I think the point "Health care officials and government don't respect the public" is worth some deeper consideration. As a thought exercise, I'd like to put my

I think the point "Health care officials and government don't respect the public" is worth some deeper consideration. As a thought exercise, I'd like to put myself in the shoes of that public health official and see what my responsibilities are. I'd know for a fact that, without extreme measures, there will be a huge death toll. And I'd have working experience to know for a fact that, if I come right out and advocate directly for those extreme measures, the public will revolt against them. So here's the question to answer under this thought exercise: how do I respect the public? It is my role to mitigate this public health disaster. How do I do it? There's a libertarian or anarchistic streak in US society that views anyone exercising the kinds of roles considered in that thought exercise as an illegitimate use of power over the individual. I have a hard time with that, because it seems to me like it precludes all the tools we use to answer crises like COVID, all of which require people to play those kinds of roles.