The Story of the Decade

David Goldman says that it’s the story of the year, perhaps of the decade. He posted this on his Facebook page.

He is emphasizing that Asian nations handled the coronavirus pandemic far better than we did. One might add that Western Europe has not done a bang-up job either. So, Western nations vs. Asian nations in the clash of civilizations. We are not doing well:

In my view, the story of the year, and perhaps the decade, is that North Asia (China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan) suppressed the pandemic and is now booming, while we're still chasing our tails. I emphasize that this is an Asian phenomenon; democracies like Taiwan and South Korea performed even better than China. The Asians used lockdowns when necessary, but well-organized ones, with electronic contact tracing and targeted forensic testing. We haven't yet lost to China, but we lost a major civilizational battle. Why? We are hollowed out. We don't have the industrial or medical infrastructure or the organization to handle a crisis like this. Trump said the right things about rebuilding US industry but at the end of his administration or dependence on China is greater than ever, and our trade deficit with China is at or near the all-time record. I hoped he would do better in a second term, but there won't be one. No level of government handled this competently. People are still waiting in line for hours for "fast" COVIDd tests. Germany has drive-up testing with zero wait time. We were sitting ducks for a natural disaster. Instead of trying to work out what we need to do to fix things, we indulge in paranoid conspiracy theories and political finger-pointing.