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Re:Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions? by jerf on Wednesday February 26, 2020 @04:49PM (#22427730)
You might be surprised. There are some old laws and powers that are going to be dusted off, and in some other cases it may be the case that governments just claim powers on an emergency basis and essentially nobody other than the absolute political fringes of society is going to complain.
Re:Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions? by nostrademons on Wednesday February 26, 2020 @06:06PM (#22428454)
Much of the world isn't actually under control of a government. Here in the developed world, we've basically bought into the nation-state system, with a strong central government controlling a defined territory with border checkpoints. But many parts of central Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and rural areas in other continents aren't like this. The dominant social organization is by tribe, clan, cartel, gang, or warlord; borders are porous or nonexistent; and the government has no authority, not even a monopoly on physical force.

The virus doesn't care whether you believe in governments, and it's just now hitting these regions - Pakistan, Africa, North Korea, etc.

Re:Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions? by wonderwonder on Wednesday February 26, 2020 @05:55PM (#22428363)
"essentially nobody other than the absolute political fringes of society is going to complain"

I very much dont think that is the way this plays out in the western world.

In China, they welded the doors shut on entire residential buildings leaving the people in there to either die or survive on their own. They bagged and gagged people with elevated temperature and force quarantined them. They had crematoriums working over time.

China has complete military control of their population, this is going to go very differently in the West.

China's process was very effective and probably greatly reduced the rate of infection but there is no way people in other countries are just going to sit silently while the same actions are carried out.

Re:Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions? by cjamesd on Wednesday February 26, 2020 @09:51PM (#22429942)
Source for these claims?