What America might be missing
In November 2021, the economist Tyler Cowen wrote the following:
Yes, the U.S. has botched its response to Covid-19. At the same time, its experience shows that America as a nation can in fact tolerate casualties, too many in fact. It had long been standard Chinese doctrine that Americans are “soft” and unwilling to take on much risk. If you were a Chinese war game planner, might you now reconsider that assumption?
That quote has stuck with me for nearly a year now. Partly because it seems callous, but also because it seemed to misunderstand the situation. Twenty years ago, around 3000 Americans were killed in the 9/11 attack and it elicited a mighty reaction of armed conflict, new laws and a complete change in airport and airplane etiquette. According to John Hopkin’s Coronavirus Resource Center, 678,000 Americans have perished from Covid-19, and it to has elicited a mighty response: lockdowns, mask mandates and a collosal vaccine research project. In spite of that, I think it’s revealed a trait less admirable than toughness: disunity.
As an American expat, something I notice when looking at the vaccination statistics and hygiene measures around the world, something strikes me: they are all the result of social solidarity. This is expected of societies known to be homogeneous and stern, like Germany or Japan, but they aren’t alone. Australia has done a fabulous job despite having the largest share of immigrants (ie. diversity) among the most developed countries (30%). Other countries that seem to have a lot of factors going against them, like Spain and France in terms of population density and Chile in terms of per capita income have done slightly better than the US despite of their weaknesses. I believe this is because America is losing it’s sense of solidarity.
The first sign that pops to my mind is unionization rates. The US now has one of the lowest union rates in the developed world, hovering around 10%, while the OECD average is 17%. Another sign is the increasing antipathy towards social programs, such as the the Bankruptcy Act of 2005, the explosion of homelessness in big cities, increasing inequality and inability to find common ground on issues like gun crime and police violence.
To return to Tyler Cowen’s thoughts for a moment, what would a war game planner see in the US today? Undoubtedly military might, but also, the kind of disunity that may block a sustained response.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-11-16/u-s-china-and-the-covid-19-vaccine-race
