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> our Great National Misery is ending Side note but, Americans take note: when you conflate "the world" with America like this, it really grinds everyone else'

> our Great National Misery is ending Side note but, Americans take note: when you conflate "the world" with America like this, it really grinds everyone else's gears. This is an International misery.

op00to 5y ago
I’m an American and reading this was like sand grinding into my phone screen. :)
enkid 5y ago
I think he's probably talking in the context of the United States because you can't say that the world's misery is over. India, for example, is still experiencing bad numbers. If anything, if he had said the world's misery is ending, that would be US centric.
- kuu 5y ago
  You're still missing the point. "National Misery" is where the error is coming, it's not National, it's affecting everyone
  - hawski 5y ago
    International Misery is made of many more or less separate National Miseries. This particular one, that affects the author personally the most is ending.
  - enkid 5y ago
    Just because the world is experiencing it doesn't also mean that a nation can't experience it. A family is Syria escaping the civil war can say their misery is ending without the civil war ending.
  - jhbadger 5y ago
    Do you have a problem with statements like "The Great Depression was the worst economic disaster in American history" because the same economic disaster was happening elsewhere (such as Germany, where it aided the rise of the Nazis).
  - ianai 5y ago
    https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/covid-4/coronavirus-seychelles https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/covid-4/coronavirus-sey... Stuff like this can still happen in a highly vaccinated population within a larger, widely un-vaccinated population.
gspr 5y ago
I usually agree wholeheartedly that Americans conflate "the world" with America, and that it's really annoying. I can't say that's happening here, though: it's true that the great pandemic misery is near its end in the nation of the USA (and in some other nations). That's a fact. Stating it doesn't mean that one does not care that the misery goes on elsewhere.
- kuu 5y ago
  The author is refering to the "National Misery", which is not "National", is global, is affecting all of us.
  - gspr 5y ago
    There is a pandemic. It is a global misery. Part of this pandemic is happening in country X. In country X it is also a national misery. Declaring something a national misery does not preclude it from also being a global one.
    - kuu 5y ago
      The thing is that is called pandemic because a reason: the virus is still mutating, and I don't know how possible it is and it's up to discussion, but a mutation is possible and your nation (which by the way still has many cases) can be reinfected again. To think that "my nation has less cases, all is over now for us" is to don't understand what pandemic means.
      - gspr 5y ago
        Pure speculation. Sure, the misery may come back. But for the US, UK, Israel, Australia, New Zealand and soon a bunch of European countries, the pandemic will soon be over. It is not over elsewhere, and it may come back to the aforementioned places. That doesn't mean one can't rejoyce that the misery is over (whether it's for now or for good).
  - thatguy0900 5y ago
    I mean, it's both. It is a national misery and a global misery. The national misery is almost over. The global probably isn't.
cassianoleal 5y ago
I agree with your comment. It grinds the gears of many Americans when people conflate the USA with America as well though.
- mc32 5y ago
  If you mean the conflation of two continents those are “The Americas” plural with a definite article.
  - cassianoleal 5y ago
    No, I mean America. The big landmass that spans the 2 hemispheres, and depending on how you subdivide it you can get 2, 3 or 4 continents. Having been born and raised in America but quite far from the USA, it grinds my gears when people try to shove that distinction down my throat.
    - mc32 5y ago
      In the modern English language no such thing exists. There is North America and South America. There is a sub continental region called Central America, but that’s not a continent and the demonym is Central American, not American. It may be that a different language treats things differently but wishing it in English doesn’t make it so.
      - cassianoleal 5y ago
        "The Americas, which are also collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas
        mc32 5y ago
        A couple of things: It’s two landmasses not one. They are connected by an isthmus. Claiming “America” is what people call both North America and South America together in standard modern English is being pedantic. Yes it is a rarely used vestige form, but it’s very rare in modern usage. It’s like claiming Ceylon is a proper name for Sri Lanka because we have Ceylon tea and Ceylon cinnamon, etc. and it was widely used in the XIX century, or Kampuchea for Cambodia, etc. In normal usage of modern standard English the combination of two continents in the Western Hemisphere are referred to as “The Americas”. Moreover, a colleague in MDF confirms Americans (US to be clear) are referred to as americanos, norte americanos and less so as “estadunidense”. Gringos being rather informal. Now, refer to French, German, Japanese, etc, and they all use a transliterated or translated version of American[1] for people from the USA. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonyms_for_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonyms_for_the_United_Stat...
antientropic 5y ago
The author isn't conflating anything - by saying "national misery" he is making it very clear that he's talking about the US situation.
mc32 5y ago
I disagree. If someone writes the great national misery is over and they say it in South Korea or they say it in Bulgaria, I mean, great! I don’t go and say, I’m glad it’s over for you but we’re still in the midst of it, so it’s not really over so get off your high horse!
fukmbas 5y ago
No other country matters besides USA
pansa2 5y ago
Even if you're going to ignore every country other than your own - before you use terms like "Great National Misery", please make it clear which nation you are talking about!
rmk 5y ago
It's an American writing for what's presumably a mostly American audience (he was a reporter at the New York Times). It's unfortunate that despite his use of "Great National Misery", links to graphs depicting the pandemic in America, "3 million Americans die each year", etc. is not enough to set the context for the average reader. He's not conflating the world with America, he's pretty much talking about America. Covid is a plague on the world, but this article is about America.

