Prelude to COVID-19 Postmortem

As the world is now beginning to (albeit slowly) come back to its senses from the rampant fear it has been bound by as a result of COVID-19 I feel it is finally an acceptable time to pen my thoughts on the entire incident. The last two years have been interesting to say the least. What in many countries was a promised two week lock down to help keep infections low soon became a two and a half year governmental takeover of the entirety of private life for over three quarters of the world population. Policies such as masking and later on injections went from recommended to mandatory in virtually every conceivable facet of life. Indeed in the latter half of 2021 (and to a degree early 2022) the concept of mandatory state level injections has been encouraged if not outright celebrated by many.

Censorship has proliferated in daily life, as has misinformation. Free speech as a whole has come into question and what should or should not allow a company to prevent said speech online. Platforms once seen as apolitical (or self admittedly biased but allowing dissent) have become polarized and stifling of dissent. Widespread takedowns of information and the deplatforming of well known individuals has only decreased trust not gained it. Droves have moved to alternative platforms, self hosting, federation, private chat rooms and more, all allowing the same information to proliferate. Essentially we have seen a digital migration and the formation of two massive polarized groups, each now with their own custom echo chamber.

Mandating of medical procedures. I’ve often heard the arguments “the government has mandated stuff for safety before this is no different”, “your rights end when they impact someone else” and the list goes on. This is an issue that has been forced on a lot of people on top of everything else related to COVID-19 that they’ve contended with. Combine that with debates on the ethical and moral prospects and you can see why this issue in particular has been met with such massive pushback. Legal, religious, and even violent means have all been used both in favor and against the idea.

Segregation based on injection. Many people have cited how safety measures must be taken to ensure everyone is “safe”, or at least as “safe” as they can be. In many places in Christendom society has been turned into a two class system, with proof of injection being required everywhere from recreational facilities to retain and grocery stores. In some particularly invested places such as Canada have done everything from exclude uninjected individuals from travel, to mandating a store attendant to follow them in stores and ensure they are getting “essential” supplies, to mandating and forcing out of work roughly 10% of their freighting work force.

Mass surveillance. What is possibly the single least talked about issue is also the most dangerous. This should keep you up at night it’s that concerning. Private companies and governments alike have gained massive insights into private life, and they would like it to stay that way. Three quick examples of this are: mass collection of population DNA through COVID tests (I had to see it to believe it), contact tracing software and their many privacy concerns, and the advent of what have been called “COVID Passports”.

Interestingly it seems either as a side effect of these passports (along with the concept of digital currency becoming mainstream) the concept of a complete, uniform method of digital identification has become postulated. The idea behind it is simple: the government using blockchain or any other secure method creates an app for its citizens to use that contains identification, injection status, and indeed all medical records. Most current efforts for this are still in the conceptualization phase, but it is a paramount issue nonetheless.

There are many facets of COVID-19 aftermath, the ones above only scratching the surface. As a result of this I wanted to pen a prelude to a coming series of blog posts on these facets and how they affected current life, analyzing mistakes that were made, and postulating better ways of handling such events in the future. I will be looking at the actions themselves, short term and long term impacts, potential ethical arguments related to them, and finally any other details related to them including how factual or not some claims were and how they will shape the future. Though resoundingly political conversation surrounds this at the present, what is ultimately being debated is the concept of free speech and rights during extreme situations. In the collective rally to prevent misinformation they as a whole have only upset the equilibrium in opinions that makes democracy functional. By writing my own thoughts along with a general analysis of the issue I am knowingly and willingly challenging the current human line of thought. I encourage you, my esteemed reader, to keep an open mind just as I have when researching these matters and to do your own research regardless of your end view on the aforementioned matters.