and unlike nuclear weapons, there is no Mutually Assured Destruction. Instead, the world now has new knowledge that America is uniquely unqualified to weather that kind of attack.

Consider that: Even if another country’s biological attack has "splash back", so many other countries have demonstrated they have what it takes to respond to that, and they can basically be assured that even if it hurts them, it& #39;ll hurt the U.S. a lot more. That& #39;s scary.

Domestically America is in a terrible place, but it& #39;s also scary to think that we just ran what could be framed as a giant international war games and the result was 180,000 Americans dying and American life in shambles while most other nations are largely getting back to it.

This is a terribly hard vulnerability for America to fix, because yes, I believe the Federal Government made our outcomes a lot worse, but societal behavior is a lot harder to change than just voting an administration or political party out of power.

Consider how sacred Americans hold the sacrifice of enlisted military on battle fields both domestic and foreign. Some give so much and some give all. But what America really needed this time was for each un-enlisted, everyday American to make much easier sacrifices.

My first fear is this: Should this happen again (God forbid), would Americans be even less willing to quickly take the steps required to curb the spread, despite another virus potentially being even worse than this one?

My second fear is this: What if an enemy counts on that?