Two Populations, Separated by an Ocean, Have Different Rates of Success Addressing COVID-19

What are we to infer from this graph?  Given that it displays two vastly different outcomes, there must be at least one dramatic difference between the subject groups and the way they were treated over this period of time.

Both are part of the developed world, have essentially the same genetic make-up and access to healthcare.  Neither has a vaccine.

One group however, representatives of which are pictured below, has millions of people defying public health officials.  Some are heavily armed, while others carry signs that read, “My freedom is more important than your health.”  The governor of one of the group’s 50 states has refused to close its beaches.  In another part of the country, tens of thousands of its members are holding a rally, packed tightly together without protective masks, screaming at the top of their lungs as they are whipped into a frenzy by the country’s president.

And no, I’m not making this up.