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Because the alternative for us was not Taiwan or Korea. They went far and beyond what Americans were willing to tolerate. I'm in Taiwan (and was for SARS in 20

Because the alternative for us was not Taiwan or Korea. They went far and beyond what Americans were willing to tolerate. I'm in Taiwan (and was for SARS in 2003). We had early travel restrictions and have to quarantine for 14-days after returning from abroad, and have to wear a mask on the subway. For the past few months there's been a mask rule at some indoor venues but it still allows for restaurants and bars to stay open and maskless. There was a marathon a few months ago with tens of thousands of people. There hasn't been a lockdown here. Businesses haven't been wrecked. The economy is great. What was so "far and beyond what Americans were willing to tolerate"? Edit: serious question here! I know there's quite a bit of ignorance about Taiwan internationally, but the rules truly have not been onerous at all. It's gone well because of travel restrictions and an, IMO, justified trust in civic institutions.

mafribe 6y ago
I agree, Taiwan of all countries arguably handled Covid best. It seems irresponsible to discuss Covid policies without reference to, and good understanding of, Taiwan. I found that people in the West, often simply don't believe me when I tell them that Taiwan didn't lock down at all, and had hardly any Covid deaths. Reactions I have come across have been: "yeah but Taiwan is a dictatorship" and "They are lying about numbers ..." The amount of ignorance is astonishing. I think it's a psychological problem: most people are perfectly happy to believe that their home countries have somewhat flawed political systems, but find it near impossible to accept that they are orders of magnitude worse than some others.
tstrimple 6y ago
> What was so "far and beyond what Americans were willing to tolerate"? All of these things: > We had early travel restrictions and have to quarantine for 14-days after returning from abroad, and have to wear a mask on the subway. There have been multiple people shot for the audacity of asking customers to weak masks.
rrdharan 6y ago
Taiwan also has serious quarantine monitoring/enforcement that would never fly in America, which you didn’t mention: https://qz.com/1825997/taiwan-phone-tracking-system-monitors-55000-under-coronavirus-quarantine/ https://qz.com/1825997/taiwan-phone-tracking-system-monitors... ‘They both pointed out that while there’s broad public support for the digital surveillance, many people don’t fully understand how the technology works. “The main worry is not knowing what it is, not knowing that turning my phone off means the police will come knocking, not knowing how they’re triangulating my coordinates,” Hsieh said, adding that the onus should be on the government to explain the technology clearly. The government has said the tracking system would be discontinued after the pandemic passes.’

mafribe 6y ago

I agree, Taiwan of all countries arguably handled Covid best. It seems irresponsible to discuss Covid policies without reference to, and good understanding of, Taiwan. I found that people in the West, often simply don't believe me when I tell them that Taiwan didn't lock down at all, and had hardly any Covid deaths. Reactions I have come across have been: "yeah but Taiwan is a dictatorship" and "They are lying about numbers ..." The amount of ignorance is astonishing. I think it's a psychological problem: most people are perfectly happy to believe that their home countries have somewhat flawed political systems, but find it near impossible to accept that they are orders of magnitude worse than some others.

tstrimple 6y ago

> What was so "far and beyond what Americans were willing to tolerate"? All of these things: > We had early travel restrictions and have to quarantine for 14-days after returning from abroad, and have to wear a mask on the subway. There have been multiple people shot for the audacity of asking customers to weak masks.

rrdharan 6y ago

Taiwan also has serious quarantine monitoring/enforcement that would never fly in America, which you didn’t mention: https://qz.com/1825997/taiwan-phone-tracking-system-monitors-55000-under-coronavirus-quarantine/ https://qz.com/1825997/taiwan-phone-tracking-system-monitors... ‘They both pointed out that while there’s broad public support for the digital surveillance, many people don’t fully understand how the technology works. “The main worry is not knowing what it is, not knowing that turning my phone off means the police will come knocking, not knowing how they’re triangulating my coordinates,” Hsieh said, adding that the onus should be on the government to explain the technology clearly. The government has said the tracking system would be discontinued after the pandemic passes.’