"Barely two decades ago, the U.S. saw itself as a kind of eternal and all-powerful empire — the indispensable nation. It would have seemed laughable, then, to be told that China would produce a far better pandemic response." (1/x) nymag.com/intelligencer/…
"But today, distressingly, we take that relative failure for granted, and don’t expect to outperform the Chinese on matters like these, let alone South Korea or Singapore."
"What feels new is that we are doing worse than Italy, where in the past few days hundreds have died and where they are now rationing critical care between patients who need it—deciding, between two people who will die without support, which one has a better chance with support."
"We are well behind Italy, indeed, by some accounts, behind Iran, where it’s estimated millions may be infected, including many senior figures in government, and where they are now digging mass graves so large they can be seen from space."
"When countries like these are desperate, they now turn to China, which is sending a huge supply of necessary equipment and human resources to Italy. The United States used to play that role not that long ago. Now, in this crisis and future ones, who will help us?"
