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Keep in mind that a key feature of government is having a monopoly on violence within its jurisdiction...

• djsumdog 6y ago
  That is absolutely true, but what are you implying in this context? Was Taiwan harsher with draconian lockdown policies early on?
  • GregarianChild 6y ago
    Taiwan never had a lockdown! See the discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25539398 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25539398 Taiwanese policies were not just much more successful in containing the virus, but also much less draconian.
    • tasogare 6y ago
      Japan didn’t either and both countries are performing way better than the West. I’m glad I’m living in a place that is taking the big picture into account (economic wellness of everyone) instead of hyperfocussing on saving few years of life of a very restricted demographic.
  • s5300 6y ago
    This was much less about the topic at hand and more-so about a worldwide fact about governments that I often see some HN users forgetting about. Not that it's a HN user thing either - I run into it quite often in life. So many people that just aren't aware of or don't understand that a monopoly on violence goes hand in hand with a non-failed state/government.
• Ericson2314 6y ago
  In Taiwan the memory of military rule isn't all stale, and the current party in power is the one that is explicitly not the KMT with a romanticized view of the past. So I'd say the Taiwan situation is excellent Services per Authoritarian buck. And to turn it around, while armed Civilians do erode the Government monopoly on violence, I will refuse to blame that for our current dysfunction. We suck, without or without the 2nd amendment.