Is cooperative freedom the answer?

Very interesting data informing what is effective in controlling the spread of the virus. Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea have done a remarkably better job of it than the U.S. without locking down society. An important element is that those three governments implemented rigorous testing and tracking protocols very early in the outbreak.

I believe the difference between them and us is cultural - they are conditioned and comfortable with what I am thinking of as “cooperative freedom”, where absolute independence, and a resistance to being told what to do, are not existing as obstacles to cooperation.

I suggest that the same cultural qualities can explain why the U.S. has a gun violence problem much greater than any other country, why we don’t have universal healthcare, and why the left and the right can’t get along.

Unqualified “freedom” is anarchy and gets in the way of the benefits of cooperation, which is what government should be all about.


You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete.
R. Buckminster Fuller