3 ms·

> "Your government shouldn't have enough power to fight an epidemic, because that's too much power" What’s enough power? A government-mandated lockdown is lega

> "Your government shouldn't have enough power to fight an epidemic, because that's too much power" What’s enough power? A government-mandated lockdown is legally impossible in Japan but they have managed to keep COVID cases within a number that can be handled by their medical system.

dismantlethesun 6y ago
I feel that if you're an island like Japan, Singapore, or New Zealand, or effectively isolated like Korea (3 sea borders + 1 land border which is permanently closed, and land-mined) then maybe the amount of power your government has isn't the key factor in keeping your country safe from a pandemic. The procedures used in NYC aren't drastically different from Singapores', but the key difference is that Manhattan cannot close its borders to the rest of the 50 US States. When people ask for a strong government in the US, its' within that context. They want a government that could enforce quarantines between different states, locking people into one state or another till the virus burns itself out. That's the way it worked in China, but is legally impossible to do in the US. The US can have minor quarantines (an apartment, a city block, etc.) but we can't legally quarantine a whole city, much less states.
- bobthepanda 6y ago
  The other issue with a lockdown like that is even if it were legally possible it would be a nightmare to administer. Centuries of free travel between states has made the borders very porous and mostly just a legal concept. There are so many minor road crossings between, say, New York and Pennsylvania that it would be impossible to secure.
- lern_too_spel 6y ago
  > The procedures used in NYC aren't drastically different from Singapores' Participating in an underground rave in Singapore would result in lashes.
- rasz 6y ago
  >The procedures used in NYC aren't drastically different from Singapores' https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/nyregion/nursing-homes-deaths-coronavirus.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/nyregion/nursing-homes-de... 'A state directive sent thousands of Covid-19 patients into nursing homes' yep, no difference at all

dismantlethesun 6y ago

I feel that if you're an island like Japan, Singapore, or New Zealand, or effectively isolated like Korea (3 sea borders + 1 land border which is permanently closed, and land-mined) then maybe the amount of power your government has isn't the key factor in keeping your country safe from a pandemic. The procedures used in NYC aren't drastically different from Singapores', but the key difference is that Manhattan cannot close its borders to the rest of the 50 US States. When people ask for a strong government in the US, its' within that context. They want a government that could enforce quarantines between different states, locking people into one state or another till the virus burns itself out. That's the way it worked in China, but is legally impossible to do in the US. The US can have minor quarantines (an apartment, a city block, etc.) but we can't legally quarantine a whole city, much less states.

bobthepanda 6y ago
The other issue with a lockdown like that is even if it were legally possible it would be a nightmare to administer. Centuries of free travel between states has made the borders very porous and mostly just a legal concept. There are so many minor road crossings between, say, New York and Pennsylvania that it would be impossible to secure.
lern_too_spel 6y ago
> The procedures used in NYC aren't drastically different from Singapores' Participating in an underground rave in Singapore would result in lashes.
rasz 6y ago
>The procedures used in NYC aren't drastically different from Singapores' https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/nyregion/nursing-homes-deaths-coronavirus.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/nyregion/nursing-homes-de... 'A state directive sent thousands of Covid-19 patients into nursing homes' yep, no difference at all