I agree that arrogance is a serious problem, but in the US the response was hampered by something even more insidious — Disregard for human life. We once criticized regimes that put the party’s goals above the lives of the people- but now every day we endure pundits and politicians preaching that it’s better to sacrifice the lives of 2–3% of our population than to let the GDP shrink. So it’s not just arrogance here, it’s a problem of losing our core values which is much more frightening. Tragedy can shake the hubris out of failed leaders, but when they lack the humanity to care about the lives of the people the downward spiral is terrifying.