The Commons

Anatomy of an American Failure

In September, Ed Yong reported on how the virus won.

Yong’s report hits all of the crucial points with the exception of the president’s self-centered, myopic focus on his reelection, which hampered America’s response from day one. Also, our American culture of rugged individualism—with its related thinking of “me and mine” and “survival of the fittest” as opposed to “we and ours” and “survival of us all together”—has contributed to the United States’ world leadership in cases and fatalities.

Frank G. Splitt
Mount Prospect, Ill.

I was riveted by Ed Yong’s excellent and informative piece, until he veered off course to single out the president for ill-preparedness. I am not a Trump supporter—far from it—but I am compelled to see