The US response to coronavirus has been consistently inconsistent. It’s also uniquely American.
There are no national guidelines and no organized efforts to reopen the country beyond what measures states have taken. Public health officials say one thing while governors say another and President Donald Trump says something else entirely. We Americans are left to make up our own minds.
It’s a symptom of American individualism, a national value that prizes personal freedoms, limited government and free will over all else.
“It’s always been the orientation of America on balance, compared to other countries, to put a priority on individual freedom and liberty,” says Andrea Campbell, a professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies the intersection of politics and public health. CONT.
Scottie Andrew, CNN
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