Rule by Decree

My wife has had the TV tuned to the national news channel all afternoon. Apparently, it's decision day once again. The latest laws and regulations are broadcast to the masses. It's an absurd bit of political theatre in which everyone pretends there's a real debate going on. First, the president talked endlessly about how we have to get the economy going. Journalists sit with bated breath through the charade. Then there are questions, followed by a studio debate in preparation for the main event.

This time, the prime minister presented the new rules and regulations under which we have to live through the summer. It was as if Nicolae Ceaușescu himself was speaking to us. Except, he made it clear on several occasions that the decrees were backed by science, to which my wife cynically commented that it could not possibly have anything to do with upcoming elections.

The latest decrees contained no further restrictions to our freedoms. The only change of note was a plan to remove the mask mandate for public roads on September 1, a move I have long anticipated due to waning commitment. Compliance dropped in response to the draconian decrees made public three weeks ago, and I suspect the politicians got the memo. They have to tone things down before applying more force.

However, this may signal a turning point. It will be hard to reinstate mask mandates once they are officially abandoned. There's too little conviction and trust to put them back in place. I suspect compliance will drop steadily from now until September. We'll likely see less than 50% compliance in August. Few will wear their masks after September 1.

With vaccines only getting lip service this time around, we can hope this too will be abandoned shortly. My wife will be able to visit hospitals by taking a test. With rumours of adverse effects related to vaccines gaining ground, it will become increasingly difficult to push the herd further. There might even be a backlash. Once politicians sense that vaccines are morphing into a medical disaster, they'll claim they had nothing to do with it, that they were sceptical all along, and that they were deceived by bad science. Then they'll hang a few scientists, hoping to placate the public in the process.

Nicolae Ceaușescu

By not credited - Fototeca online a comunismului românesc, Photo no. #E594,, Attribution, Link