The Banality of Politics

Boris Johnson has decided to roll back most of England's Covid related mandates and restrictions. The logic behind this is that Covid is now so contagious and so benign that there's no point in trying to contain it. However, the real reason behind this decision is likely something else. Johnson is after all a politician and not a medical expert. His only real concern is his own political survival, and this latest decision bears all the signs of political maneuvering.

Johnson is in trouble for having broken his own rules, and this is probably the main motivation behind the change in policy. By removing all the rules that he broke himself, he can claim to have broken no rules at all, he was merely early in adopting the new ones.

In addition to this, Johnson gains several other benefits:

• It makes him look victorious in the eyes of the gullible
• It sets the UK apart from the EU, making Brexit more popular
• It's good for the economy, on which he's dependent for his popularity

All of this is good for Johnson, and therefore smart politics as far as he's concerned. However, it's horrible politics from a globalist viewpoint. Their hope was that the virus would align all governments into a single unified response, thereby paving the way for a central world government, but the very opposite is what we're getting.

The UK is such an influential nation that it's hard to see how countries within its sphere of influence can continue their restrictions in light of these latest changes. Scandinavia, Holland and Portugal are heavily influenced by the UK, so we can expect regulations to be rolled back there too. The same goes for Commonwealth countries and the US.

Things are also falling apart farther east. The Czech republic has rolled back their restrictions. This may have been inspired by the UK, but local issues are probably primary here too. The Czech republic is part of "Mitteleuropa", a region where cultural and political bickering is deeply rooted in history. The Czechs have most likely adopted their liberal stance simply because Austria has adopted a totalitarian stance. Prague is only an hour away from Vienna by car, so they stand to gain a lot from emigrants leaving Vienna for Prague.

This pattern is becoming more pronounced throughout Europe, precisely as I predicted. Some places are doubling down on totalitarian measures. Other places are scrapping them. Others again adopt something in between. There's no unified plan. Every country does things their own way.

This exposes the EU as a useless organization, and the fact that the EU has sided with the totalitarians has pretty much sealed its fate. It will have to be scaled back substantially if it hopes to retain any relevance at all.

All of this is good news for the liberty minded. We're again heading for an era of diversity in governance. Every country will come up with their own rules, and they will have to compete with every other country. This has always been good for liberty. Europe's success is rooted in this constant bickering back and forth between nations.

Liberty