I don't think I have seen many mainstream acceptable discussions about the Covid response -- most were nothing but emotive monologues from this or that person, and two or three simultaneous monologues do not make an acceptable discussion.
Also, I don't think it would have been useful to talk about Covid response policy using figures like "X% chance of death!", since it sounds like a weather forecast and we can't even get those right one day in advance, let alone when determining policy for the entire year. And you can't conclude from absence of public discussion that these figures or expectations weren't discussed privately.
Yes, it would have been better for the policymakers to voice their reservations and motivations in public, but I'm not willing to blame the politicians for not doing that. In order to have a nuanced political discussion, all parties need to play ball. It is counterproductive for a politician to take a well-argued public position when the media only wants ten-second soundbites and actively looks ways to embarrass and undermine said politician, and when the public isn't remotely interested in a nuanced position because the tribe has already spoken.
To me, the Covid response in the West highlights a failure of democracy. That is not the same as a failure of politics, trying to pin all blame for the failure of democracy on the current politicians is just another symptom of the underlying problem. Instead, it is a failure of society at large. It seems we are no longer willing and/or capable to have an honest and open debate about matters of public policy, and that is a sad situation. I'm not even going to try and hint at the wide array of causes and consequences that led us to this point, just expressing dismay that I don't see the situation improving for the better any time soon.
Also, I don't think it would have been useful to talk about Covid response policy using figures like "X% chance of death!", since it sounds like a weather forecast and we can't even get those right one day in advance, let alone when determining policy for the entire year. And you can't conclude from absence of public discussion that these figures or expectations weren't discussed privately.
Yes, it would have been better for the policymakers to voice their reservations and motivations in public, but I'm not willing to blame the politicians for not doing that. In order to have a nuanced political discussion, all parties need to play ball. It is counterproductive for a politician to take a well-argued public position when the media only wants ten-second soundbites and actively looks ways to embarrass and undermine said politician, and when the public isn't remotely interested in a nuanced position because the tribe has already spoken.
To me, the Covid response in the West highlights a failure of democracy. That is not the same as a failure of politics, trying to pin all blame for the failure of democracy on the current politicians is just another symptom of the underlying problem. Instead, it is a failure of society at large. It seems we are no longer willing and/or capable to have an honest and open debate about matters of public policy, and that is a sad situation. I'm not even going to try and hint at the wide array of causes and consequences that led us to this point, just expressing dismay that I don't see the situation improving for the better any time soon.