As we find ourselves in what medical professionals believe to be the peak of the COVID-19 Outbreak, many Americans continue to push the boundaries of what local and state government are asking of us to help prevent the spread of the virus. Initially, our local and state government in California asked that all citizens stay home unless there was a need to provide for their family; food, healthcare, or another essential for their survival. With many Californians and Americans alike, many believed this time to be appropriate to be social, or experience an extended Spring Break, especially among younger demographics who were not believed to be threatened by the virus.
For example, one Spring Break-er was caught on camera on a beach in Florida on March 17th, 2020. He said “If I get corona, I get corona. I’m not going to let it stop me from partying.” (Lewis, 2020). This type of selfish, indulgent behavior to serve one’s personal needs at the expense of the many with high susceptibility to contracting the virus is an example of those who could not follow the rules from state and local government.
In California, the weather allows for year-round opportunity to surf, play volleyball, and experience other outdoor activities. In an area that is more conducive to year-round exercise, Californians rely on being able to go outside and be active. Unfortunately, many of those activities encourage groups of people to get together to participate. Here in Santa Barbara, man people continued to play their daily beach volleyball, tennis, and pickle ball games with their close friends. Within two days after Governor Newsom’s “Shelter in Place” order, the City of Santa Barbara had removed all public beach volleyball nets or locked tennis and pickle ball courts, barring the public from use. While Santa Barbarians can still take walks on the beaches or enjoy hiking trails while social distancing, LA County took things one step further. According to the City of Santa Monica, all public beaches in LA County are now closed until at least April 20th, in order to limit group activity and the spread of COVID-19.
Even with these initiatives from local and state government, Americans still attempt to engage their freedom to indulge in activities they have been offered in times of safety. Yet, without understanding they are at risk, their behavior is putting themselves and any other person they come in contact with at risk of contracting the virus.
In Hofstede’s Six Dimensions of National Culture, his last dimension is Indulgence. He defines Indulgence as “the good things in life.” (Hofstede, n.d). On his map, the United States is one of the areas that is rated the highest in indulgent behavior as a culture. In countries where COVID-19 has wrecked the most havoc, Italy and China, Hofstede had both rated lowest in indulgent behavior. While the three countries being compared have different demographics in terms of age and common health issues, my concern is the United States and it’s high rate of indulgent behavior. Will we as a nation, in a time of uncertainty and health crisis, be able to curb our desire to exercise our freedom to benefit the greater population? Or will the US become the incubator for COVID-19, and experience the most deaths as a country being hit by the virus?
References:
Anna Merhazion says
Great post and I would agree with all of your key points on the United States as being an indulgence dimension. Ultimately, we need to be accountable for our actions and behavior during this uncertainty as a nation. To answer your questions:
Will we as a nation, in a time of uncertainty and health crisis, be able to curb our desire to exercise our freedom to benefit the greater population? Or will the US become the incubator for COVID-19, and experience the most deaths as a country being hit by the virus?
I truly believe to take control of this pandemic depends on the leadership of the country. During this time, many people are looking to follow a good leader. A leader that paves the way and provides directions to the followers. Also, a good leader can keep people motivated and inspired and is working for the greater good for society and not just his gains. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen much leadership from our government in the past couple of months. To begin, if people see the government leadership team not taking the pandemic seriously, then the American people are not going to take it seriously either; such as social distancing or wearing protective masks when out in public. The government leadership team should also take some accountability for their mistakes and not blame it on other organizations or individuals. Last, the government leaders should take into consideration when the people of the United States are ready to reopen the country and not on their terms and timeline.
It is sad to say that we have witnessed some toxic leadership behaviors that unfortunately have cost lives of the American people. According to David Sloan Wilson (2014), here are some key components that stir up toxic leadership:
• A combination of self-centered attitudes, motivations, and behaviors that have adverse effects on subordinates, the organizations, and mission performance (Wilson, 2014).
• A leader lacks concern for others and the climate of the organization, which leaders to short-
and long-term negative effects (Wilson, 2014).
• Operates with an inflated sense of self-worth and from acute self-interest (Wilson, 2014).
• Consistently use dysfunctional behaviors to deceive, intimidate, coerce, or unfairly punish others to get what they want for themselves (Wilson, 2014).
