May 22, 2020 2 min read

We live in the land of the free. We are free to say anything. We are free to disagree. We are free to do almost anything, even if it’s risky. We are free to skydive. We are free to bungee jump.

We are not free to hurt other people. Comparing the population of Pennsylvania and the percentage of the population over age 65, we are second to Florida, which has the oldest population. We also border New York, the state with the most cases of the virus.

Our president chose not to design a national policy to deal with the virus, but left it to the governors of each state. Now, he is wandering around, undercutting his own actions by encouraging citizens to defy governors in Democratic states. Yes, facing this sudden, extraordinary situation, some details of Tom Wolf’s policies are inconsistent, even absurd, but we need to face this in a coordinated way or we will never be able to locate, track, analyze, focus treatment, and defeat the virus.

To support individual defiance of the governor’s approach is like forcing all of us to skydive. Actually, with 4,600 deaths from the virus, skydiving is a lot safer, but I still would resent being forced to do it.

Gerard Weiss 

Washington