Michael Murry

A few cases of the corona virus here in Taiwan, but the government and society have handled things quickly and well.

With our excellent single payer health care system, testing and necessary quarantining went into effect with little or no political grandstanding of the sort that typically characterizes the U.S. We all wear face masks when we enter enclosed spaces with other people (stores, buses, trains, taxi-cabs, etc) otherwise a good many of us breathe free and easy without them when out in the open air going to and from business or exercise walks in the park.

Right now, the chief concern of the Taiwanese people relates to those persons from other countries, most notably the United States, who want to come here at the risk of bringing more of the infection with them. China and Korea, for their part, got a handle on the virus quickly and now appear headed back to some sort of normalcy. Same with Taiwan.

Sure glad that I live here and not somewhere else. I have lived a good deal longer, happier, and more creatively than I would have had I not gotten out of the U.S. seventeen years ago.

I feel sorry for my sons and grandchildren and friends who cannot escape, but if they want a better world for themselves, they will have to build it. No one wants to hear from an old expatriate Vietnam Veteran Against The War — like me — but in case someone might someday wonder what people like me thought about things, I plan on spending my remaining days putting together a family history — with pictures and commentary — that my descendants might possibly find of interest.

Mike lives in Taiwan and is an occasional contributor to The Contrary Perspective.