Lại hoãn

-----

Also decrying the straw-man’s apparent itch to take up permanent residency in Britain is Sherelle Jacobs. Two slices:

The world has probably changed forever due to the West’s decision to follow China’s lead in adopting lockdown to control Covid-19. This draconian (hà khắc, khắc nghiệt, tàn bạo) policy that was never part of liberal democracies’ pandemic planning but came to be seen as an inevitability after Beijing pursued it. China, in the words of Prof Neil Ferguson, “changed people’s sense of what is possible in terms of control”.

Once again, we may be about to witness the power of seemingly innocuous (vô thưởng vô phạt) events. For many, Boris Johnson’s decision to postpone (trì hoãn) freedom day (ngày tự do) to mid-July will seem like a commonsensical measure if the time is used to accelerate vaccinations. But I fear what he has agreed is much more significant than that. Will this really turn out to be a minor delay on the long road to freedom? Or will it instead prove to be the first step down a dangerous path that ends with lockdown restrictions continuing in some fashion indefinitely?

…..

In Britain, we tend to believe that moderation will always prevail. Yet, in crises, it tends to be ideologues rather than pragmatists who gain momentum. Mr Johnson has for months been locked in a vicious cycle of seeking a middle ground, before relenting to those who favour extreme caution.

The Prime Minister still does not seem to fully appreciate that he is increasingly fighting not just a pandemic, but an ideology (ý thức hệ). This is not simply a case of a few overzealous modellers. The interests of the two most powerful movements of the moment, environmentalism and global health, are converging. Eco-warriors have attracted attention for unapologetically eyeing the collapse in aviation (sụp đổ ngành hàng không) as an opportunity. Less appreciated is the fact that infectious disease specialists have been warning against the dangers of globalist capitalism and mass travel even longer than the green lobby. The window of opportunity to challenge their drastic, deglobalising remedies is closing. Even if the Prime Minister wanted to, with so many citizens terrified, and a middle class zoomocracy facing few risks to its material comfort, he will struggle to mount a challenge later down the line.

Bài trước: Hoãn đến bao giờ?