[March 6, 2020] With the U.S. Presidential election scheduled for later this year, many of our politicians are doing their best to prepare themselves to get votes. Everything tends be politicized, and so the spread of the Coronavirus has become a topic of volatile political partisanship. World leaders have jumped into the political fray faster than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking competition.
What most world leaders have in common is that they were caught flatfooted by the speed of Coronavirus infection. Fortunately for us all, the death rate is relatively low (higher than the common cold but still low). Preparedness is a characteristic of good leadership, and the U.S. and most of Europe are the most ready to deal with the consequences. According to the CDC1, South Korea and Thailand were the only Asian countries in the top ten prepared for an outbreak.2
In late January, I wrote about how the authoritarian government of China had purposefully covered up the disease.3 China’s rulers still block information from escaping their country, and they stand as another example of why Communism and socialism continue to be failed political systems. For anyone with experience in their medical system will tell you, it is primitive; unless you are a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party leader.
Regie Hamm is a writer and runs a blog. Last week he posted a chilling account of his experience with the socialized Chinese medical system. Here is a snippet of his article:4
“As we stepped in more urine, took our number from the print-out machine, walked past the line of children whining and crying from the scalp IVs in their heads, then rushed to clean up blood and mucus (left by the last patient) on the plastic table they were now laying our baby on, then waited on the ONE overworked doctor (attending to no less than three hundred people) try to round up a basic anti-biotic to administer to my daughter (right there on-site – no refills) … I was witnessing the kind of maximum, almost brutal efficiency a society must develop when the state is the master and the individual is merely a subject.”
Some in the media and politicians are spreading panic that the Coronavirus is the black swan event that will bring civilization to an end. Indeed, the disease should not be downplayed; health-care professionals should provide good hygiene education and protection methods.
Political world leaders will be measured against the eventual outcome and help accountable. This accountability is as it should be. But accountability only works in Democratic societies. Those that are in the grip of socialized medicine will suffer and suffer badly.
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- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov
- https://ceoworld.biz/2020/01/30/which-countries-are-most-and-least-prepared-to-deal-with-an-epidemic-or-pandemic-like-the-coronavirus/
- The New Coronavirus and Chinese Censorship – https://www.theleadermaker.com/the-new-coronavirus-and-chinese-censorship/
- https://regiehammblog.wordpress.com/2020/02/27/birth-of-a-virus/
We are beginning to hear more and more about China and how this virus got out. Is this a cultural phenomenon? Or was the release of the virus a premeditated act on the part of the Chinese govt? Time will tell. Communism cannot keep the info out forever.
Hey guys, a little off topic but did you see that Elizabeth Warren dropped out of the US Presidential race and blamed “sexism” for her failure to go on to complete against two old, white men? She is the perfect leftest. Always blame others for your personal failure and then double down on it when questioned. I love it that so many leftists are getting clobbered. I always wait, then, for the blame game to start.
I agree. She is just like Hillary Clinton and the other women who ran and blamed sexism.
https://apnews.com/7b475643fb3faf2ab543b68da8743308
Fake Indian Warren needs to look at herself and ask if lying, morally lecturing us, and screeching and preaching to us all that maybe that might just be the reason no one wants her.
Such a great comment.
Good article, “Empty Offices, Full Homes: Covid-19 Might Strain the Internet”
https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/empty-offices-full-homes-covid-19-might-strain-the-internet
Hey, General Satterfield, great job on today’s blog. I keep coming here for my daily dose.
THere are many lessons to be learned from leadership failures with this virus. That is for someone to really dig deep and sort this out. But for now, world leaders must be doing what they can to delay the movement of the virus thru the population to give enough time for the medical community to find a cure or vaccine.
I hope that Gen Satterfield gives us a lessons learned list on this coronavirus.
Yes, it makes it easier to learn more about the basics of leadership, especially at the senior levels.
Yes, crazy dude and that is why we are here in this forum reading about what others think of Gen Satterfield blog. ?
Leaders have a passion to solve problems …. big problems, the bigger and more difficult the better …. we all need to learn how to do this in order to be both better people and better leaders. This issue of a spreading corona virus is a test of who is and who is not a real leader.
Good point Jerome. I like this leadership website and this blog post is an example of what should be seeing elsewhere.
Thanks Willie. Like you, I’ve been reading Gen. Satterfield’s blog for several years. My wife does too and so too many of my work colleagues. I hope Gen. Satterfield keeps the site going. I’m surprised, however, that he isn’t asking for contributions.
I think, Willie, that this is why we are all here. I like the discussions that are here too. It is like we are learning how to be better by just reading and THINKING about leadership. Every little thing we do to improve our skills is just one more step to great leadership, telling the truth, adopting responsibility and making our families, community, and nation that much better.
Gen. Satterfield, it was enjoyable to read today’s article on world leadership and how they may be failing us. Pointed article that pulled no punches.
The origin of the Coronavirus may be in China and their failed leadership (at the most senior levels) may have contributed to its quick spread but it is the rest of the world political leaders that have been caught flatfooted (ie unprepared). They have failed us as well.
Good point Tom. To be a good leader you have to be looking ahead. That is the point of leadership. Looking into the future is mandatory for success or you ‘don’t see the devil coming’ your way.
When leaders fail, people suffer.