The people aren’t to blame for an extreme government overreach.
Unlike the US, COVID was essentially controlled in Australia until some very specific violations of quarantine happened - and the outbreak traced to these violators. These outbreaks weren't of iffy origin, they were clearcut linked to these perpetrators.
In an era where governments everywhere are going authoritarian it only takes something like this to be used as an excuse. The trouble is there'll be little complaint from the public as everyone is aware of the causal link to the outbreaks - and the Australian public, like bloody-minded sheep, is too easily spooked when governments crack the whip.
Unfortunately, Australia is a very conservative country and the vast majority of its citizens do what they're told without question even when government makes crazy decisions, so we've a double-whammy problem/excuse when a few people go feral.
And it is a fair comparison because both were used as excuses by governments for overreach.
Clearly that's not the case with Covid!
And even if it wasn't, it would be true in the long run.
Some might do but cholera, polio and smallpox and many, many other diseases are still just as virulent as they ever were down through the ages. (I know, smallpox only exists in labs but the last known case was a lab worker who died).
That argument is essentially a non sequitur, it's attempting to justify a position that doesn't really exist - and even if it did then it'd be by the very slimest of margins (apply with very strict constraints).
Even in cases where certain viruses have mutated to weaker strains - and given the high stakes involved (gambling with human life), then you would not only have to be extremely specific but also provide soild/reputable scientific evidence to backup your assertions (i.e.: for specific viruses/strains, etc.).
We had Katie Hopkins here earlier in the year bragging about how she was going to deliberately break quarantine etc etc.
If people aren’t going to follow a reasonable precaution, this far into a pandemic, then I have little sympathy when harsher measures are employed.
This pandemic is nowhere near that dangerous to justify this. Where do you draw the line? When you can’t shop in the grocery store unless you accept public health treatments without question? When they’ve dehumanized people enough that you tolerate surveilling them in those quarantine “hotels” “until they choose to comply with public health safety laws?”
The slope is slippery and you are sliding into hell. Time to stop being tribal or partisan about sticking it to the “anti vaxers” and start thinking about the system that is being built.
I am posting far outside my comfort zone because the alarm bells are ringing. Everything about this situation is getting more and more terrible the longer it is allowed to continue.
I would prefer to lurk and not talk. Like before.
Where is the overreach in a voluntary app that people are encouraged to use to save the government resources?