Life’s a Beach — Until It Isn’t
Is America’s individualism the reason why COVID-19’s spread has been deadly in the U.S., while containment efforts in Asia have been relatively successful?
When the federal government introduced the practice of “social distancing,” the American people took it with a grain of salt. Despite the positive effects of social distancing that was seen in China, American people still wanted to go to their beaches. Parties were still thrown, gatherings in the street were attended by hundreds to thousands of people.
Then, the NBA season was postponed. Gatherings were halted, no more than 50 people could be in a building at the same time. The national government was going into a panic, and the president seemed to enjoy talking more about his ratings than addressing how the country will respond. Yet, people still go out.
As I sit in my parents home, day who-knows-what of quarantine with the end being pushed back, I’ve come to a grim, ironic realization about the American culture: We should be good at social distancing, because that’s all we did until the virus hit the US.
Allow me to explain: when the virus first showed signs of appearance in China, there was little fear of the virus reaching America. Granted, there was little reason to fear. The numbers kept rising in China, but as Americans, we distanced ourselves.We told ourselves we wouldn’t get it, it would die out in China. Then it reached Italy-and we weren’t concerned. It wasn’t going to reach us, Americans could travel and go about their daily lives. But then it reached America.
As a country, we have a problem with always trying to make ourselves look like the good guy. A famous quote goes, “History is written by the victors,” and the US does a great job of writing history no matter what. When it comes to the Coronavirus, the President and the government has begun to call it, “The China Virus.” Not only is this inherently racist, it has allowed American people to move the blame for the severe outbreak of COVID-19 from apathy shown by the citizens, to China. The US, including its president, is predicated on passing the buck. Not accepting responsibility for action taken that led to the situation we’re in. What we need to realize is that the spread of COVID-19 in America is the American people’s fault. We didn’t listen, when they told us to stay inside, we chose to party on the beach. We’re paying the price for our actions.
People can make up all the conspiracy theories about how China has recovered from COVID-19 quicker than the US has, but the true fact is, when the people of China were asked to quarantine, they did. They didn’t go out and party, they didn’t go to beaches, they took it seriously. They cared. The citizens of the US don’t care. People will party and go out until the virus hits them or someone they love. This detachment isn’t something that is natural, however. It’s taught. We’re taught while young, that in America you need to pull yourself up by the bootstraps, get yourselves out of your own problems, and make something for yourselves. While that is good and all, the emphasis is on one word-yourself. There is no sense of unity, or helping out one another. That is, until a pandemic hits, and the country asks itself and its citizens to aid one another.
A main difference between Eastern and Western philosophies is their thoughts on individualism versus collectivism. The Western world emphasizes individualism, according to Difference Between. Western philosophy is based on finding the meaning of life with the self at the center of the universe. That’s opposed to the Eastern philosophy of unity, where the goal is trying to find the true self in relation to the world around them, finding their place in the universe. I’m not one to judge whether one is right or wrong. However, in the context of the situation that the nation is currently in, shouldn’t the emphasis be on helping the ones around you, not only yourself?
Instead of coming together as a country and staying inside, we have chosen the harder way. Not abiding to the rules and precautions given to us, getting our individual needs out of the way while more and more people become infected and die. We didn’t listen, and now there seems to be no end in sight for the country’s quarantine. Yet, some of the people in the country seem to take the President’s approach: “I don’t take responsibility at all.”
America has always been about me-first, get yours while you can mentality. This emphasis on the individual is good, until a pandemic hits, and the country needs to come together as one. Then, the people will only do tasks if the pandemic hits them, or someone they love. With the Coronavirus’ high infection rate, it probably will hit someone we hold dear to us, but until then, people won’t care. That’s just the American way.
