In The Week magazine correspondent Ryan Cooper wrote that the US and Europe, the “wasted” outbreak of infection, while East Asian countries – China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam managed to stop the epidemic and to reverse it. The reasons for Asian success? If the short existence of universal public health care, discipline and obedience, collectivism (as opposed to Western individualism), the timely adoption of radical measures – isolation, quarantine, aggressive contact tracing, mass screening.
If to speak about the States it is different. The USA is the only country in the industrialized world where there is universal public health insurance. Approximately 28 million people have no health insurance, and visits to doctors and buying medicine “for cash” are prohibitively expensive in practice this means the unavailability of medicine. Private medical insurance systems in the US a lot, with each other they are not docked.
stand out state medical insurance system (also virtually not coordinated with each other): Medicare for seniors and the disabled, Medicaid for the poor, and medical facilities of Veterans ‘ administration for veterans of the armed forces. Wildly complicated bureaucratic system in which deal you can only special advocates (of which there are a parasitic industry) and particularly brainy patients.
the Second feature of the United States – the so-called federalism, which means in practice a patchwork of local laws and regulations. In every state – their civil and criminal law (Federal laws only exist in addition to state laws), its own police, their age of marriage, his driver’s license and traffic rules, its own education system, its health. In Massachusetts, for example, health insurance is nearly universal, and local hospital are great qualities, but somewhere in Alabama or Mississippi, the situation is opposite.
In an eleczvichajnim a situation like the present, each state decides whether to put the population to quarantine, close schools, businesses, shopping centers… Each Governor to dispose of the national guard of the state: it can send or not send the national guard to help the civilian population. But communication between people across the borders of the States continues, and in the absence of nationwide regulation, the infection spreads much easier than in countries where no such freedom local self-government in America.
the Third original feature of the United States: the Americans have blood a distrust of the state, for the most part they don’t like it, don’t want to pay his taxes (of course, we have “don’t want”, but the tax burden in the US is less than in Europe), and believe that private initiative and civic initiative – volunteering, etc. – are better able to cope with any problem than government bureaucracy. It’s a tough error that clearly showed an outbreak of coronavirus.
Only the state in the hands of the levers with which help it is possible to force private companies to produce the desired country, respirators, lung ventilators and disinfectant solutions for hands – something that is sorely lacking.
Only the government can stop speculation medical deficit. Only the state can provide financial assistance and are dying from inactivity factories, airlines, cruise lines, etc. and no one but the state, is unable to give ordinary citizens extended unemployment benefits, a one-time payment in the event of a crisis, food stamps, deferred student loans, protection from eviction from an apartment for nonpayment of rent, abolition of forced confiscation of houses for non-payment of mortgage payments.
Therefore, in such cases as the present, many quickly fall in love with the state. But because of the previous dislike of the state does not have sufficient capacity to help millions of people in distress.
more Precisely, it was not: entered into deactvie principle “in war as in war” – the state runs the printing press, that the money was the right amount to cover emergency needs. The Federal reserve (the Central Bank), the United States has already announced that it will be pumped into the economy any amount of money, buying treasuries, mortgage-backed securities, corporate bonds and creating new lines of credit – particularly for small and medium business.
Better late than never. Most recently, in January, when US intelligence agencies and epidemiologists have called all the bells warning of the impending disaster, President trump called coronavirus trifle, fiction, and horror stories – and measures had to be taken already! He now downplays the danger of a global pandemic. In the spirit of fake it jump, contrary to the experts, promises that in a matter of weeks – already for Easter Americans will return to their jobs, “the country is again open for business,” and everything will be over.
meanwhile, the fight with any emergency situation can be successful only with the truthfulness of the authorities and their credibility with the population. What kind of truth can be discussed if the chief epidemiologist of the country – the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and infectious diseases Anthony Fauci – talks about trompowsky the statements that he makes on the briefings: “It is formulated in such a way that I might not have formulated, since it may be a wrong understanding of the facts relating to the problem.” If this polite Aesopian language to translate into simple, Dr. Fauci said that trump was lying.
Fortune Magazine quoted Scott Morrison, Director of the Center for global health policy at the Center for strategic and international studies: “When there is such disaster, lack of faith, trust is a huge brake”. So we need to act like he did Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933, said in an interview with Time magazine, Doris kerns Goodwin, author of “Leadership in turbulent times,” (the book came out in 2018, but it is incredibly relevant today). Roosevelt took the helm of America in March 1933, when the Great depression put the country and the world to the brink of irreparable disaster. He began by telling people the truth: “We are in a very difficult situation, you entrusted me with the leadership, and if I don’t get what you want from Congress, I’m going to ask about emergency powers – as if we were at war”.
Roosevelt later had to lead the country in a state of war, but before it began he had already much to be done to rescue the devastated economy and impoverished population. When it was adopted the law on insurance of Bank deposits of ordinary citizens. When it appeared the system of social protection of elderly, children, disabled, people who lost their jobs. When it was launched a huge-scale program of public works (roads, bridges), which pulled out of the quagmire the entire economy.
With the beginning of world war II, Roosevelt turned the economy on a war footing, producing increases aircraft production by 10 times. Those who before the war made toys started to make compasses. Manufacturers of typewriters switched to rifle. Those who sewed silk dress, began to sew the parachutes.
This is not trump. Not a contender for his replacement – former us Vice-President Joe Biden, who until recent days was not seen or heard in connection with the coronavirus. Online portal Huffington Post writes about the trump, that “the man who called it (coronavirus) “bluff” unfit for leadership, he cannot be trusted with power in a crisis situation. Unfortunately, the government cannot be trusted also Pelosi and Biden”. (Nancy Pelosi – speaker of the house of representatives of the U.S. Congress. – I. B.)
a Very pale picture. And very instructive for other countries, including Russia. Which, with all its shortcomings, has earned praise from the who for what started to take action back in January, when trump talked about “bluff.”
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