I sometimes refer to the COVID-19 pandemic as "the great psychometric test.” We are all being placed under different kinds of strain, and we have the chance to react for better or worse.
One set of tests has concerned masks. There is increasing evidence that masks stem the spread of the virus, yet the United States is not embracing mask-wearing. It is the only major nation that has turned masks into a partisan political issue. That is a psychometric test for this country, and we are failing it.
The next test, I think, will be which institutions can succeed at getting Americans to wear their masks. That in turn will be a test of which institutions Americans truly trust — or are at least willing to defer to.