Take Heart, Doomscrollers, America's on the Way Back
The despair that took over the country in early 2020 is easing as the U.S. makes progress on the economy, Covid-19, poverty and climate change.
It’s getting easier to see the light.
Photographer: JOHANNES EISELE/AFPLast year made it feel as if the U.S. was a nation in steep decline. And in some worrying ways it is. But looking back on 2020, and looking ahead to 2021, there are signs that the country has robust reservoirs of strength and effectiveness that will cause it to outperform the gloomiest expectations. It may not be morning in America yet, but it’s past midnight.
The clearest example is the vaccination race. Despite problems with the initial rollout, the U.S. public health system has now found its feet and is putting about 1.2 million shots into arms per day — not far short of President Joe Biden’s target of 1.5 million. Around the world, only a few countries have administered shots to more of their population than the U.S. has — and of those, all except the U.K. are very small.