It's possible for both to be true. America can be exceptional and value individualism, and that strength (if one agrees it is a strength, separate discussion...) can be a weakness during COVID. Another country could have a weakness (if one agrees it's a weakness, separate discussion) such as authoritarianism or valuing conformity, which is a strength during COVID.

Individualism does not have to be a weakness during a situation like COVID. Refusing to take obvious common sense precautions simply because you don't like the fact that the government is telling you to do it is not individualism, it's stupidity. In fact, individualists would have been taking precautions against COVID well before the government was telling anyone to do it (see further comments below).

Nor is authoritarianism or valuing conformity necessarily a strength during a situation like COVID. South Korea and China both took authoritarian approaches, but they were very different authoritarian approaches with very different human costs. South Korea wasn't welding people inside their homes.

As for valuing conformity, people who valued conformity in the US, for example, were waiting until the government told them to take precautions before they took precautions--which was too late. My wife and I started taking precautions at the end of February, at which time the government and other authorities were still saying that things weren't going to get that bad and everyone should keep traveling and not worry so much. By the time the government started telling people to take precautions, we were already weeks into exponential growth. And then, of course, things swung to the other extreme and we started slamming barn doors shut and barring them after the horses had already left.

Great points. I guess I meant they could be strengths IF the govt acted correctly. And of course as you're saying, that in itself... everyone has different definitions. I guess I meant as a cultural mechanism for handling a situation.

Isn't that just another point for shameless lying tho? I mean China just pretends it's over and is done with it for example. Other countries did the same and I kinda see the point, while not exactly agreeing with the approach.

The only thing you win with authoritarianism is that you can make the lie true in the public image.

Authoritarianism imho is pretty much always bad. I'm mostly pointing out that IN THEORY :) if a country was authoritarian AND benevolent, then it could be a strength during COVID.