Fat Camp part 3The part where I get political and offend easily offended Americans

An incidental benefit to staying in Taipei for the next two to four weeks is that Taiwan is one of the safest countries in the world when it comes to the new American Flu. How that happened is a mystery to Americans, but it makes perfect sense to anyone who knows anything about Taiwan. They were hit hard by the SARS epidemic 15 years ago and they put those lessons into practice. The people of Taiwan, unlike Americans, never believed they were inherently immune to disaster. They get fatal typhoons every single year and have had their share of catastrophic earthquakes. Significantly, every Taiwanese alive today has lived with the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. Americans have the luxury of fighting their wars on the other side of the planet.

Rather than make racist jokes and spread conspiracy theories, propaganda, misinformation and disinformation when COVID-19 hit, Taiwan immediately sprang into action. They had a plan of attack after SARS and used it. Presidential administrations have come and gone since SARS, and even though two different political parties have been in charge, no one rejected their preparation efforts out of spite. They all put the country's safety ahead of their own agenda.

The people in charge of Taiwan and the United States are also very different in their backgrounds and temperament. America's vice president is a religious extremist who thinks science is the devil's work. Taiwan's vice president is an epidemiologist who was the minister of health during the big SARS epidemic.

Hong Kong is also far safer than the United States, but it is much closer to Hubei. People from Mainland China flood into Hong Kong all the time, mostly for shopping. While Taiwan immediately canceled all flights to and from the Mainland, Hong Kong only restricted certain cities. From what I have seen, the largely incompetent leaders of Hong Kong did a pretty good job in dealing with the virus. They acted infinitely faster than the Americans and have shown their ability to adapt and adjust as the situation changes. To American leaders, the only options are turning the knob all the way down to 0 or all the way up to 11. Hong Kong leaders know there are several volumes in between and that sometimes you have to turn it up or down when the song changes.

In parts of the United States, or every inch of it if you watch CNN, Americans are prisoners in their homes, the streets are empty and businesses are closed. I don't know how accurate that is, but every American I have talked to is staying home from work right now. In Hong Kong, the streets and shopping malls are just as crowded as ever, but more people are wearing masks and they closed Disneyland, KTVs and nightclubs. In Taiwan, I have seen no difference whatsoever. Everything is open, as far as I know, trains are still crowded, stores are still stocked. Maybe more people are wearing masks, but I remember plenty of masks the last time I visited before the virus.

Some Americans will take offense to everything I have said about the United States. That's just the American way. We are the best at everything, and anyone who criticizes anything is a traitor. Unless the other party is in charge. Then the United States is going to hell in a handbasket. But when it comes to this virus, the United States has failed miserably and Taiwan, of all places, has shown the world how it should be done. Unfortunately for the world, the WHO refuses to listen to Taiwan, and Taiwan will never get the recognition it deserves. When this is all over, someone will take credit for ending it, but I bet whoever that is will never acknowledge Taiwan's research, preparedness and ingenuity. I don't know how often the average Taiwanese is proud of their country, but they should be right now.