Speaking about pandemic, I was very surprised at the cultural differences about face masks. And I don't mean whether people want to use them or not, because you

Speaking about pandemic, I was very surprised at the cultural differences about face masks. And I don't mean whether people want to use them or not, because you find both kinds of people everywhere. The surprising difference was at behavior of people who thought that using a face mask was a good thing... what was their following step? My American friends typically did some research, found which types of face masks offer the highest protection, and refused to settle for anything less. Then they complained on social networks about the good masks being sold out. My Eastern European friends typically found some DYI videos, and then either started making their own face masks at home and selling them on social networks, or just bought them if someone else was faster. In a week or two, everyone had as many masks as they wanted to have. Lower quality, sure, but way better than nothing. Of course, I am generalizing here, but this was the pattern I noticed, and it quite surprised me, because I honestly expected the opposite thing to happen. I expected Eastern Europeans to beg their governments to do something about the situation, and Americans to handle the situation using their entrepreneurial spirit. But somehow I saw Americans complaining about why Trump didn't do this or that, and Eastern Europeans taking initiative in their own hands; and even the statistics show how the latter approach saved thousands of lives. Seems like living in a country where you know that everything is unreliable, especially the system (whether you use this word to mean goverment, market, or whatever other power greater than you and your neighbors), provides some valuable survival skills. Now I guess the question is how to develop or maintain those skills when your environment improves. Because, obviously, most people would like to see their situation improve and the environment become more reliable.