This is especially for those of you who adore Donald Trump, but abhor dictators.
Most of you believe that Trump does not have ambitions of being a totalitarian himself, so I would like you to consider the following.
By now there’s very little to say about the Coronavirus that has not been said already.
Except maybe that you should arm yourself with facts and not fall for the sensationalist paranoia that’s being peddled by some media outlets.
But also don’t be completely ignorant of the dangers, especially if you have pre-existing medical conditions, like diabetes or a weak heart.
Don’t be like Trump, who adopted a blanket denial of the severity of the situation.
Both he and his fawning media mouthpiece - Fox News- have been dangerously ignorant.
Now consider the fact that at the start of the outbreak, China did everything to keep details under wraps.
So much so that they allegedly threatened health professionals who tried to raise the alarm.
One of those doctors actually died after contracting the disease himself.
They have since had to admit that their Wuhan province is the epicentre of the outbreak; from where it spread to the rest of the world.
The fact is, had they acted more swiftly to contain it and been more open about the information, then their citizens could’ve protected themselves better and the spread may have been better contained.
In an example of “too little, too late,” they have since acted aggressively, putting almost 50 million people on lockdown.
Iran went pretty much the same route.
The regime (not very different from China) put government spokespeople on TV to reassure citizens that they have the virus under control.
Ironically, one of those spokespeople appeared on TV while being infected with Covid-19.
Iran has now reported 124 deaths from close to 5 000 infections.
At least 23 of the country’s MPs are among those infected.
Just like Trump, they continue to try and downplay the seriousness of the disease.
The similarities are clear as daylight.
So, if acting like a dictator makes you a caring leader, then I suppose Trump is a wise saint.
But all signs point in the other direction.