The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the incomplete nature of the American project — the great distance between the realities of life and death in the United States and the values enunciated in its founding documents, writes the Times’s editorial board nyti.ms/3a2z2Qx
Over the past half century, the fabric of American democracy has been stretched thin. While many Americans live without financial security or opportunity, a relative handful of families holds much of the nation’s wealth. nyti.ms/3a2z2Qx 
The United States provides less for the disadvantaged than almost any other developed nation. For example, it does not guarantee the availability of affordable housing to its citizens. nyti.ms/3a2z2Qx
The nation’s hierarchies are starkly visible during periods of crisis, like the present. The coronavirus pandemic has necessitated extraordinary sacrifices, but the distribution is profoundly unequal. nyti.ms/3a2z2Qx
“What America needs is a just and activist government,” writes The Times’s editorial board. “The nature of democracy is that we are together responsible for saving ourselves.” nyti.ms/3a2z2Qx
