New York Times op-ed: Coronavirus dispelling the 'myth' that America is 'best country on earth'

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The coronavirus has underscored U.S. inequality and its vulnerabilities to the point that people might stop believing it's the greatest country on earth, New York Times opinion writer Viet Thanh Nguyen argued.

"Even if America as we know it survives the coronavirus, it can hardly emerge unscathed," Nguyen wrote in an op-ed Friday. "If the illusion of invincibility is shredded for any patient who survives a near-fatal experience, then what might die after Covid-19 is the myth that we are the best country on earth, a belief common even among the poor, the marginal, the precariat, who must believe in their own Americanness if in nothing else."

He added that quarantining much of the population in their homes could inspire empathy with people in prison and refugee camps. "Perhaps the sensation of imprisonment during quarantine might make us imagine what real imprisonment feels like," he said.

"There are, of course, actual prisons where we have warehoused human beings who have no relief from the threat of the coronavirus. There are refugee camps and detention centers that are de facto prisons. There is the economic imprisonment of poverty and precariousness, where a missing paycheck can mean homelessness, where illness without health insurance can mean death."

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According to Nguyen, the government "prioritizes the protection of the least vulnerable," like corporations and the wealthy. Even if the U.S. survives the COVID-19 epidemic, Nguyen added, its incompetence will leave it unprepared for a climate catastrophe.

"If our fumbling of the coronavirus is a preview of how the United States will handle that disaster, then we are doomed," he said.

Nguyen's comments followed a trend in which media figures remarked on the coronvirus' impact on American exceptionalism. NBC previously faced pushback when it published a report describing how China was emerging as a "global leader" during the crisis. The outlet also received criticism when it used China's reported coronavirus numbers in a comparison with the United States.

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"U.S. reports 1,264 coronavirus deaths in over 24 hours. Meanwhile in China, where the pandemic broke out, not a single new coronavirus death was reported," an NBC News tweet read.

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The controversy came after a tense exchange in which MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle pressed Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on his criticism of journalists using China's numbers.

"Some in our media can’t contain their glee & delight in reporting that the U.S. has more #CoronaVirus cases than #China," Rubio tweeted last week. "Beyond being grotesque, its bad journalism We have NO IDEA how many cases China really has but without any doubt its significantly more than why they admit to."

The tweet received plenty of backlash, but Rubio stood by his statement during his MSNBC interview.

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Ruhle seemed incredulous when she asked Rubio about this tweet.

“I need to ask you this, because I’m a journalist. We’re not just some personalities. You called out journalism. And I need to understand why on earth you did this," she said.

Rubio previously tweeted out a series of posts that showed media figures mocking the administration and America's interest in being "Number 1." He also indicated to Ruhle that journalists were threatening U.S. national security by repeating Chinese "propaganda."