He actually didn’t get elected in 2019, but has gained in popularity since.
But I find such comments disingenuous. You don’t have a selection of countries where you earn good money and are free to go. “Don’t like every aspect of life here then go” is such cheap argument. You should actively try to make the place you like better.
Nobody is bothered by this. This guy seems to be using the classic populist technique to take a data point that might contain a grain of truth, misrepresent it and extrapolate it to an extreme to scare impressionable people
Exactly.
That is also not (always?) true. Remember that american woman that moved to a small village and tried very very hard to ban cow bells and church bells. She even asked for naturalisation and wasn’t accepted. There is a limit on what you should ask. Unfortunately it’s not always easy to understand how and when to stop/start.
Actually I would be in favor of this. I witnessed an Alpenabzug and find it deafening. The cows surely don’t enjoy this enormous noise. Cow bells only exist as part of folklore, bit the cows would be better off with a GPS sensor. I think sooner or later this change will happen, it’s probably too early for most Swiss to accept.
Church bells are another matter. Poland is very catholic, yet the bells go only for a short minute, not for 15 minutes. Don’t know why they have to ring for so long.
But yes, you’re right, you shouldn’t go to a country that has a custom that you just can’t tolerate. For me it’s just a mild annoyance, I wouldn’t go protest to remove cowbells…
I agree with you, and I have been myself in the unpleasant situation of trying to suggest a change and being told to leave as a result.
I couldn’t resist trolling a bit Patron, who is constantly and repeatedly complaining here of how terrible and totalitarian the Swiss government is.
I agree largely with the concerns and the sentiment and the argument (e.g. income tax in Switzerland was introduced as temporary measure during the war). I think however it’s a bit exaggerated (COVID gives more powers to the government, but it’s far from being totalitarian control), and it’s more nuanced (ok, it’s easy to criticize the current solutions from liberal/libertarian point of view, but what is the alternative? Let people spread the virus, overwhelm the hospitals, create unmanageable huge spike in hospitalizations and deaths, burn stacked bodies in the fields?). I agree that situation is dangerous to personal freedom in general, but I’d argue that doing nothing is not an alternative. My personal opinion is that Mentzen is right in criticizing lockdowns and most hard restrictions on personal liberty, but in the same time we should encourage people to support soft and voluntary measures to control the epidemic - masks, testing, vaccinations, and social distancing in certain situations. I think that’s the only reasonable and responsible libertarian approach to this situation. And that’s the approach of Leszek Balcerowicz with whom I agree with and whom Mentzen is criticizing here.
PS. Let’s not forget that restrictions were much harsher in Poland than in Switzerland. At some point in Poland it was illegal to go alone for a walk to forest. Switzerland is not that bad in terms of respecting personal freedom - and Sweden probably was the best (although comparing to neighbours it failed protecting the elderly).
I agree with you that personal responsibility is important, but it’s a false premise that it’s easy to protect elderly. It’s not - Sweden is a case in point because they tried and failed. Apparently, old people still need to see other people for care or treatment or in other situations. It’s not that easy to isolate vulnerable part of society from contact with other people.
And on top of that, when hospitals are overwhelmed, this is potentially dangerous situation to everyone, not only elderly.
As a general rule I agree with you. Improved Swedish model would be probably most optimal - at least as long as the ICU beds aren’t full and packed.
Would it not being seen as a restriction of freedom of movment?
I don’t think so - freedom of movement doesn’t mean that you can go whenever you want because you want to. Access to certain state services and facilities (not speaking of private ones) is restricted by certain rules. It’s called public order. I don’t see the reason to not check covid certificates in public transport during a major epidemic.
Not that simple. And absolutely not done with that.
Because we know that vaccinated people can and will (though less so than the unvaccinated untested) spread the virus. Especially in enclosed spaces.
You‘d have to enforce people wearing masks. And the way I see many people wearing them (or pretending to do), you‘d have to do so with an iron fist.
Enforcing 3G in public transport would surely be tough on many people who can’t work in home office. I wonder why they don’t do it.
Yes, but with lower transmission rate. Besides @Patron is right that patchy restrictions are inconsistent and irrational and unfair towards businesses and private persons.
Personell personell personell.
How often do you get spot-checked for a ticket?
Say 20% of the time (probably less).
You’d need 5 times more people to increase that to 100%. Yes 3G needs to be 100%, else no point.
Then you’d need 3 or 4 staff to safely discuss / fine / evict each transgressor.
Then you’d get groups of Massmahmenkritiker flashmobbing one train/tram to make “cool/shocking videos” of how fascist the world has become.
So where today one is working you would need at least 20 for this. Where from? The army? Imagine the videos, boohoo, i got kicked out of the train by soldiers because I’m not vaccinated.
But this public transport issue is a favourite discussion by the Massmahmenkritiker because there is no solution, it’s called whataboutism.
@patron I’m confused, do I understand you are advocating compulsory 2G certificates for public transport?
Still, even with that rate it should significantly reduce number of infections. Public transport facilities are super spreader hubs. The reason why there aren’t any restrictions yet is that they belong to the government. If trains were private, you’d already see the same situation as in fitness centers and restaurants. The difference in treatment comes from the fact that government favors and privileges its own institutions, whereas private persons and private businesses are just feudal subjects.
I do agree with you it is not consistent
I assumed the reason for not applying 2G on public transport was to be “nice” to the non vaccinated as it would be harsh to exclude them
Intent of Enforcing 2G on optional, leisure activities is to reduce some transmissions reduce R)
I always thought that the reason was public transport being considered a basic need, like food stores or pharmacies.
The Massmahmenkritiker would be first to jump at being able to say " look the restaurant owner has to ensure 100% otherwise he/she gets fined, but SBB is allowed to get by with spot-checks and doesn’t even get punished itself when they transport someone without a certificate."
So as with many of the measures, it just leads to a new discussion, as some reason can always be found.
2 years of pandemic experience shows this.
What happened to the vaccination argument that mRNA bad/new and we need a old-school vector vaccination which would be acceptable? They approved JnJ vector vaccine, those Nörgeler ignore the JnJ vaccine, move along and nörgele about the next thing.
Sorry but I don’t get it. There will always be ‘Massnahmenkritiker’ but this is not preventing the authorities to take the steps they consider necessary and deal with the critics.
So - as the other say - the 3G on public transport would definitely make sense from an health&safety point of view and to be consistent it should be applied (they are doing it in the neighbor Italy since the 6th of December).