Category: Uncategorized

The shamelessness of Branch Covidian

The drive to vaccinate by hook or by crook the entire country is entering a frenzied stage in Australia. Not only is the establishment of a second class citizenry being discussed in media for the unvaccinated without blushing, but the deaths of individuals are now cunningly exploited (h/t: C.L.) to try and install fear in the unvaccinated and ground the prejudices of the vaccinated. With all due respect to the NSW health authorities, an unvaccinated woman in palliative care has nothing to teach the vast majority of the under 50s of the dangers of COVID; and frankly, neither does the vaccination status of those 70 or over, especially where they have preexisting medical conditions.

Roosh interviews Milo

A fascinating conversation between two men on different though similar religious journeys. Roosh strikes me as the more sober of the two, but I don’t think for one minute that Milo is insincere or trolling in his attempt to reject his past sins and follow the True, Good, and Beautiful. The same is true of Roosh. And given that politics is downstream of culture, this is to be welcomed and encouraged.

The Cathedral bears its fangs

We live in strange but dangerous times when even our legislative representatives are routinely censored by BigTech, acting in collusion with other state actors, when they depart from or resist the grand narrative on election integrity, mask and vaccine mandates, diversity, open borders, and the like. New Black Legends are being written as we speak, spreading calumnies relating to this or that nation’s past. There is now a coordinated attempt to stifle any resistance to the new hegemonic order emerging in the post-Cold War era both in Europe and the Anglosphere. Consider the effort being expended on the denigration of PM Orbán in Hungary merely for offering his people a reasonable alternative to liberal globalism that would not have battered an eyelid a generation ago. Do not underestimate the viciousness of this campaign; their will to power is terrible.

‘It could have been worse’

The propaganda for vaccines is reaching the point of incredulity. A vaccinated man dies and the report goes on to say that doctors suggested “it could have been worse” if not for the vaccination. Dear oh dear.

Update on site build

I’m working on fixing the site as we speak. I’ve added simple comment quicktags which are simply the html buttons that make commenting simple. I’ve added a comment report mechanism that makes moderating simpler too. I have noticed an error in the home page link on the menu which redirects to the old site [now fixed]. You can simply return to the homepage by clicking on New Catallaxy in the top left for now. If you have any recommendations let me know in the comments.

The lockdowns will continue until morale improves

We find ourselves again in the grip of another lockdown, the 6th in Victoria, on the heels of 6 locally acquired cases. What this portends in the short term, if unanswered, purportedly justifies the deprivations of liberty entailed by home detention, business closure, remote schooling, and the like. But does it?

The initial claim that was used both here and overseas in order to justify lockdowns was that a short but sharp lockdown for 2-4 weeks was needed to stop the spread and prevent the hospital system from being overwhelmed by hospitalizations leading to operational collapse. This never eventuated even in countries that did not engage in lockdowns as a strategy. That is why the example of Sweden regarding COVID is anathema to proponents of lockdowns.

Sweden’s experience, as one of the few developed countries to eschew lockdowns, in terms of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths since Feb 2020 is well within the range of experience of those that did. And the worst of it can be blamed on the poor management earlier on of COVID in aged care, not on any failure to lockdown its people.

Sweden is the clearest lesson that lockdowns were never a necessary component in fending off national disaster. Public order and safety could be preserved within reason without the onerous and crippling deprivations of liberty imposed on the public. State and society could collaborate in their efforts to stave off ‘the spread’, protect vulnerable groups, and engage voluntarily in social distancing and other measures (remote work, effective hygiene, and the like) in ways that continued to respect the rights of its citizens in their pursuit of everyday goods.

Whereas, where we now find ourselves is in a never ending spiral of pointless goals (0 cases) and edicts. Having failed to achieve the impossible goal during a pandemic of 0 cases, the government, and having grown accustomed to emergency measures where no emergency exists beyond the recollection of its own failures, the government is effortlessly and gradually expanding from recurring temporary lockdowns to compulsorily requiring vaccinations as a prerequisite for returning to normal life; or should we say the ‘new normal’ life. To put it another way, the lockdowns will continue until morale improves.