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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: 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:
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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)
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(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.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(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.