Unrest in Minneapolis over the May 25th death of George Floyd. [[File:2020 Minneapolis Unrest – 49953744417.jpg|thumb|2020 Minneapolis Unrest – 49953744417]]

Coronavirus, a highly infectious respiratory virus, has uprooted almost all of our lives. During the months of December – February, the coronavirus was hardly mentioned in our country. America acted as if nothing could touch them. This overconfidence, as we all know, very quickly turned into neglect, and finally into fear. As of June 2020, there have been a confirmed number of 2.14 million cases and 117,000 deaths in the United States attributed to Covid-19. Other countries have nowhere near the amount of cases and deaths we have; even densely populated countries like India and China are doing much better than us. So, what exactly did we do wrong? 

First of all, we weren’t prepared to handle a crisis like this, mostly because we didn’t have any experience handling this type of crisis in our recent past. A country which did a great job at handling the outbreak was South Korea. When the virus broke into the U.S. and almost everywhere around the world (March – April), testing was the first-hand priority of every country. The United States struggled with testing, while South Korea was already sending out testing kits for people to do at their own homes. In mid-March, the U.S. and South Korea had the same number of coronavirus-caused fatalities—approximately 90, but in April, South Korea lost a total of 85 souls to COVID-19, while the U.S. lost 62,000. Though the population of the U.S. is six times greater than South Korea, a very wide margin is still there between the two nations. However, it’s not just that the U.S. was extremely inferior to the leaders of South Korea, but South Korea had experience dealing with this situation before. In 2015, a viral respiratory infection called MERS caused an outbreak in South Korea. The virus spread quickly, with the majority of it spreading in hospitals. After the outbreak, South Korea decided to change their laws in order to be better prepared for a situation like this, and they were exactly right in doing so.

Another problem the U.S. had in responding to the coronavirus was the seriousness and aggressiveness they attacked the virus with. The country where the virus appeared, China, had a very low number of cases despite its population and population density being much higher than America (though there are reports which believe the numbers are low balled by the Chinese government). Despite those reports, it does make sense why these case numbers are so low. China immediately locked their cities down, with Wuhan being the first city locked down on January 23.  In our case, President Donald Trump did not seem in full support of a lockdown, which may have put more citizens in danger. A study by Columbia University estimated that around 83% of deaths could have been avoided if measures had been taken two weeks earlier around March 1st. Even New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, who was one of the first governors to place a lockdown on their state, said,

If this country knew more and knew it earlier we could have saved many more lives.

Protests across North America as of June 8th 2020. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_America_Protests_8_JUN_2020.jpg

Along with this deadly pandemic, another major event was (and is still currently) taking place: the Black Lives Matter movement. While the movement had existed for nearly a decade before 2020, it surged in popularity in 2020. On May 25, 2020, a 46 year old man in Minneapolis named George Floyd died at the hands of a police officer. All the unrest which had built up in the black community about police brutality and racism had finally come to light, like a volcano sitting over the years waiting to finally explode. Protests demanding police accountability broke out all across the world, but along with peaceful protests, there were also riots and lootings. Athletes, musicians, politicians and more all had words to say about this movement. However, the thing which makes this situation so complicated is that there aren’t just two viewpoints here. The situation basically creates four general parties: protesters, rioters, police, and politicians.

Although the BLM movement is taking place all over the world, the United States is where it has been its strongest. These protests were bound to happen due to the country’s history. Striving to end slavery, abolitionists with President Lincoln sparked a change in the country, causing the country to divide and eventually break out into a Civil War. Years later, Martin Luther King and other civil rights activists made a change in the civil rights of African Americans. Both times, peaceful protests and violence were both there. If the BLM movement continues to surge, it will take place as another major event for the equality of African Americans. America has to handle this in the right way in order to allow little to none violence and to bring the country together.

The politicians are where the change has to start. Politicians run this country, and lately, they have been doing a terrible job. To start first on a smaller scale: the governors of states have to end the looting and riots, but in a careful manner, so that the police don’t look worse in harming people. According to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Meyer Shields,

the losses (the damage from riots) will combine with losses related to COVID-19 claims and property damage from a predicted above-average hurricane season to amount to a ‘capital event’ for some reinsurers.

Also, during the fall months, masks may also become a necessity with the threat of another COVID-19 spike. However, the protesters and those supporting the BLM movement also have to understand some things in the long run for America.

[[File:Man exchanges words with police outside the 3rd precinct (49945992677).jpg|thumb|Man exchanges words with police outside the 3rd precinct (49945992677)]]

Politics, as we already talked about, are a major component of running this country. In order for the United States to reclaim their title on the world, a strong leader has to be able to connect with the black community and support the BLM movement while also standing with the police. The position which gives a person the most support for this to happen is the president. Times are different now, which makes it very unlikely for a leader with no political power to step up, like Martin Luther King or Malcom X. The most important power a president has is the name itself. However, the two major candidates up for election, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, don’t have what it takes to fill that role.

Donald Trump has already shown he shouldn’t be re-elected for another term. Just focusing on his actions in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic should’ve been addressed weeks before he took action. He also gave the impression of continuously undermining this pandemic with words, like

It’s going to disappear. One day it’s like a miracle—it will disappear,

and his actions, such as not wearing a mask in public. He’s also stated that there will be no lockdown or any type of action taken if there is a second coronavirus spike. The problem is that if he thinks and acts this way, a lot of his followers do too, which allows the pandemic to grow. Also, we all know the endless ridiculous statements he has made over the years. But a major takeaway any person can see from just one speech of President Trump is that he’s ignorant and rude to anyone who disagrees with him. A leader like this will not bring the country together, but will only divide it even more.

Joe Biden is also not a candidate fit to lead this country out of the hole it has dug itself into. One of the major reasons for this is the notorious 1994 crime law, which Joe Biden helped write and majorly supported. The 1994 crime law was a way for Democrats to address the rising high crime and violence. There were some beneficial acts the crime law had, like the Violence Against Women Act, to provide more resources on domestic violence and rape, and a provision to help fund background checks for guns. However, what it really did was hurt African Americans disproportionality when it came to sentencing and trials. One thing the law did was impose harsh new penalties for justice-involved youth. According to the Center for American Progress,

The crime bill allowed prosecutors to charge 13-year-old children as adults for certain crimes. As a result, today, two-thirds of Americans who were sentenced to life in prison as juveniles are black.

Joe Biden is still in agreement with this law and brings it up many times to promote his campaign, which still shows his “tough on crime” attitude, and that doesn’t boil over well to the BLM movement and their community. Either Joe Biden or Donald Trump will be our next president, which means four years of the U.S. being number 2 or 3 or even worse in the world compared to other countries like China or South Korea. If Joe Biden is voted president, and a strong republican cannot compete with Biden, then another four years goes by for American citizens. This cycle will keep happening unless a president comes into office with the mindset of tackling these issues head on and no longer depending on failed tradition.

The dominance of the United States will undoubtedly be shaken after 2020, but it’s not just the events of 2020 which will ruin the supremacy of the country. The U.S. has been making major mistakes since it claimed its spot as the global hegemon after World War 2. The events of 2020 just show the mistakes the country has been making over and over and over again: poor leadership and racism. These next few years may also have people thinking of restructuring the U.S. government, which may be the change America needs. Nonetheless, the United States will definitely be paying the price for these mistakes and so will its citizens.