2020-07-13 – There’s a lot of talk about the stupidity of Americans in this pandemic. We’re doing worse than most countries. And there’s a lot of vocal people refusing to do even minor things to reduce contagion while we’re all waiting for the silver bullet that will stop the COVID virus in its tracks: namely, a highly effective treatment or, better yet, a vaccine.

Are Americans really so stupid?

The answer is no.

Now, I haven’t done any research. This is just my impression. But I encourage the scientists out there to confirm or deny my impression.

My impression is not based on may (unscientific) assessment of the American people. In fact, it’s pretty much the opposite. A ton of Americans are definitely stupid. But I don’t really see that we are unique in the world. All nationalities have stupid people. It’s genetic. That’s the human condition.

So how do I explain the wildly worse outcomes our country is experiencing during this pandemic compared to other similarly stupid countries.

It’s our leadership.

For whatever bizarre reason he may have, Donald Trump has been doing whatever he can to make the pandemic worse. I’m not saying that he has been AWOL. I’m saying that he is deliberately stirring up resistance to measures that other similar countries have successfully employed to mitigate the spread of this diseases.

To be sure, we have scientists working against the virus, we have state and local officials working against the virus, and we have individuals who are doing what they can to protect themselves. But we have the weight of the White House and its political apparatus trying its best to sabotage those efforts. The anti-COVID forces will win in the end, but the White House seems determined to maximize the casualties in the meantime.

It doesn’t really seem to be in the best interest of the Trump reelection campaign. Okay, so they made a big mistake at the beginning of the pandemic. Are they really so unable to correct mistakes? Apparently so. They have a chance to correct things every single day, but they never do.

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