What he describes as attributes of the Right are actually the attributes of the vast majority of Americans. I've known that since I was nine years old. It is purely logical that we have handled the pandemic worse than any other Western nation because as Krugman rightly points out, a responsible response to the pandemic requires empathy and a minimal sense of community. I'd add "wearing a mask" to the list of things Americans are naturally opposed to for the simple reason that donning that mask protects others around you - and giving them any consideration at all is an anathema to the vast majority of Americans.

I had either the good fortune or misfortune of going behind the Iron Curtain when I was nine years old, staying for my tenth birthday. That experience allowed me to take a more clear-eyed look at my country and my fellow Americans. I didn't like what I saw in the majority of them then and I do not like what I see in the majority of them now.