It stands to reason that the United States has the most developed intelligence system in the world, and the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency are very powerful; It has the richest disaster deduction prevention and control ability in the world, and has shot at least a dozen light disaster movies; Have the most advanced medical equipment and technology in the world; It has the fastest emergency response capability in the world (we saw this capability in "9 1 1 incident"); Has the most advanced production capacity of medical materials in the world; In addition, the United States is not the first country to be recruited. China was hit by the first wave of epidemic. China won precious preparation time for the whole world in the first two months of resistance. What is America doing these days? It stands to reason that the United States should have more time to do epidemic prevention work than China.

Simply put, there are two reasons, system and culture.

1. Institutional aspects

(1) electoral system

The US government is to blame for such a serious epidemic. Chairman Mao said that we should despise the enemy strategically and attach importance to the enemy tactically. Therefore, the US government despises the enemy both strategically and tactically. Or whether you value the virus or not, you just don't.

On June 3rd, 2020, the Trump administration received the official notification of the first coronavirus epidemic in China. Within a few days, American intelligence agencies warned the president of the seriousness of this coronavirus threat in their daily briefing, which was the first time that western countries warned of this virus.

However, it was not until 70 days after receiving the initial notice that Trump finally realized the serious threat of this coronavirus, but by this time, more than two months of critical time had been wasted.

Why doesn't Trump pay attention to it? Because Trump must consider the feelings of ordinary voters, especially this year is an election year.

Since Trump took office, the American economy has performed very well, with high growth rate and low unemployment rate. Not surprisingly, Trump's re-election this year is no problem. If these measures are taken to close and isolate cities, it will inevitably lead to economic recession. If the virus is not so serious, taking these measures will lead to a downturn in the economy and prevent you from being re-elected, which will be a big loss.

Moreover, if the city is closed and citizens are restricted from traveling when the virus is not so serious, it will also cause dissatisfaction among many voters. Personally, many people are not aware of the seriousness of the epidemic. If the US government really closed the city in 1 month and February and took strict prevention and control measures to prevent the outbreak of the epidemic in the United States, then voters may also say that there is no epidemic in the United States. Why did you close the city? When voting, you don't have to vote for Trump. Many people don't think: thanks to the government's closure of the city, it didn't break out. Ordinary people are the most difficult to serve and difficult to adjust.

With this in mind, Trump dare not rashly close the city.

The common people don't want to close the city, and neither does the big capitalist boss. The United States is a capitalist country, and capitalists have great influence on the country. If the city closes and employees can't go to work, the capitalists on Wall Street will certainly suffer heavy losses. They don't want this.

So the situation is that if the city is closed when the epidemic is not serious, it is unnecessary. Only when the epidemic is serious can it prove necessary to close the city, but it is too late.

(2) Federalism

The United States is a federal country, the power of the central government is much less than that of China, and the states are relatively independent, so it is impossible for China to have one side in trouble and support from all sides. China can concentrate national medical resources to support Hubei, but the United States cannot concentrate national medical resources to support new york. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the United States implemented a confederation system, which was relatively loose. Later, the constitution was changed and federalism was implemented. However, compared with the unitary system in China, the power of the central government is still too small.

Since Trump took office, he has always advocated the priority of the United States. States can apply Trump's ideas or put forward their own priorities. Therefore, in the event of an epidemic, each state will fight independently and fly independently, and will not form a joint force.

2. Culture: advocating freedom and attaching importance to human rights.

There is a famous saying in the western world, "Give me liberty or give me death". The United States regards freedom and human rights as its founding ideology. It is difficult to define whether compulsory segregation violates human rights, and many politicians dare not take the risk.

Many Americans even think that freedom is as important as life. If they are imprisoned all day, they may die.

William Hanach, an associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard University, was very frank about the mistakes made by the United States when interviewed by China media. At the same time, he said, "Although this virus is really dangerous and a real threat, we also cherish our freedom".

In addition, Americans are generally individualistic, like independence and pursue individuality. The government asked me to wear a mask, so I didn't. It is my freedom to wear it or not. This is not conducive to virus prevention and control.

In a word, this epidemic, like the economic crisis of 1929, proves that the capitalist system in western countries has major defects. The government is too weak when dealing with major public safety incidents. 1929 after the economic crisis, western countries carried out comprehensive adjustments, implemented Roosevelt's new deal, Keynesianism and state monopoly capitalism, making the capitalist system a safe place. I hope that after this crisis, western countries can adjust in time.

In some countries, the government is too strong and the individuals are too weak. In western countries, on the contrary, individuals are too strong and governments are too weak. The two should be neutralized.

Historically, Roosevelt's New Deal, Keynesianism and state monopoly capitalism in western countries all borrowed from the policies of socialist countries, and the new economic policies and reform and opening up in socialist countries also borrowed from the policies of western countries.

The road of human development should be to learn from each other, and then all roads lead to the same goal. Because everyone is pursuing a happier life.