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I'm all for criticizing hypocrisy, especially in government, but the COVID example strikes me as perhaps the worst possible for demonstrating the point. Some le
by NoraCodes 4y ago
I'm all for criticizing hypocrisy, especially in government, but the COVID example strikes me as perhaps the worst possible for demonstrating the point. Some level of "draconian" action would have helped slow, or even stop, the spread of COVID-19; at least in the US, none was taken.
A far better example, which actually involves surveillance rather than unrelated masking and distancing measures, would be politicians and wealthy businesspeople pushing invasive CSAM detection systems into consumer devices "for the good of the children" while schmoozing with Jeffrey Epstein.
Typical faff from Unherd; a long article full of information better explained elsewhere followed by a poorly veiled gesture towards their existing agenda.
- throwaway22032 4y agoGo and look at China.
- NoraCodes 4y agoI absolutely agree. You're comparing an undemocratic illiberal totalitarian state's violent actions against citizens to the US government giving away vaccines, stopping international travel for a short time, and some states and municipalities mandating the wearing of masks. Nobody was taken to the gulag about it. That's not dystopian.
- weakfish 4y agoI do find it amusing how far the window for what Americans consider draconian is from the rest of the world. If I was smarter I could perhaps write an essay drawing on our absurd focus on individualism.
- origin_path 4y agoInternational travel (into the USA for non residents/citizens) is still stopped for people who didn't take the vaccine even though it doesn't work and never stopped transmission anyway. So it was absolutely a set of Draconian and totalitarian moves that had no impact whatsoever.
- throwaway22032 4y agoNot at all. Your claim was that the US could have slowed or even stopped the spread of coronavirus. China can't even stop it. It's not possible.
- tomByrer 4y agoActually, almost half of Dems & 20% of GOP wanted to lock up Americans who didn't get the shots. NY State was about to vote on such a measure until it got public. That IS dystopian. https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/partner_surveys/jan_2022/covid_19_democratic_voters_support_harsh_measures_against_unvaccinated https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/par...
- NoraCodes 4y agoSure, that's a terrible idea. It also wasn't implemented, whereas in China, much more draconian measures were.
- muaytimbo 4y agoIf we are only free from "draconian" action when it's convenient for the elites then we are not really ever free from "draconian" action. The first thing china did was lockdowns and masks, we did exactly what the authoritarians did, we just didn't travel down that road quite as far.
- anigbrowl 4y agoUnherd is indeed agenda driven. A more thoughtful piece would have traced the evolution of the a modern panopticon back through the the terrorism panic of the early 2000s.