Entry 2205, on 2022-02-16 at 13:00:55 (Rating 3, News)
It was only a matter of time before protests became common in response to the series of arbitrary and inconsistent actions against COVID we have seen around the world. The latest round of protests has included two countries which were allegedly amongst those handling the pandemic the best: Canada and New Zealand. In this post I want to discuss these protests in general, but will concentrate on what is happening here in New Zealand.
I think there is little doubt that New Zealand has handled the COVID crisis better than most other countries. Both our infection rate and death rate are remarkably low, and you might feel that this is because of a well coordinated political response to this event, but is that true?
Like most real social issues it is more complicated than that. Even someone who disagrees with almost everything this government has done (like me) would have to concede that the government's actions seem to have worked quite well for us, because those statistics don't lie, but I would like to add some nuance to this assessment.
From a distance it looks like the government has got everything right. We locked down hard and early, concentrated on saving lives rather than other priorities, and achieved a good rate of vaccination. What's to criticise here?
Well, all of that seems to be true if you just do a superficial analysis, but looking at it closer - which I can do as a New Zealand resident - it's not really like that at all. Because just about every supposedly positive move from our government has been deeply flawed, and our success seems to be as much about good luck as good management, as well as the fact that we are very isolated from the rest of the world.
Most of the narrative the media uses to portray New Zealand is misleading at best. For example, in the original response to the pandemic, we didn't go early as the government and many media sources say. There were warnings for weeks before the lockdown was imposed, and by then a panic was necessary and we went into one of the harshest lockdowns on the planet.
I'm not saying that a harsh lockdown wasn't justified given the circumstances; what I am saying is that the rhetoric describing the original COVID response as brilliantly implemented is nonsense. It was panicked and hysterical. It also worked, but that was at a high cost (again, possibly justified) and probably due to luck as much as anything else.
And that has been the trend in every action the government has taken in New Zealand. These actions have been poorly thought out, usually late, badly organised, arguably unreasonably harsh, and uneven and contradictory. As I said, if this worked it was to a large extent because of luck rather than competence.
And we have had numerous leaks of cases from managed quarantine and other facilities, but we have been incredibly lucky again, because most of these haven't spread. I'm not complaining here; I'd rather be lucky than skilfull any day, but let's stop pretending it's much to do with the government's management.
I should make another point clear here too: while I am criticising our current government, I have no reason to think that if another party had been in control that things would have gone any better. We would have to assume that the more right-oriented party here would have been more hesitant to impose harsh lockdowns, so the result could easily have been worse from the perspective of COVID cases, although at the same time it could easily have been better overall.
Our current prime minister is the greatest exponent of propaganda I have ever known in this country. She is very good at not answering the question, diverting awkward lines of enquiry into other areas, and refusing to interact with elements of the media who aren't friendly to her perspectives.
I admit that all politicians do this, but I think we are currently suffering from an extreme case of this phenomenon. And that's not necessarily bad. During a crisis many people want a leader who they can listen to and obey without having to think too much. They want a mother figure who makes all the right noises without worrying too much about the nuances of the situation. This sounds negative, but the more authoritarian approach of the current government might really be best during periods of crisis, but that has to end some time.
And now is that time, in my opinion (and many others). How do I know this? Well, the PM's approval rating is falling, there are protests against her around the country, and (this is just an anecdote, I know) people I know who were previously approving of the PM are now severely criticising her.
To some people this country has become a joke. Here are a few comments about our PM, and the PM of Canada, from UK right-wing political commentator, Douglas Murray: Ardern and Trudeau are supposedly king and queen of empathy, but they are finally being exposed as the vacuous imposters they are, and all the media adulation can't hide their shortcomings. They are more concerned about performative caring instead of actual expertise. Ardern's face crumples with empathy, and Trudeau has such nice hair and says how much he cares. But is empathy important in politics compared with competency? The new political idea implies that empathy is important, but there is an inability to face challenges. Many other countries are moving out of lockdowns, but New Zealand has even more, and have locked themselves out of the world. Trudeau has no sympathy for protesters, dismissing them with propaganda. He has most of the media on his side, and refuses to answer the rest (just like Ardern).
Just to show how dirty the tactics against their critics are, Trudeau has pressured GoFundMe to freeze the money raised for the protesting truckers, and distribute it to BLM, or another more "worthy" group. He has also put pressure on the banks to freeze the accounts of truckers. Is this criminal? Those actions are clearly morally wrong even if they aren't illegal (which they could be). He has to go.
And that also illustrates another big problem with these political leaders. Why would he confiscate money belonging to one group which is generally quite peaceful, and give it to another organisation, like BLM, which is responsible for significant death and destruction? Note that I would also say the truckers have a fair case in fact, and BLM's beliefs are pure BS, but I don't even need anyone to concede that point, because stealing from one group to give to another, based on political preferences, is corrupt and immoral anyway, whatever the beliefs of the groups involved.
So the objection politicians have to protestors isn't just because they are operating outside the law (or on the edge of lawlessness), or that they don't necessarily represent the majority. The real objection is that they represent a view that the politicians don't like. They support a corrupt organisation like BLM, but do all they can to destroy the anti-mandate protestors. Surely it is obvious that this represents a total failure to act fairly.
The problem here in New Zealand is that the politicians have painted themselves into a corner. The PM, and the leaders of other parties, have portrayed the protestors as irrational, violent, and deluded. By doing that they remove the option of negotiating with them without looking just as bad themselves. If they had said something like "we currently disagree with them, but would like to hear their points which might be valuable to understand as an alternative perspective" then we might have made some progress.
In that situation the politicians might have heard some alternative points which actually make some sense, and the protestors might have been more likely to disperse since their views had been heard. Not only that, but a general attitude of cooperation might have been fostered rather than the contempt (from and to both sides) we have now.
I'm sure there are some completely delusional nutters amongst the protestors in Wellington now, but I am equally sure there are many people who have reasonable doubts about the direction the government is taking. Even someone who is confident about getting the vaccine themselves might find the compulsion to be vaccinated unacceptable, so it's not necessarily a simple anti-vaccine view. I know vaccinated people who support the protestors. In fact, I partly support them myself.
There are plenty of people who are swallowing the media propaganda about the protestors being violent or irrational or unreasonable, but I doubt whether many of those have really looked into this too closely. And that's a real problem because failure to seriously listen to alternative views is the root cause of most of our problems today. It's probably too late now after how the government has already reacted, but it's unfortunate that the PM couldn't have utilised some of her famous "kindness" to treat these people with some respect and actually listen to their concerns, even if some have been labelled "crazies".
That's what a real leader would do, but one thing is becoming increasingly obvious: Ardern isn't a real leader, and neither is Trudeau.
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