Day: 8 February 2021

by Guy de la Bédoyère Whenever a theory appears to you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have neither understood the theory nor the problem which it was intended to solve.Karl Popper, philosopher One of the most unedifying developments in the whole debate about lockdowns has been the descent into ever more polarised positions, especially the vilification of anyone deemed to be a dissenter about the efficacy of lockdowns. But it cuts both ways. Some who dispute lockdowns have been as intolerant of the other point of view. Why is this? I think because as the crisis has deepened and lengthened, it has proved to be beyond any easy resolution. Lockdowns have worked in certain ways, but they certainly haven’t exterminated the virus and they aren’t sustainable. We have had three lockdowns, but they haven’t stopped a chronically high death rate. Non-lockdowns haven’t worked either. We can pick and choose our data, but almost every country has paid a price of sorts. Now you can see the ever-mounting recriminations. The most ardent proponents of lockdowns, including those who were ambivalent at the start, blame the Government for not being quick enough, sustained enough, or committed enough, and anyone else for somehow being complicit in the deaths of Covid victims. Those most opposed to lockdowns ...

I teach at a private college (four-year, Bachelor’s degree granting), in Greenville, South Carolina. I am a University Professor of Classics at my institution (a fancy title that means that my salary does not come out of the Operating Budget), and also an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science. So I am supposed to think about language, and I am assumed to be able to count. In January and February of 2020, we heard rumors of a pernicious virus in China. Some of my colleagues, as early as February, were pessimistic about our chances of running study-abroad programs later that Spring or in the summer. I was insouciant. My wife, my daughter, and I flew to Germany on March 7th, 2020, to visit our son who was studying at the Freie Universität in Berlin. While we were in Germany, all hell broke loose. Trump announced the ban on travel, and… (your readers know how that all went). When we returned, it was like the chapter “The Scouring of the Shire” in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. All of the sudden, there were all these rules. But… skipping forward a bit, the Governor of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, has been vigorously opposed to lockdown and other restrictions. In March, when the insanity was at its peak, he did place restrictions on ...

Today's update on Lockdown Sceptics is here. Includes an analysis of why Singapore has had fewer than 30 Covid deaths (not lockdown), a look at the legality of No Jab, No Job and a new Lockdown Sceptics playlist on Spotify