There are people whose only job is precisely to take these things seriously
The CDC, FEMA exist for this very reason - to prevent and lessen the damage of diseases or natural disasters
The US pays for these organizations to exist for loments like these
Agreed, but who is losing their job? Not Barry Diller. As always, the average person suffers while the rich take a haircut.
> The POTUS is not a dictator and was never intended to have very much power. The fact that states and their governors have taken point illustrates this is working as designed.
You're confusing the federalist system with "dictator". It is literally the job of the federal government to coordinate on national issues. You don't ask Maryland to build tanks just to defend Maryland, do you? Why is a national pandemic just a states problem with piecemeal solutions? Why is every state bidding for resources individually? Why is every state pretty much on their own here?
> so I don't blame the system too much for not taking this epidemic more seriously.
This isn't the issue. There were many "in the system" that took this very seriously. There are entire parts of the government dedicated to this exact problem. The issue is that the people in charge, the current administration, outright ignored and played down medical facts due to ignorance, incompetence and politics.
* In the end the US has responded, to the tune of losing half the GDP and tanking the stock market. This is true skin in the game and shows that the (true or hypothetical) oligarchs have been overridden.
* The POTUS is not a dictator and was never intended to have very much power. The fact that states and their governors have taken point illustrates this is working as designed.
* Of course this has been known for years, and people have been warning about it. But, SARS and H1N1 came and went without any serious consequences so I don't blame the system too much for not taking this epidemic more seriously.