It appears that New Zealand is stuck in an eternal recurrence of authoritarianism, a groundhog day-esque parody, in which the entire nation must be on perpetual alert for the latest “snap lockdown” that could be commanded at any moment. The nation has passed the point where their government had the option of giving up its pursuit of “zero COVID” and hanging its head in shame. Now it is going all in, throwing entire cities into total lockdown over a single COVID case. And, significantly, blame is now being placed on “rule-breakers”.
Not the architects of your imprisonment, but the various lockdown flouters are to blame apparently. Psychological manipulation is increasingly being weaponized against the population, pitting mobs against the rule-breakers, as if they are the cause of the nation’s ills.
It’s the way a cult leader will blame segments of the congregation for the failure of their savior to materialize. The way fundamentalists will blame infidels for leading the faithful astray.
The inevitable next step is punishment. The New Zealand gov’t will eventually round up a handful of “lockdown deniers” and make an example of them in a very public manner.
There is clearly no way out for New Zealand. Backed into a corner and having created an enormous mess for their citizens, they continue to choose to descend further into the madness rather than acknowledge the consequences of their mistakes.
