The beginning of the official functioning of economic entities, as well as the so-called “opening” of the country, is not regulated by any organized efforts by the state, the instructions for further actions coming from Trump, ministers of health and governors are very different.
This is a sign of American individualism, a national trait aimed at the power of the people, feeding on the value of personal freedoms.
“America has always strived to achieve a balance in comparison with other countries, the main thing in which is the priority of personal freedom”, – says Andrea Campbell, professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
This is the ideal that the United States gave birth to when the colonists separated from the British monarchy in order to create their own nation. This set in motion the pioneers who traveled west to the border, where they settled their cities and established their own rules. They are soaked with it to the bone.
At the same time, it incites deep political disagreements, distrust of centralized power. And this provoked the country’s irresponsible reaction to the raging pandemic.
The deep polarization of American society was especially pronounced during the pandemic, when, despite the scale of common misfortune, members of the two main political parties still see the enemy not in a virus that takes thousands of lives, but in each other. As for Trump, the Americans again saw
his commitment to a quick change of opinion, when he allowed himself to disagree with members of his own administration at briefings, urged to wear masks, immediately declaring that he would not wear them, downplayed the degree of danger of the virus.
The degree of American social polarization is as always evident. In an April CNN poll, many Americans (55%) said the federal government did a poor job of preventing the spread of coronavirus. But 80% of Republicans said the federal government did a good job, and 85% of Democrats said otherwise.