It's no secret that America is struggling with the coronavirus.
Right? And part of the reason is that hardly anyone alive
has ever seen a pandemic like this before.
In fact, to find the closest one,
you have to go back over a hundred years.
The nation's top infectious disease expert,
Dr. Anthony Fauci, says this current pandemic
may match the horror of 1918's flu epidemic.
This is a pandemic of historic proportions.
I think we... we can't deny that fact.
It's something that, I think, when history looks back on it,
it'll be comparable to what we saw in...
in 1918.
Yes. To find something similar to corona,
you have to go back to 1918.
That's way back.
Like, back before they even invented smiling.
Would you like to try smiling?
But this is a picture.
I know. Do something crazy.
Eh...
No, you're right, it won't work.
But what has America learned since the 1918 Spanish flu?
Well, it turns out, not a lot--
as we'll see in another installment of...
If You Don't Know, Now You Know.
♪ ♪
The Spanish flu of 1918 had a lot in common
with the coronavirus in 2020.
It infected millions around the globe,
it spread easily through the air through coughs and sneezes,
and through most of it,
we were wiping our butts with old newspapers.
But the real similarities between these two pandemics
is in how American society responded.
For example, in both eras,
the pandemic spread even further
thanks to the mismanagement of the federal government.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic,
Mr. Trump has downplayed the severity of the problem
as cases surge around the country.
MAN: Woodrow Wilson, during World War I,
tried to minimize the Spanish flu epidemic.
MAN 2: Woodrow Wilson pretended it wasn't happening.
Did not let people know how to protect themselves.
NEWSMAN: The president's effectively discarding
the existing advice from his government,
his own public health experts.
MAN 2: Woodrow Wilson encouraged public events.
He told mayors and governors to have military parades.
NEWSWOMAN: Despite public warnings
against mass gatherings,
President Trump is encouraging thousands of people
to gather for a fireworks display.
MAN 3: You had national public health leaders
saying such things as,
"This is ordinary influenza by another name."
View this the same as the flu.
This is no reason to panic at all.
It's going to disappear one day.
It's like a miracle. It will disappear.
Uh-huh. Trump is making all the same mistakes
that Woodrow Wilson once made.
And, I mean, I know we said we want him
to be more presidential, but not that president.
Sometimes it seems like Trump is a Frankenstein
but made up of only the worst parts
of all previous presidents.
We know he's got the pandemic response of Woodrow Wilson,
the racism of Andrew Jackson,
the horniness of Bill Clinton,
the vocabulary of George W. Bush,
and it's all stuffed into Taft's body.
Now, in both 1918 and today,
the lack of leadership created a vacuum
that allowed misinformation and dangerous "cures"
to be spread as fast as the virus itself.
NEWSMAN: As the coronavirus continues to spread worldwide,
the misinformation is spreading, too.
NEWSWOMAN: President Trump is pushing
the debunked conspiracy that coronavirus was man-made
in a lab in Wuhan, China.
WOMAN: The pandemic spread benefitted from misinformation.
MAN: People began blaming the Germans,
claiming they were spreading poison clouds
or that Bayer, which was a German-owned company,
had infected their aspirin.
NEWSMAN 2: The president offers snake oil treatments
that have the potential to do more harm than good.
NEWSMAN 3: The president suggested Americans
can inject themselves with disinfectants
to ward off COVID-19.
The disinfectant, it knocks it out in a minute.
WOMAN: Snake oil salesmen had a field day.
WOMAN 2: Vicks VapoRub also advertised itself
as a remedy for the flu,
claiming to stimulate the mucus membrane
to throw off the germs.
MAN 2: There were plenty of ads touting medicines,
tablets and the use of disinfectants.
People back in the day were so dumb.
They thought you could spread flu
through aspirin?
I mean, everyone knows that diseases are spread
through 5G. Hello?
That's why you turn on airplane mode.
I'll be honest. I actually admire
conspiracy theorists back then
because they didn't have YouTube to spread their ideas,
which means to get people to believe this stuff,
they had to go door-to-door.
