At CBC.ca, @Alex_Panetta offers three very interesting explanations on why Canadians have done better vs coronavirus than Americans. Especially of note (at least in my opinion) is Reason 3, Canada's less polarized political culture 1/x cbc.ca/news/world/cov…
@Alex_Panetta President Trump and pro-Trump media converted basic anti-virus safety measures into culture war tests of loyalty. You see this even now: wearing a face mask is interpreted anti-Trump disloyalty.
By contrast, in Canada, the virus did not become a partisan/cultural issue. 2/x
By contrast, in Canada, the virus did not become a partisan/cultural issue. 2/x
@Alex_Panetta Result: Canadians Result: Canadians of all points of view accepted sensible safety measures, while those Americans who supported Trump and watched Fox were more likely to refuse them - thereby opening the gap charted below 3/x 
@Alex_Panetta Trump's one political idea has always been to enflame pre-existing divisions for his own advantage. That was his approach to the virus challenge too. And if @Alex_Panetta reporting is correct, that instinct may have done as much harm as any of the failures of testing etc. 4/x
@Alex_Panetta NB: Tweet 3 in the above series was deleted and revised to correct an error that @Alex_Panetta kindly drew to my attention - END -
