Does this mean Taiwan has been authoritarian for 50 years? Hardly. To be sure, 50 years ago, newspapers were ritually singing the praises of the leader and government, while ordinary people were afraid to open their mouths to say anything. But today, the media criticizes everybody, and taxi drivers can be heard expounding on political topics of the day.
不同的是，五十年前，報章上歌功頌德、暗巷民宅裡則風聲鶴唳；五十年後，媒體盡是一片對政局的規諫、訾議，對政治人物的臧否撻伐，計程車司機就是最雄辯的街頭政論家。