op00to 5y ago

I’m an American and reading this was like sand grinding into my phone screen. :)

enkid 5y ago

I think he's probably talking in the context of the United States because you can't say that the world's misery is over. India, for example, is still experiencing bad numbers. If anything, if he had said the world's misery is ending, that would be US centric.

kuu 5y ago
You're still missing the point. "National Misery" is where the error is coming, it's not National, it's affecting everyone
- hawski 5y ago
  International Misery is made of many more or less separate National Miseries. This particular one, that affects the author personally the most is ending.
- enkid 5y ago
  Just because the world is experiencing it doesn't also mean that a nation can't experience it. A family is Syria escaping the civil war can say their misery is ending without the civil war ending.
- jhbadger 5y ago
  Do you have a problem with statements like "The Great Depression was the worst economic disaster in American history" because the same economic disaster was happening elsewhere (such as Germany, where it aided the rise of the Nazis).
- ianai 5y ago
  https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/covid-4/coronavirus-seychelles https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/covid-4/coronavirus-sey... Stuff like this can still happen in a highly vaccinated population within a larger, widely un-vaccinated population.

gspr 5y ago

I usually agree wholeheartedly that Americans conflate "the world" with America, and that it's really annoying. I can't say that's happening here, though: it's true that the great pandemic misery is near its end in the nation of the USA (and in some other nations). That's a fact. Stating it doesn't mean that one does not care that the misery goes on elsewhere.

kuu 5y ago
The author is refering to the "National Misery", which is not "National", is global, is affecting all of us.
- gspr 5y ago
  There is a pandemic. It is a global misery. Part of this pandemic is happening in country X. In country X it is also a national misery. Declaring something a national misery does not preclude it from also being a global one.
  - kuu 5y ago
    The thing is that is called pandemic because a reason: the virus is still mutating, and I don't know how possible it is and it's up to discussion, but a mutation is possible and your nation (which by the way still has many cases) can be reinfected again. To think that "my nation has less cases, all is over now for us" is to don't understand what pandemic means.
    - gspr 5y ago
      Pure speculation. Sure, the misery may come back. But for the US, UK, Israel, Australia, New Zealand and soon a bunch of European countries, the pandemic will soon be over. It is not over elsewhere, and it may come back to the aforementioned places. That doesn't mean one can't rejoyce that the misery is over (whether it's for now or for good).
- thatguy0900 5y ago
  I mean, it's both. It is a national misery and a global misery. The national misery is almost over. The global probably isn't.

cassianoleal 5y ago

I agree with your comment. It grinds the gears of many Americans when people conflate the USA with America as well though.

mc32 5y ago
If you mean the conflation of two continents those are “The Americas” plural with a definite article.
- cassianoleal 5y ago
  No, I mean America. The big landmass that spans the 2 hemispheres, and depending on how you subdivide it you can get 2, 3 or 4 continents. Having been born and raised in America but quite far from the USA, it grinds my gears when people try to shove that distinction down my throat.
  - mc32 5y ago
    In the modern English language no such thing exists. There is North America and South America. There is a sub continental region called Central America, but that’s not a continent and the demonym is Central American, not American. It may be that a different language treats things differently but wishing it in English doesn’t make it so.
    - cassianoleal 5y ago
      "The Americas, which are also collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas
      - mc32 5y ago
        A couple of things: It’s two landmasses not one. They are connected by an isthmus. Claiming “America” is what people call both North America and South America together in standard modern English is being pedantic. Yes it is a rarely used vestige form, but it’s very rare in modern usage. It’s like claiming Ceylon is a proper name for Sri Lanka because we have Ceylon tea and Ceylon cinnamon, etc. and it was widely used in the XIX century, or Kampuchea for Cambodia, etc. In normal usage of modern standard English the combination of two continents in the Western Hemisphere are referred to as “The Americas”. Moreover, a colleague in MDF confirms Americans (US to be clear) are referred to as americanos, norte americanos and less so as “estadunidense”. Gringos being rather informal. Now, refer to French, German, Japanese, etc, and they all use a transliterated or translated version of American[1] for people from the USA. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonyms_for_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonyms_for_the_United_Stat...

antientropic 5y ago

The author isn't conflating anything - by saying "national misery" he is making it very clear that he's talking about the US situation.

mc32 5y ago

I disagree. If someone writes the great national misery is over and they say it in South Korea or they say it in Bulgaria, I mean, great! I don’t go and say, I’m glad it’s over for you but we’re still in the midst of it, so it’s not really over so get off your high horse!

fukmbas 5y ago

No other country matters besides USA

pansa2 5y ago

Even if you're going to ignore every country other than your own - before you use terms like "Great National Misery", please make it clear which nation you are talking about!

rmk 5y ago

It's an American writing for what's presumably a mostly American audience (he was a reporter at the New York Times). It's unfortunate that despite his use of "Great National Misery", links to graphs depicting the pandemic in America, "3 million Americans die each year", etc. is not enough to set the context for the average reader. He's not conflating the world with America, he's pretty much talking about America. Covid is a plague on the world, but this article is about America.