[kcplate]

> Pandemic prevention isn't a matter of authoritarianism vs democracy. Honestly, what do you think, the president of France imposed a lockdown because he likes the power trip?

Unfortunately you are not really arguing your point from a position of strength. Tyrannical behavior was rampant and it was intentionally done. Speaking from my US perspective, at almost every political level from the federal government down to local community politicians the pandemic seemed to create tyrannical behavior, and most of the little tyrants were centered around a specific political party.

In my neighborhood of less than 200 homes, there is an “elected” board that controls the common areas (mainly arranges landscaping and maintenance). This board shut down access to common outdoor spaces (literally outdoor walking trails) and threatened to trespass residents if they used them. Democracy within the community would have resulted in those spaces being open. However, because the developer/builder controlled a voting majority, the board was stacked with people who followed the DNC playbook and refused to open the spaces for a full 8 months after our state lifted all restrictions and months after even the CDC knew that contracting the virus outside in sunshine alone was virtually impossible.

>lockdowns and quarantines have been proven to work for centuries

Quarantining the sick, yes. Quarantining the well…that was a bit unprecedented.

This pandemic provided the political class with some pretty solid data on just how far and how long the general public will allow itself to be dominated by tyrants. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the general public accepted tyranny willingly and this will not bode well for the future.

[sofixa]

> Quarantining the sick, yes. Quarantining the well…that was a bit unprecedented.

The well.. for an airborne illness with up to two weeks incubation period and frequent lack of symptoms? Many were sick and spreading and had no way of knowing, hence the abundance of caution.

[kcplate]

Ahh yes, the old “our intentions were good and virtuous even if the outcome of our actions was more harmful so we should be excused for our bad decisions” argument.

That might be a valid excuse if the tyrants didn’t double and triple down on bad policies even after it became apparent that lockdown policies were more hurtful than helpful to the populace. Ignorance is an excuse until you are no longer ignorant.

[jrockway]

How was the outcome harmful? We got remote work widely accepted, very few people were denied treatment when they did get the disease, we rolled out a vaccine in less than a year, the stock market went up, and software engineering salaries reached all time highs.

Listen. We botched the response to the pandemic, and many people died that didn't need to die. But at no point was having to wear a mask to get your coffee at Starbucks even the tiniest inconvenience for any reasonable person.

[kcplate]

> How was the outcome harmful?

> We botched the response to the pandemic, and many people died that didn’t need to die.

You answered your own question.

but…to add to your answer, the harm done to schoolage kids is becoming pretty well known. I’d rather not sacrifice our future again to protect a bunch of 80 year olds