The covid-19 pandemic has exposed the depth of America’s fall from greatness.

~Eugene Robinson/Washington Post

As many of you know, last fall I taught at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan.  My temporary residence was just blocks from the center city and Duomo.  Most evenings I would go to a restaurant on the Duomo plaza to watch the people and enjoy the cosmopolitan atmosphere.  As Milan became the epicenter of Europe’s pandemic experience, I stayed in touch with many of my colleagues and students, concerned about their well-being and sharing my sadness at pictures of the city which were so different from the Milan I knew.

But now, concern is redirected toward us in the USA.  They call and email me and the most voiced reaction is disbelief that America was so unprepared for and so unable to deal with this health crisis.  My own experience echos that of Robinson’s when he says “the United States is a country to be pitied.”

The lasting impact of this change in international attitude toward the U.S. will morph over time.  While Americans are dying and our economic woes impact world markets, sympathy and concern are the order of the day.  But even when life returns to some semblance of normalcy, there will be a cultural hangover, most evident once comedians and ordinary citizens again feel safe to joke about the pandemic of 2020.  How do I know this?  It is the one cultural constant throughout the history of mankind.  Considering the following.

A half-century after the end of World War II, Rodney Dangerfield still told jokes about Italian military incompetence.  “Why does the new Italian navy have glass-bottom boats?  To see the old Italian navy.”

To go back even farther, thousands of years have not erased the stereotype of homosexuals serving as foot soldiers (called “hoplites”) in ancient Greek armies. Thus the origins of the now politically incorrect WWII joke, “Greek soldiers never leave their buddies behind.”

However, nothing compares to the litany of dark humor associated with France’s response to its invasion by Nazi Germany.

• What does the new French flag look like?  A white cross emblazoned on a white background.
• What do you call a French man killed defending his country?  I don’t know either, it has never happened.
• The Warsaw Ghetto held out longer than France.

Want more?  Just Google “World War II Jokes about (COUNTRY).”  Page after page of hits.  Unless the country name you substitute is the United States.  At the top of that list is an article on FORCES.NET titled, “Our 9 Favourite WWII Jokes of All Time.”  Spelling of the word “favourite” is a dead giveaway the source is of British origin.  The targets of these wisecracks include Germans, the French and even British superior officers.  Gags about Americans?  Zero.  When was the last time you conducted a Google search with NO relevant hits?

Unfortunately, we should not expect the same treatment when it comes to the current global health crisis.  Just imagine some future Italian Dangerfield or Lewis Black including the following quip in a stand-up performance.  “Donald Trump promised the virus would miraculously disappear in April 2020.  The only things that disappeared in April were several government medical experts and 65,000 other Americans.”

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP