Hacker News Reader

mamoswineon New York to ban natural gas, including stoves, in new buildings

This sounds plausible but is subtly incorrect: the US uses split phase power and 100A means 100A on each of the two legs (+/-120V). So if you balance the legs correctly, you can get 240V*100A on 100A service. This is important for example for car charging where both legs are used and balanced.

mamoswineon China’s assault on Cathay Pacific

Indeed, Samsung decided they wouldn't bother recalling exploding phones in China.

mamoswineon Chinese Money in the U.S. Dries Up as Trade War Drags On

Gift taxes are payable by the giver, not by the receiver.

mamoswineon Hong Kong mothers march in support of anti-extradition students

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mamoswineon Liu Cixin’s War of the Worlds

The problem with this sort of reasoning is that it relies on the benevolence of a dictatorship (and I don't use the term dictatorship pejoratively). It's all fine and good to have a system where people's needs are provided for and in general the populace is taken care of (for example, the housing situation in Singapore is very good and much better than places where people have to pay through the nose for shacks, like for example Hong Kong and SF).

But the real problem is that this system is by its nature fragile. On the one hand, this means that you never know when leadership will no longer be so enlightened and shit will hit the fan with nothing you can do about it.

From another perspective, because of this fragility, it's not capable letting its crazy people reach their potential. Can you imagine what the system would have done to creative hippies or even Steve Jobs if he didn't toe the line? If you don't give free enough reign to these people, your society will hit a ceiling where you don't produce the most innovative culture or people.