For several years he hadn’t moved outside a large, airy room, but this was OK, because he spent most of his time inside his own head in any case. There’s a certain type of person it’s very hard to imprison.
«Men at Arms» by Terry Pratchett
Not surprisingly, given the abysmal handling of Covid and the mismanagement of the health system, German politicians needed a scapegoat. And they found and slaughtered it by making the unvaccinated responsible. And now, Germany goes into a selective lockdown — a lockdown for the unvaccinated. They are excluded from shops and recreational facilities. Supermarkets and pharmacies are open to them, the rest is more or less closed.
Oh, and there’s talk about mandatory vaccinations for the whole population in March — the German Ethics Council is tasked with writing an expert opinion until the end of the year. Given the choking influence of politics on the constitutional court, science, and other institutions, I’m not hopeful that the German Ethics Council will go by ethics. How was it — a hungry man has no conscience. And many institutions are hungry. Or fearful. That works as well.
But for the hopeful part — it was probably never a better time to be excluded from society. Okay, it helps that work has swamped most of my life for … hmm, three or four years or so. There is not much of a private life to take. These lockdowns simply do not affect me in my everyday life. It also helps that most of my leisure activities can be done alone. I have more books than I could ever read (no, I don’t have a problem), lots and lots of movies and series, and more importantly, a huge list of creative projects still to do.
So when the German government wants to use lockdowns for unvaccinated to make them take a vaccine, I would wish them luck, if I had any respect for them left. They can play their games, I wont play. And if we have mandatory vaccinations, I will neither get one nor will I pay the fine. Going to prison (coercive detention for a couple of weeks) could be an interesting experience.
In the meantime, I’ll just continue to do what I love — hopefully create good stuff. Stuff that is new and useful for some people. Hmm, and there is still a project that has pushed everything aside that I am working on for … years. Might be my chance to finish it.
And if worst comes to worse and I would die of Covid — unlikely, there is another thing that will likely kill me first, hmm, or I get run over by a car — well, I would not like it, but if freedom and bodily autonomy were without risks, they wouldn’t be worth that much.
So I can not only live with it, I can also — if not happily then at least contentedly — die of it.