-(knock on door) -Good day, ma'am.
The Rockefellers are inventing a flu vaccine
that'll record your thoughts.
To hear more, please like and subscribe.
I'll return here again in a few days.
And if you like what I have to say,
well, I recommend my friend, who's gonna tell you
why the Earth is really flat.
By the way, I'm willing to bet money
that that Vicks conspiracy
was actually started by an African dad,
because they try and fix everything with Vicks.
"Daddy, I'm sad. Can I get a hug?"
"You don't need a hug from me. You know what you need?
"You need to put some Vicks on your chest, huh?
"It will warm up your heart, okay?
Now go away."
And here's the thing. What we saw in 1918
and we're seeing again today
is that the lack of trust in leadership
doesn't just cause the wrong treatments to spread.
It also makes it much harder
for the right treatments to spread.
WOMAN: Cities recommended face masks,
though many residents didn't take that suggestion seriously.
NEWSMAN: Despite the alarming spike,
many people still refuse to wear masks.
WOMAN: A mask mandate followed, but not everyone complied.
NEWSWOMAN: Masks are mandated here.
Not everyone likes the rule.
You guys are violating federal law, you get that?
NEWSWOMAN 2: One woman declared the ordinance
"absolutely unconstitutional."
They say that it interferes with their personal liberty
and it's unconstitutional.
MAN: The anti-mask sentiment actually coalesced
into something organized.
Thousands protested mandatory masking measures.
MAN 2: Are you gonna allow the government
to tell you you have to wear a mask?
ALL: No!
You know, it's bad enough
that people today don't want to wear masks,
but why wouldn't people in 1918 wear masks?
I mean, the past smelled like shit
all the time.
Forget the flu. I would have worn a mask
just not to smell the horse crap and the pre-running-water B.O.
I also wish that I could tell all the anti-mask people today
that masks actually helped bring an end to the Spanish flu.
Yeah, but knowing some of these haters, they'd be like,
"Oh, yeah? But if masks work so well, then how come
everyone who lived through that period is dead now?"
I will say, it is depressing that it's been 100 years
and masks are still our best invention
for stopping a pandemic.
'Cause, I mean, if someone traveled
in a time machine from 1918, they'd get here like,
"I've traveled into the future.
"Pray do tell, what ways can you stop a virus?
Do you have nose lasers?"
"No, we-we've got a mask."
"It's still a mask?"
"Yes. But now it's blue!"
So, the sad truth is so far,
America has repeated all the mistakes with corona
that it made during the Spanish flu.
And if Americans don't do the very un-American thing
of learning from history,
then 2020 will be bound to repeat the worst of 1918:
the second wave.
NEWSWOMAN: Backlash from business owners
pressured cities to reopen.
As cities eased guidelines,
some were hit with a second wave of the flu.
St. Louis, Birmingham and Omaha
saw an increase in cases after lifting closures.
MAN: Denver reopens on November 10.
With all restrictions on distancing lifted,
thousands flocked to the streets
for an Armistice Day celebration.
No more than ten days later,
signs that the city opened up back too soon
became clear as the death toll rises again.
MAN 2: In San Francisco,
when the cases went almost down to zero,
the city said, "Let's open up the city.
"Let's have a great big parade.
We'll all take off our masks together."
Because of that event, two months later,
the great influenza came back roaring.
Yeah, that's something we all have to keep in mind.
The lesson of 1918
is that bringing crowds back too soon
will bring the virus back, too.
So, as much as I hate to say it,
we actually need to get Trump reelected.
Yeah, because if there's anyone who knows
how to keep a crowd size down, it's him.
So, that's where we are. It's clear
that nothing has really changed since 1918
except for the fact that now our clothing shows off our butts.
And just like with the Spanish flu,
America has ignored the spread of COVID-19
until it was too late.
And even now
America isn't taking the steps needed to flatten the curve.
But remember, it's not too late to learn from history.
So, America, put on a mask.
Socially distance.
Because the way things are going right now,
by the time 2120 comes around,
there won't be anyone left to learn from our mistakes.