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COVID-19 Has Blown Away the Myth About 'First' and 'Third' World Competence:
One of the planet's – and Africa's – deepest prejudices is being demolished by the way countries handle COVID-19.
For as long as any of us remember, everyone "knew" that "First World" countries – in effect, Western Europe and North America – were much better at providing their citizens with a good life than the poor and incapable states of the "Third World". "First World" has become shorthand for competence, sophistication and the highest political and economic standards.
[...] So we should have expected the state-of-the-art health systems of the "First World", spurred on by their aware and empowered citizens, to handle COVID-19 with relative ease, leaving the rest of the planet to endure the horror of buckling health systems and mass graves.
We have seen precisely the opposite.
[...] [Britain and the US] have ignored the threat. When they were forced to act, they sent mixed signals to citizens which encouraged many to act in ways which spread the infection. Neither did anything like the testing needed to control the virus. Both failed to equip their hospitals and health workers with the equipment they needed, triggering many avoidable deaths.
The failure was political. The US is the only rich country with no national health system. An attempt by former president Barack Obama to extend affordable care was watered down by right-wing resistance, then further gutted by the current president and his party. Britain's much-loved National Health Service has been weakened by spending cuts. Both governments failed to fight the virus in time because they had other priorities.
And yet, in Britain, the government's popularity ratings are sky high and it is expected to win the next election comfortably. The US president is behind in the polls but the contest is close enough to make his re-election a real possibility. Can there be anything more typically "Third World" than citizens supporting a government whose actions cost thousands of lives?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 18 2020, @01:56PM (7 children)
This article was written by a brainwashed left wing nutcase. The problem(s), and the stated causes of the problem(s) have absolutely nothing to do with one another. I guess I would expect as much from an article written in such a way that Britain's GOVERNMENT is expected to win the next election. The GOVERNMENT? What? Do they swap out their entire government system? "In the 2020 elections, Technocracy is expected to in in a landslide over the Republic". Additionally, the author FAILS to understand that the United States is governed BY the people, FOR the people. It's not the "government" leadership that cost thousands of lives. It's the author of this article. Anyone who believes this crap and is in the United States is quite frankly, a sheep and doesn't take personal responsibility for their well being and of others - blaming someone else entirely for problems instead of helping to fix it themselves. Wasting time writing garbage instead of making masks or working so they can donate money to help out. You want more garbage from me? Continue to write more garbage. Maybe I'll leave eventually like I did slashdot.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 18 2020, @02:12PM (1 child)
When someone here posts a rant about someone they accuse of being a "brainwashed left wing nutcase", reading of few lines of said rant almost invariably reveal them to be "right wing nutcases". Note that I'm not saying all right-wingers are nutcases, but this one clearly is. And a poorly educated one at that.
Oh sweet sweet irony.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 18 2020, @03:07PM
But they are, even if you refrain of saying it. (grin)
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday May 18 2020, @02:15PM (4 children)
Stories are submitted by the community. If you want better stories, submit better stories. This is the HTML I use for my submissions:
<p><a href=""></a>:</p>
<p><blockquote></blockquote></p>
<p></p>
Fill in the blanks.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday May 18 2020, @03:33PM (3 children)
For me:
<b><a href="">(headline goes hear)</a><b>
<blockquote>
(story goes hear)
</blockquote>
(snarky comment goes hear)
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Monday May 18 2020, @05:19PM (2 children)
I see, you do audio submissions. ;-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 3, Touché) by DannyB on Monday May 18 2020, @06:31PM (1 child)
The subject line is about wrighting an article.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Tuesday May 19 2020, @12:35PM
That's never going to fly.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.