The death of P&R and what it says about where we are.

[Dill]

(03-11-2023, 10:56 AM)Sled21 Wrote: Well, people can call him authoritarian if they want, but Ron DeSantis did not force me to take a vaccine (which has now been shown to not prevent spread, contraction or be any better than natural immunity) , Joe Biden and Andy Beshear did. Ron DeSantis did not force me to wear a mask (which have now been shown to be useless) for yeasrs anytime I left my house, Joe Biden and Andy Beshear did. I couldn't go anywhere in Kentucky without a mask for years, but I went to Florida to visit a friend and tossed it as I crossed the Florida Georgia line, met him at a cigar bar in Orlando and had beers and smokes) . So I think people have it twisted when they are looking for authoritarians.

Not only are there already protocols in place for handling pandemics--including decisions about quarantine--but conditions under
which they may be imposed or rolled back are subject to all manner of checks and monitoring and democratic accountability. Not perfect,
but not "authoritarian" in character. 

 "Authoritarian" policies are imposed unilaterally by a leader/party with an eye towards enhancing/maintaining power and order without accountability. E.g., when they bypass educators and democratic process to control school curricula, unilaterally excluding knowledge areas which might contest the authoritarians ideological control and hold on power. Putin and Orban have directly forbidden the teaching of many subjects in their countries--like gender/LGBQT studies. Educators have no say. 

DeSantis is doing the same in Florida right now, adding critical history to the list of above-mentioned excluded subjects, and that's one reason I want to call him an authoritarian.  And I could add examples. 

PS If "natural immunity" (of uncertain duration) is better than the vaccine at preventing the spread of COVID, that is still no argument against the vaccine--or would anyone argue that it is better to just get the disease to get immunity against the disease? On the other hand, the refusal of people to get vaccinated keeps the virus spreading and mutating. Authoritarianism figures into vaccine policy when one party's leaders spread disinformation about the topic to enhance their chances for regaining or retaining power. That often requires de-legitimating medical authority in favor of ideological, just as changing the curricula unilaterally requires de-legitimating educational authorities.