As an uneasy March unspooled, as coronavirus
dread descended upon the United States, it
became commonplace — and, for public figures,
quite practical — to point out how, unlike most
major events in the 21st century, this was an
unusually communal moment.
There is power and authority in invoking shared
experience, whether it comes from the president
(“We are all in this together”), the governor of
New York (“Nobody’s alone. We are all in the
same situation”) or a random Pittsburgh disc
jockey (“Everybody’s in the same boat”).
Even while at odds, Americans crave shared
experiences — an understandable yearning
for a nation quilted together from an unlikely
patchwork of backgrounds, traditions and
beliefs. And shared adversity can unite people.
But as it unfolds before us, is this period actually
that increasingly rare of things — a genuinely