To take this analysis a step farther, because the truth was twisted or withheld from society for so many years, people had limited abilities to think and make judgments for themselves. Civil society in Taiwan has still not emerged, and people still have a poor sense of values, with concern only for utility and not for principle. These social ills are the legacy of martial law.
進一步剖析，正因社會資訊長年遭到扭曲與封鎖，民眾的政治思辯能力被牢牢禁錮，直到如今，台灣「公民社會」無法成形，而價值觀的失衡混亂、只重功利不重理念，都是長期戒嚴造成的後遺症。