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posted by Fnord666 on Monday May 18 2020, @10:08AM   Printer-friendly

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?


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  • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by Phoenix666 on Monday May 18 2020, @02:34PM (3 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Monday May 18 2020, @02:34PM (#995799) Journal

    If you're going to attack someone, then at least try not to gibber. Or is it beer o'clock where you are already?

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 18 2020, @04:30PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 18 2020, @04:30PM (#995908)

    Gibber? Maybe you should ask TMB to dump your comments for the last year so you can see the patterns for yourself. Hard to say in this age of anonymity what someone's true motivations are, but your backstory does not jive with your rather Republican worldview.

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by FatPhil on Monday May 18 2020, @09:00PM (1 child)

      by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Monday May 18 2020, @09:00PM (#996018) Homepage
      https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jibe
      --
      Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 19 2020, @09:46PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 19 2020, @09:46PM (#996568)

        TIL thanks!