Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Monday, November 28, 2022

Actual Tyranny

 The GOP caterwauling about "lockdowns" during the pandemic never made objective sense. We locked down in the spring of 2020, but then slowly returned to a varying level of engagement by the summer. We were masked, but not locked down. By the following spring, we had enough vaccine penetration to begin to unravel even those restrictions. There were certain high density areas that continued to be mask heavy and some school districts remained remote, but we were not under "lockdowns" except for a few months in 2020.

Meanwhile, there is China. They have been actively pursuing a "Covid Zero" strategy of frequent lockdowns but a poor vaccine campaign. They are claiming this is working, but it's almost certainly a massive load of bullshit. I'm currently sitting in an ambulatory surgery center and I have to wear a mask. It feels profoundly strange (and itchy!) because it's been so long since I had to wear one for this long.

I agree with some voices who are concerned about Covid-based learning loss. We need a plan for this generation of young people. Kids are resilient, but they need support and understanding. However, the overall US plan - mask, vaccinate, boost - is a good one, and while Covid does still exist my school is frankly dealing with more cases of RSV and flu than Covid.

China's pursuit of a lockdown-centric Covid strategy is blowing up in its face, because it is an actual tyranny, not the pretend one of Lauren Boebert's fever dreams.

No comments: