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Trauma is the only word that can describe what Americans have been going through: On May 24, an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in an elementary school in Texas, less than two weeks after a white supremacists shot dead 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo; A recall of baby formulas by Abbott Laboratories, which controls 48 percent of the market, after four babies consumed the product became sick with bacterial infections, is causing a nation-wide shortage in baby formulas. Many metro areas are seeing more than half of baby formulas out of stock; And lastly, on May 12, U.S. President Joe Biden mourned the one million American deaths from COVID-19.

It isn't bad luck that made all these seemingly unconnected events congregate. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, U.S. firearm sales have remained way above pre-pandemic level. According to data from Small Arms Analytics and Forecasting, 5.9 million firearms were sold in America in the first four months of 2022. 4.6 million were sold over the same period in 2019. Abbott's baby formula recall was reported over three months ago on February 18, 2022. The pandemic started more than two years ago, and no country has come close to the U.S.' registered death toll.

Only one explanation rings true: The United States government and the political system lack the power and the ability to deal with crisis in the country. In other words, it can't govern.

It might look strange to outsiders. After all, the United States has been very active around the world. It is throwing billions and billions of dollars into the Ukraine conflict. Biden has just concluded a tour in Asia, nudging countries into committing to some kind of military coalition against China. It's been trotting on the global stage, criticizing the human rights conditions in other countries while its own people suffer.

The U.S. government's inability and incompetence have been on display for some time now. The political polarization in recent years has made it nearly impossible for the two parties to work together. And on hot button issues like gun control, the polarization is even more stark. When the White House and the Democrats are calling for stricter measures after the shooting in Texas, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a press conference that flatly rejected the notion that stricter measures are the solution. He believed that "Chicago and LA and New York" disapproved the theory that stronger regulations on firearms could stop crimes. "Our job is to come up with real solutions that we can implement," he said.

The polarization had been so severe that the U.S. Capitol faced an insurrection to stop the Congress from certifying the winner of the 2020 Presidential Election.

America's two-party system, which has been so lauded by U.S. politicians as a model for democracy, is facing a breakdown over its ability to actually govern and produce results for its people. According to the most recent Gallup poll, 83 percent of Americans believe the U.S. has gone off the rails. Reuters is reporting that Biden's approval rating has dropped to the lowest in his presidency with only 36 percent approving his performance. Only 18 percent of Americas are satisfied with Congress based on Gallup.

We are seeing the breakdown of the American government unfolding before our eyes. The shootings, the threat to babies and the deaths from COVID-19 may look like separate incidents. But underneath of it all lays the incompetence of the politicians and the gridlock in Washington. And the general public in the United States is the victim of these attributes.

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