For my first Thanksgiving post, which somehow was both a year ago and almost a year into the pandemic, I gave thanks at the end of the post. With all that’s happened, it seems more appropriate to do this at the beginning of the post instead this year. So I’m going to do that, and deal with this week’s news - the rise in cases, the lockdowns in Europe and all that other stuff - later.
Today I read this, and realized that I look forward to each Thursday, because I'll be able to read your latest. I am very thankful for having access to your thoughtful analysis and I appreciate your unique voice.
Substack let's me feel I can give something back. I encourage all who are able to do likewise.
>Alongside the lockdown, Austria has come out and said it. Vaccines for everyone
It is more subtle than this. As far as I know, they have declared their intention to make vaccines mandatory by February. Given that they have around 30% unvaccinated people (sure, many of these are children, but still a sizeable minory), I don't know if I expect them to make the vaccine mandatory. I am not an expert on Austria, but I wouldn't be surprised if the play is "threaten mandatory vaccination so that people get the vaccine before, then cancel the threat to be able to say you never mandated anything".
That said: if boosters work so well, it seems like the obvious free-market solution is for those who don't want to get corona to avoid it by getting a booster instead of whining about the unvaccinated. In a world with a 100% effective vaccine, any coercion of the unvaccinated to get vaccinated would clearly be unethical on bodily-autonomy-style grounds. Aren't we pretty close to that now?
>Germany, where things are not as bad but where cases are also higher than ever before and rising rapidly, is calling this a ‘national emergency’ and has now also pulled the trigger on a full lockdown.
No, this is false reporting by the media. German has let it's "state of pandemic emergency" run out yesterday, and the new law that replaces this does not allow for a national lockdown. I'm also skeptical of the Bloomberg graphic on Europe given that it seems to disagree with what I know from first-hand experience from other Eurpean countries (I travel a lot with my job).
Thankful for your writing! Read the Immoral Mazes this year, had a big influence on how I think about organizations!
Today I read this, and realized that I look forward to each Thursday, because I'll be able to read your latest. I am very thankful for having access to your thoughtful analysis and I appreciate your unique voice.
Substack let's me feel I can give something back. I encourage all who are able to do likewise.
>Alongside the lockdown, Austria has come out and said it. Vaccines for everyone
It is more subtle than this. As far as I know, they have declared their intention to make vaccines mandatory by February. Given that they have around 30% unvaccinated people (sure, many of these are children, but still a sizeable minory), I don't know if I expect them to make the vaccine mandatory. I am not an expert on Austria, but I wouldn't be surprised if the play is "threaten mandatory vaccination so that people get the vaccine before, then cancel the threat to be able to say you never mandated anything".
That said: if boosters work so well, it seems like the obvious free-market solution is for those who don't want to get corona to avoid it by getting a booster instead of whining about the unvaccinated. In a world with a 100% effective vaccine, any coercion of the unvaccinated to get vaccinated would clearly be unethical on bodily-autonomy-style grounds. Aren't we pretty close to that now?
>Germany, where things are not as bad but where cases are also higher than ever before and rising rapidly, is calling this a ‘national emergency’ and has now also pulled the trigger on a full lockdown.
No, this is false reporting by the media. German has let it's "state of pandemic emergency" run out yesterday, and the new law that replaces this does not allow for a national lockdown. I'm also skeptical of the Bloomberg graphic on Europe given that it seems to disagree with what I know from first-hand experience from other Eurpean countries (I travel a lot with my job).