Re: “Thiessen: COVID-19 an indictment of socialized medicine ” (Opinion section, April 16):
Marc Thiessen’s article, rather than being a commentary on “freedom” as the antidote to the virus, actually points out that the true antidote is competence.
Taiwan responded according to the “playbook” which was developed years ago after SARS and MERS, and was well-known to, and recommended by, experts in the USA.
Taiwan has a government that respects, not muzzles, science. Why is Taiwan’s mandated 14-day quarantines “freedom,” but the United States’ mandated social distancing isn’t?
Thiessen acknowledges the importance of WHO for pandemics, yet the USA is now defunding it. He doesn’t mention that Taiwan has single-payer compulsory universal health care; would he call this “socialism”?
I wonder if his support for “freedom” includes having a free press, which can report on the virus and question the government “experts” without being attacked as “fake news” and “the enemy of the people”?
Thiessen should compare Taiwan’s response to our government’s response.
Ronald Cohen
Palo Alto
Submit your letter to the editor via this form
Read more Letters to the Editor
