[controversy]

It’s not just encourage. What we’re finding is that the government has to be authoritarian. China welded people into their homes to keep them from spreading COVID. They literally caged them like animals and threw them into trucks. Now Mexico is denying children potato chips.

Think about universal healthcare and alcohol. How much money is spent on alcohol related issues? The best answer is to ban its sale. Same for tobacco. Enough people have shown then are unable or unwilling to do the right thing. As a result junk food, booze and smokes need to go the way of freedom of speech. We need to ban them.

[munk-a]

That doesn't really go any way towards explaining why Canada, Europe or the Oceania[1] democracies have done so well in the crisis - nor does it explain how Brazil has done so poorly.

I think there is more counter evidence then supporting evidence for authoritarian governments being necessary for dealing with pandemics.

1. Please note - comparatively well, Canada, Europe & Oceania aren't doing perfect they're just doing significantly better than the states.

[nostromo]

> Europe [has] done so well in the crisis

UK, Sweden, Italy, Spain, and Belgium all have had more COVID-19 deaths per capita than the US. And France has a rate nearly equal to the US.

UK, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Belgium, France, and Netherlands all have worse case fatality rates than the US. And so does Canada. (But, this may be because the US has done more testing.)

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/08/05/8993658...

[throwaway57002]

Why on earth would 'per capita' be a relevant metric? Is a death less impactful or important when it's in a more populated country?

Also keep in mind Europe was struck before the US - the worst of the first wave is behind them while the US is still riding it down

[calibas]

Also, authoritarian governments often lie to protect their "authority". Their "authority" is based upon this illusion of infallibility, which goes against democratic principles like openness.

[controversy]

The United States has done poorly because we are a country whose population hates each other. It’s a country comprised entirely of people whose ancestors said, “You know what? I hate you so much that I’d rather cross an ocean, face bears, wolves, and the elements than to spend another day with you.” That’s why we won’t wear masks.

[munk-a]

I mean - Canada is in the same boat right? Canada might even be worse off since the country was originally french and then that entire population (along with first nations & Metis which are a more significant portion of the population up here) was second-classed when the English won a war that one time. Quebec secessionist is far more serious than any state in the US[1] and western Canada tends to begrudge the arbitrary french bilingualism while wondering why Mandarin or Punjabi isn't the other official language.

All that said - Canada is still a country that identifies as a country. If anything is causing a real divide in America it's the entirely manufactured hatred of modern divisive politics. As someone who grew up in Boston I went to school with a wide array of skin tones and original nationalities - there weren't Irish and Italian gangs beating up the black kids - there were suburban entitled white-kid gangs beating up the black kids... Any sort of origin based racism left in America is from more recent immigrants - it's totally bullshit and needs to stop - but I've never met anyone in America that said "Hey - you look Prussian - I don't like Prussians since they moved in on my Pomeranian ancestors. I don't take kindly to you folk."

I am uncertain where you've observed it, but I certainly never saw it in either New England nor the south west.

1. That isn't to say they're leaving tomorrow, there is just actually a serious portion of the population unlike all of the US states.

[joshuacc]

I have occasionally observed anti-Polish racism in the US. Perpetrated by generically “white” Americans against anyone with a Polish last name or Polish accent.

[Daishiman]

There's a difference between allowing adults and children to consume things. Children have limited agency and we consider it a social duty to protect them from some of life's extremes until they're better capable of understanding the consequences of their actions.

You don't have to ban things not be authoritarian. Smart governments just price in externalities, which is why you slap tobacco and alcohol with extra taxes to offset the increased costs of health care and reduced adult lifetimes.

[QuercusMax]

Or... how about we provide treatment for people who are abusing alcohol, drugs, etc? There are billions of people who can responsibly use alcohol. Banning it doesn't make any sense for those who aren't addicts.

[controversy]

Doesn’t matter. Look at those who try to ban guns and free speech. Millions use both responsibility every day. Besides science has shown little benefit to alcohol and tobacco and no benefit to junk food.

What we need is to ban cooking at home. Government soup kitchens. All consumption needs to be documented and controlled.

[munk-a]

> What we need is to ban cooking at home.

This needs citation, seriously. Cooking at home, even cooking "insanely unhealthy" butter injected baked chicken at home, still seems to be a lot healthier for you than a hungry man dinner, so I think that the real issue is related to the preservatives and the salt & sugar required to mask those preservatives - that are used to unnaturally extend the self-life of pre-made and frozen food.

[controversy]

All of which would be banned by the government kitchens. I’ve found that people don’t really need or want choices. They want the government to take care of them from cradle to grave. No matter how crappy government, people want to give it more power. At this point we should.

[s5300]

What?

[xtracto]

You are being downvoted (nice username btw haha) but you are onto something. My belief is that for certain things, the government MUST be authoritarian: Public Health, education and safety (police, firefighters, etc). That's why I think a more centralized government like the one in Mexico might find it easier to implement sensible policies and apply them "in an authoritative way" to the whole country without state resistance.

Now, if only the government was not as corrupt as it is in Mexico...

[novok]

There are plenty of countries that were not China cruel and successfully contained COVID in their country.

[baconandeggs]

How long until it's you the one that needs to be banned?

I sincerely hope there is someone there to stand for you.