A well-known Norwegian economic commentator pointed this out in a newspaper article a few weeks ago. You'll eventually be forced to maintain an R~=1 no matter what you do, so it's best for everyone if your cases have a low baseline when that happens. The measures will be the same, but the baseline risk can either be terrible or okay.

You can almost see the phenomenon in real time during this pandemic. Countries that have low trust in authorities will still freak out when the epidemic hits biblical proportions, and do various forms of impromptu distancing measures which will bring the R number down. Then when the signs of panic subside, they'll loosen them. And so on.

Societies with high trust in authorities will still pressure their authorities to loosen up when things feel safe, with predictible results, leading to further lockdowns.