I'm just going to copy some of what I wrote on another post where someone felt that the world sees the US as the 'laughingstock', rather than paraphrase what I wrote there. I see this as graduation from school - many countries are moving to the next level, but some countries are not there yet and may need to attend remedial class for a bit longer. We'll be waiting for you when you are ready to join us.
... As to 'laughingstock', I would have to disagree. I have however seen posters the few times I read here who seem to react with smugness, Schadenfreude, or some sense of victory as if this is a competition. Certainly my circle does not react that way. Nor does the media I reference. We look at the US, and at Brazil, and we feel for you and hope the path you are on leads quickly to better outcomes.
The reality is that the world needs the United States, from an economic standpoint. We need you to be healthy, and successful, and on the path towards a better future. We are all intertwined, but if we don't have the United States economy, we have to adapt quite a bit in future. Interestingly, Merkel actually said to the media today that the US may no longer want to be a world power.
Each country has had to find its own path and its own exit strategy and future. We can share and learn from each other, and the politics of leadership is not the main reason why a country is successful. Look at the centre-right Germany, vs the socialist/far left alliance leading Portugal. Both had and continue to have good outcomes, with contact tracing, testing, isolating outbreaks, etc. The DIS-much-hated term 'socialist' government in Portugal acted very early to extend free health care to the many illegal immigrants (which could be half a million people) Germany has the most ICU beds per capita, and Portugal the least. Germany is in the richest countries in Europe, Portugal in the poorest. Yet the outcomes are similar.
Interestingly, one area where the US seems to have fared better is in non-COVID related healthcare. The for profit system means that hospitals and doctors have an interest to continue with non-emergent surgeries, whilst in countries where we have a public health care system we are now sorely behind on testing and treatment for cancer etc as we put non-emergent things aside to deal with the pandemic.
The quarantine/lockdowns were also very different, and I said that a few months ago here. What many in the US called a 'lockdown' was so open in relation to much of the rest of the world. But it was simply a different path, and we can now learn what worked and what did not work. There is concern that the harsh measures in many countries were not needed, and that Europe will take longer to recover economically than China and the US, even if we had better outcomes. (I don't include the UK as 'Europe' as a note)
