I don’t follow the news in Germany, so I don’t know the background on this, but this step seems rather dramatic.
Germany Announces National Lockdown for Unvaccinated
My concern is not necessarily over the policy.
My concern is that governments seem to be relying more and more on authority and demands. They’re not treating people like adults and trying to persuade them. That’s certainly true in the U.S., and it seems to be true in other places as well.
I know some people will respond along the lines of, “but they’re not acting like adults!” Etc. If you feel that way, you need to take a big step back and take some deep breaths. Like “learning to meditate” deep breaths while you ponder your belly button and so on.
The information coming out of government sources has been confusing and unreliable, and they have not addressed legitimate concerns. There has been a conspiracy (intentional or not, organized or not) between the government, big tech and parts of the media to stifle debate. The attitude sounds very much like “shut up and do as you’re told, peasants. We’ll decide what you should know and what’s best for you.”
I want people to get the vaccine (unless they and their doctor have agreed they have a legit reason not to). And I want this pandemic to end. But not at the cost of creeping totalitarianism.
Authoritarian government is a much bigger threat than Covid, and it’s sad that more people don’t see that.
It all began with seat belts and no smoking in public spaces. The next step will surely be the government taking away our guns and our Bibles.
As for the information coming out of government sources being confused and unreliable, this chiefly points to the failure of the Trump administration insofar as the American situation is concerned. (I doubt if anyone participating in this blog is familiar enough with the German situation to say much about it.) Trump was disgustingly inconsistent about covid, saying that it is hoax, that it is real but will just go away, that we need a vaccine for it while flouting safety measures with the result of him and others actually getting the virus. This is all plainly on record. It would be ridiculous to appeal to the BS concept of Trump Derangement Syndrome here. Of course things get even more complicated when we factor in nutcases making pronouncements about covid, many of whom are Trump enthusiasts (e.g., the rabid Quanon follower, Marjorie Taylor Greene).
Sure. Trump has such amazing superpowers that he’s still affecting what Biden appointees are saying and doing.
He had about a year to confuse and deceive the public. The fact that this has an ongoing effect in the present does not require the hypothesis of superpowers.
There’s section from one of my favourite series which comes to mind. A young prince is talking to his father, who says about some annoying guests:
“Do not press them too hard with reason. Reason is not among their motives.”
He thought about that, and thought it did explain several disagreeable people he knew[.]
IMO the absence of persuasion isn’t an oversight, it’s part of the fun. You don’t shoot rescue dogs because you’re actually worried about covid-19: you do it because you wanted to, and were just looking for a reason.