Sadly, Americans Aren’t Like Germans

Sorry, Dr. Cotlar, but I wouldn’t call it “nuts.”  We live in a country in which more than 40% of our electorate is either overtly racist or tolerant of blatant racism.  These are people who believe what the president said about the protest/counter-protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, i.e., “There were fine people on both sides.”  (See photo below.)

Germans are a very different people than Americans, and, in fact, their approach to the coronavirus is a good example.  Germany has:

• Angela Merkel, a scientist with a PhD in quantum chemistry leading the country.  Dr. Merkel works hard tying to explain the pandemic to the German people in calm, soothing, but completely accurate ways that laypeople can understand.  She also coordinates (rather than impedes) the country’s doctors and scientists in an all-out effort to stop the spread of the pandemic.

• If anything, an oversupply of hospital beds and appropriate equipment.

• Universal healthcare for all its citizens, meaning that it doesn’t have more than 10% of its people unable to access medical attention when needed.

• A well educated population, where science isn’t under attack by religious fanatics, illiterates, and the rest.

• A heathcare system that is run at the state level, meaning that each of the 16 states can make quick decisions in favor of actions that are most appropriate to their own locales.

• No political party that is trying to eliminate science from the process of law-making.

The more one thinks about it, the more dissimilarities one spots.  Germany also has a population that embraces sustainability, and has taken extremely aggressive measures to decarbonize its energy grid-mix, participating full-bore in the mission to avoid the environmental collapse that appears imminent.

Perhaps we can use this moment to learn something of value.

White nationalists participate in a torch-lit march on the grounds of the University of Virginia ahead of the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 11, 2017. Picture taken August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith – RC12CB996CB0