Being Openly Sadistic

An interesting aspect of the current virus hysteria is the way it's revealing the true nature of the ruling class. Politicians are shamelessly open about their psychopathic tendencies. The UK health secretary Sajid Javid revealed this back in September. He saw nothing wrong in coercing and bullying people into compliance. None of his colleagues saw anything wrong or unusual in this either, and the average UK citizen found it within acceptable behavior.

We're so used to politicians behaving like schoolyard bullies that no-one bats an eye when this is revealed and admitted in public. But it appears that openly sadistic tendencies are still considered taboo. Blinking out a ten percent minority to bully and torture is not considered fair. Emmanuel Macron has learned this the hard way. His desire to make life miserable for some seven million French people has not resulted in the boost in popularity that he hoped for.

However, we shouldn't be too quick to conclude from this that sadism is outside the scope of acceptable political behavior. Part of the backlash may have had more to do with the prospect of unending boosters for all Frenchmen than genuine compassion for others. Macron's desire to torture the unvaccinated is not limited to hardline anti-vaccine folks. He will gladly expand this "service" to include anyone reluctant to take their boosters in the future.

People's reactions would probably have been different if Macron's remarks had been directed towards a limited group that people felt certain that they would never fall into themselves. Macron's mistake was not so much to reveal his inner sadist, but the fact that few are absolutely certain that they will not be targeted themselves. To play it safe, many will choose to cast their vote for someone a little less open about their sadistic tendencies in the upcoming elections.

Emmanuel Macron

By EU2017EE Estonian Presidency - Tallinn Digital Summit. Welcome dinner hosted by HE Donald Tusk. Handshake, CC BY 2.0, Link