[croon]

I agree, and we've always had an anti-vax minority, in every country. The problem with covid wasn't primarily what you describe though, but that that anti-vax sentiment exploded enough that healthcare everywhere choked more than it should have. Then stronger measures were needed as a response to that. Which is unfortunate in just the manner you describe.

There's always been "unconventional" (diplomatically) ideas, and that's great since some fraction of them do turn out correct. But with the last decade or two of ubiquitous social media use, the fringe ideas that aren't dangerous in 0.1% of people, are very dangerous if they reach 5 or 10%.

This is not a defense of authoritarianism on ideas, but merely describing the practical effects.