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We'll never know, but it's worth pointing out that the slow and disorganized response by many western countries like the US and UK seemed to be less influenced

We'll never know, but it's worth pointing out that the slow and disorganized response by many western countries like the US and UK seemed to be less influenced by where the disease originated and more heavily influenced by a localized desire to pretend everything was normal. I have a hard time seeing a different outcome if a virus of similar potency came out of Africa or somewhere else, based solely on how poorly leaders from around the world have responded to it.

api 7y ago
Things like responding to a pandemic are precisely where authoritarian regimes excel. Authoritarian structures generally excel when you need a lot of people to do a lot of the same thing: responding to disasters in simple but effective ways, high volume manufacturing, grunt and infantry level military operations, and large infrastructure projects. These are the areas where China leads the world. With the possible exception of the military, America and other Western democracies are downright horrible at these things. We can't build infrastructure, have lost much of our high volume manufacturing, and react to disasters with delay and bickering and population non-compliance. Where they don't excel is creativity, invention, innovation, culture creation, and maximizing individual well being in peacetime. They're also more politically brittle because there is no graceful mechanism for non-violent political change.
- iron0013 7y ago
  Chinese style technocratic authoritarianism might excel in the face of pandemic, but one need look no farther than Brazil to see that old-fashioned grievance-based reactionary authoritarianism falls flat on its face when it needs to deal with any problem that can’t be swept under the rug by blaming it on a group of “Others”
- save_ferris 7y ago
  It's also much easier for authoritarian regimes to give off such impressions when they can lock up and execute whistle-blowers and critics without with access to any semblance of a just legal system.
- Spellman 7y ago
  While once they make up their minds to act they can be extraordinarily effective, getting to that point can be a mess. For a while they suppressed information about what was going on in the region, suppressed information to the outside world about the virus, and generally said "Everything is fine" delaying their response. Now, to their credit, once they committed they did an excellent job. And the population has complied in amazing fashion. But the slow-moving party has a weakness that it won't broadcast when things are starting to go wrong until they can't ignore it any longer. You can also imagine what would have happened if they continued to lock up critics for even longer. Enlightened authoritarians only work if they are, well, enlightened. Once corruption seeps in those same levers of power can be exploited for personal and Party gain.
- PeterisP 7y ago
  The handling of Covid-19 in Iran is a great counterexample.
- kiba 7y ago
  South Korea and Taiwan did all right and they're democracies.
- cvlasdkv 7y ago
  I firmly believe your comment is conflating China's competence with its political structure. There are definite benefits when it comes to large-scale planning when your country is already familiar with state-planning and infringement on "freedoms". That being said, a look at a country like Brazil would show you that being authoritarian is not enough. In the same vein that there are democratic countries who are handling COVID 19 much, much, better than the West. Not to mention those same countries give us great "innovation (e.g. technology), culture creation (e.g. Parasite), etc.". The Western democracies should not escape blame because they are "democracies".
- nocorpwelfare 7y ago
  The US is doing just fine and there is no need for further authoritarian measures right now. We'll do what me must when we must.
- Ididntdothis 7y ago
  Only when they have made up their mind to respond. It took the soviets a very long time to respond to Chernobyl. The first instinct of authoritarians is to pretend problems don’t exist.
- simonh 7y ago
  Ive seen a lot of comments like this recently and I think they're really a bit lazy and simplistic. China made some grave errors as others have pointed out, and those are directly attributable to their authoritarian system. Also democracies and be highly organised and co-ordinated. Look at the speed and efficiency with which South Korea and Germany have responded. It's as much about culture as politics. Also on high volume manufacturing, China's success at this has nothing whatever to do with authoritarianism. None of the big manufacturing concerns in China are state run, they're all private companies build using private capital. Their success is a result of the government getting out of their way.
- atomi 7y ago
  You might want to check out the TV miniseries Chernobyl.

api 7y ago

Things like responding to a pandemic are precisely where authoritarian regimes excel. Authoritarian structures generally excel when you need a lot of people to do a lot of the same thing: responding to disasters in simple but effective ways, high volume manufacturing, grunt and infantry level military operations, and large infrastructure projects. These are the areas where China leads the world. With the possible exception of the military, America and other Western democracies are downright horrible at these things. We can't build infrastructure, have lost much of our high volume manufacturing, and react to disasters with delay and bickering and population non-compliance. Where they don't excel is creativity, invention, innovation, culture creation, and maximizing individual well being in peacetime. They're also more politically brittle because there is no graceful mechanism for non-violent political change.

iron0013 7y ago
Chinese style technocratic authoritarianism might excel in the face of pandemic, but one need look no farther than Brazil to see that old-fashioned grievance-based reactionary authoritarianism falls flat on its face when it needs to deal with any problem that can’t be swept under the rug by blaming it on a group of “Others”
save_ferris 7y ago
It's also much easier for authoritarian regimes to give off such impressions when they can lock up and execute whistle-blowers and critics without with access to any semblance of a just legal system.
Spellman 7y ago
While once they make up their minds to act they can be extraordinarily effective, getting to that point can be a mess. For a while they suppressed information about what was going on in the region, suppressed information to the outside world about the virus, and generally said "Everything is fine" delaying their response. Now, to their credit, once they committed they did an excellent job. And the population has complied in amazing fashion. But the slow-moving party has a weakness that it won't broadcast when things are starting to go wrong until they can't ignore it any longer. You can also imagine what would have happened if they continued to lock up critics for even longer. Enlightened authoritarians only work if they are, well, enlightened. Once corruption seeps in those same levers of power can be exploited for personal and Party gain.
PeterisP 7y ago
The handling of Covid-19 in Iran is a great counterexample.
kiba 7y ago
South Korea and Taiwan did all right and they're democracies.
cvlasdkv 7y ago
I firmly believe your comment is conflating China's competence with its political structure. There are definite benefits when it comes to large-scale planning when your country is already familiar with state-planning and infringement on "freedoms". That being said, a look at a country like Brazil would show you that being authoritarian is not enough. In the same vein that there are democratic countries who are handling COVID 19 much, much, better than the West. Not to mention those same countries give us great "innovation (e.g. technology), culture creation (e.g. Parasite), etc.". The Western democracies should not escape blame because they are "democracies".
nocorpwelfare 7y ago
The US is doing just fine and there is no need for further authoritarian measures right now. We'll do what me must when we must.
Ididntdothis 7y ago
Only when they have made up their mind to respond. It took the soviets a very long time to respond to Chernobyl. The first instinct of authoritarians is to pretend problems don’t exist.
simonh 7y ago
Ive seen a lot of comments like this recently and I think they're really a bit lazy and simplistic. China made some grave errors as others have pointed out, and those are directly attributable to their authoritarian system. Also democracies and be highly organised and co-ordinated. Look at the speed and efficiency with which South Korea and Germany have responded. It's as much about culture as politics. Also on high volume manufacturing, China's success at this has nothing whatever to do with authoritarianism. None of the big manufacturing concerns in China are state run, they're all private companies build using private capital. Their success is a result of the government getting out of their way.
atomi 7y ago
You might want to check out the TV miniseries Chernobyl.