April of 2021, as the United States prepares to enter a world war, against COVID-19

It's April of 2021, and as I've been following the story of the fight against COVID-19, it suddenly occurred to me that the United States, where I live, will soon be entering a world war against it. It's happened before, although never against a virus, and the U.S. tends to do what it does best: creating a gigantic war machine very quickly.

When the United States was attacked by a foreign empire in 1941, the world tended to think of us as a sleeping giant. And it's true - the U.S. has really never paid all that much attention to the rest of the world, and to this day many Americans can't even find particular countries on a map. Americans focus on America first, which is sometimes called "isolationism", and I'm a typical American that way. I've never left the country (Canada doesn't count, right?), I've never had a passport, and I'm inclined to have no real interest in meddling in other people's, or countries', affairs.

And as you know, unless of course you don't follow mainstream media, the U.S. stumbled very badly in the first year of the war against COVID-19, and the casualties were atrocious. But in the last few months sleeves have been rolled up, and there's a new spirit of optimism. No, the war is far from over, but the speed and volume of the war machine has been spectacular. Not only have the vaccines been developed, but the logistics have been worked out to get it distributed (I have a particular fascination with logistics!).

But make no mistake, in spite of what would seem to be 100% enthusiasm for the war in the 1940s, that really wasn't true. Many people simply dismissed it, and some even supported the goals of the Axis powers. And all I can say is there must have been a lot of eye-rolling in the U.S. when the term "lend-lease" was applied to what essentially amounted to us giving some weapons to our allies.

Lend-lease will happen again, as the world turns its eyes to the war weapons of the U.S. again. And once again the U.S. will step onto the world stage, to the sound of applause, and the sound of jeers. It's happened before, and it will happen again.

We can do it!

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