We still have a culture of "us", it simply wasn't fully tapped into in 2020.
In September 2001, it felt as if "we" had been attacked. Just as in 2020, people began signing up and volunteering to take on the cause. New Yorkers, in particular, suddenly noticed their neighbors and pulled together as a community. I saw the same from within the mask-donation and mask-manufacturing movement this year. Thousands of people, in an entirely grassroots way, stepped up to find one another and address a grave and essential problem.
What stymied the response to Covid in the United States most seems to have been a lack of engaged, concerned, and coordinated epidemiological response at the federal level. That it failed is ultimately not "the government's" fault, it is ours, as citizens. That public-safety measures designed to protect us, our neighbors, and our most-vulnerable became political footballs is our fault. We need to find ways to grow our national sense of responsibility toward others -- it is a challenge that each of us can take on.
2020 has been a championship opportunity for all of us. 2021 will be, too.
To be blunt about it: politicians in other jurisdictions were not up to the task. I was shocked to hear that many provinces did not impose self-isolation requirements upon entry. I was shocked to hear how few public health restrictions were imposed upon their businesses, even when things started spiralling out of control. When you have a virus to contain, you need someone who will make tough decisions and deliver clear messaging so things can recover in four weeks instead of dragging on for four months (and counting). While local attitudes may have helped to improve compliance with public health measures, it can only play a role when there is something to comply with.
Becoming a small island with strict immigration controls is a little difficult for the US.
If the US had done those things from the beginning, we'd be much better off.