Recently I criticized the effectiveness of the recent anti-lockdown marches. To me, it seems obvious that the best way to guarantee another lockdown is to encourage others to stop social distancing - just as we approach the finish line.

Well, a friend of a friend told me I should move to China if I wanted to live in a totalitarian super-state. I told him I'm from Taiwan, a democratic country that managed to defeat the virus without any lockdown at all and only 10 deaths total.

The Taiwanese know that the best way to win an ideological war against a totalitarian state is to demonstrate that as citizens of a free democracy they are able to pull together in times of crisis with no need for brutal authoritarian measures.

But what my friend's friend doesn't realize is that despite his rather deluded belief that his fight is against tyranny, ironically, his actions are more likely to result in more tyranny. For trivial first world protests with their hodge-podge of demands and vague generalized discontent, actually, dilute the power of true focused and effective uprisings. In short, they simply hand the government an excuse to bring in more laws.

If there were a soundbite or central message from the anti-lockdown movement it seems to be simply;

"We hate lockdowns!"

But DUH? Guess what? The rest of us do too!

So beyond whining to the adults and demanding they fix it, what are you going to do about it? We in the West have enjoyed democracy for so long, we seem to have taken it for granted.

For democracy doesn't just happen, it springs forth from a culture that fully understands responsibility, both personal and collective.

Taiwan - 10
China - 1
Western Democracies - 0