Societies and economies are artificial constructs. If enough believe, and act on those beliefs, both can be manipulated to work as people believe they do, even when data and factual information don't support them. However, some things, like viruses and pandemics, don't respond to belief and will kill people regardless of their belief system or politics.

This is where authoritarians get desperate and begin manipulating information allowed to the public. Shining a big glaring light on their falsehoods is the fastest way to defeat such leaders, providing the general population is smart and mature enough to change their belief in light of evidence.

Sadly, Americans have not proven to be so intellectually gifted. We will probably have to see how this defiance of fact and science plays out, but it won't be good for anyone, especially the "true believers." The timing is particularly terrible considering that we have a very limited window in which to save our species and others (the planet will be fine, although different).