The Parallel American Experience

By Romeen Sheth and Bradley Tusk (Managing Partner, Tusk Ventures)

Originally published at https://www.firewall.media on June 24, 2020.

The last few days of May capped off one of the most telling weeks in American history. In a stretch of five days, we saw the best and worst of America. On one hand, the culmination of human ingenuity — SpaceX became the first private company to land astronauts for NASA. On the other, a retreat to our most vile instincts — the absolutely tragic and racially motivated murder of George Floyd.

This week served as a perfect microcosm of what the coronavirus crisis has exposed about America — we live in an incredibly brittle society. US jobless claims have exceeded 40M people, race relations are at an all time low, and we are devoid of any semblance of national moral leadership.

As is typical in the parallel America we live in, COVID-19 has been a polar opposite experience for the majority and the minority. The majority in recent weeks has been most concerned with “form” — debates over the “acceptable way” to protest and discussion of personal liberty infringement due to shelter in place policies. The minority, meanwhile, has been occupied by “function” — increased sickness, increased economic hardship and increased racial tension.