Leadership is so important in all areas of society. In terms of change, we need a good leader to be the face of the movement as well as the backbone of uncertainties if we are to get through this difficult time. Nonetheless, we can control our behaviors and actions, so let’s do our part in fighting the pandemic and stay home.
Reference
Wilson, D. S. (2014, January 10). Toxic leaders and the social environments that breed them. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/darwinatwork/2014/01/10/toxic-leaders-and-the-social-environments-that-breed-them/#26523f2cdac5
edk5153 says
Hello,
I enjoyed reading your post because it relates to the world’s current most significant issue; COVID-19. The pandemic is showing us the strengths and weaknesses of every world government. As a person who used to live in Southern California, I understand why it may be so hard to stay indoors for most people. Being able to take walks on the beach and spend time under the sun outside is what drives many people to move to that side of the country in the first place. Also not being able to see the bigger picture of protecting others by staying at home can explain why so many people ignore these orders. Because the Chinese population is accustomed to a strict government rule that usually strips them of some freedoms that common in the United States, they haven’t been as rebellious as Americans are in the response to the government’s orders to stay at home. (Gunia, 2020) The other difference is that in most of the United States its recommended and not required to stay home like it is in China (Gunia, 2020). The Chinese government’s ability to control the people before the pandemic made it easier for them to control them after it happened. I hope you guys are staying safe out there!
References
Gunia, A. (2020, March 13). Would China’s Draconian Coronavirus Lockdown Work Anywhere Else? Retrieved from https://time.com/5796425/china-coronavirus-lockdown/
Nadine Webb says
Great post! Until now, I thought I was a homebody and I didn’t think that staying at home would be such a problem for me. To not be able to do any of the things I want to do like go to the gym, go visit family, or just sit at a restaurant is taking its toll. I believe that even though Italy and China are low on the indulgent scale both countries, along with America, have a culture where gathering with family and friends is very important. In Pennsylvania, at least where I am from, or first death in our county was because a family gathered together for Sunday dinner and the virus ripped through their family and killed several people. I think that Americans are very individualistic, and ith this virus they are being very self-indulgent and selfish and do to want to be told that they cannot do something even if it for the greater good of the community around them. I hope that we can get it together and stop the spread, I feel like it is getting better. Hopefully, when we get to the other side of this we will all have greater respect for humanity.
jjw5608 says
Great post and I can’t agree with you more on all your points. I am in California as well and have witnessed the same with publics approach to the stay at home orders. Several of the posts for our last assignment seemed to revolve around the concept of indulgence, connecting it to different topics. When I was reading through the Six dimensions and trying to connect the concepts to my own experiences to understand better. I found myself thinking of how American’s approach our work life’s, and how we are considered to be one of the worst with work-life balance. When I read your post, I definitely agree with your points on our unwillingness to let of social routines that don’t have a place right now. I’m also seeing this same approach to workers, which is a difficult conversation, but also a reality. We know we have a high indulgent score in the US which leads to less restraint to put stop what we are doing during this crisis.
Deysha Lee says
I loved your blog entry; it really brings to perspective how us as Americans are given the opportunity to indulge. After the virus hit, it was a really a rude awaking on how often we took things for granted. Even my simple routine of taking my daughter to school, going to the gym, doing my online courses and then going to work in the afternoons has been disrupted. Even going out and doing things with my family like going bowling, to the movies or even out to dinner has changed. I am thankful that I can take this time to spend more time with my family and thankful that I was already set up with online classes. I was unaware that America is rated the highest indulgent culture. After doing some further research it looks as though the US is the most individualistic culture. We as a culture do not touch one another during interpersonal interactions. We also maintain a greater distance of personal space (Rosenbaum, 2018). I believe this helps gives us an advantage when dealing with the CORVID-19. While it doesn’t help eliminate the problem, staying home and not socializing with anyone outside of your household will help with that. But understanding how the US is in individualism unlike some other cultures like the Latin Americans and the Mediterranean countries who use touch to interact and so have less personal space with each other.
References
Rosenbaum, A. (2018, Oct. 31). Personal Space and American Individualism. Retrieved from Brown Political Review : http://brownpoliticalreview.org/2018/10/personal-space-american-individualism/