Disappointed

I had high hopes for the Portuguese when it came to the vaccine. They are the gentle anarchists of Europe, and I thought that their tendency to skirt rules and do whatever makes sense would save them from going en masse to the vaccination centers. However, I was wrong. Portugal has the highest vaccination rate in Europe, with a whopping 91% of the adult population vaccinated.

So where did I go wrong in my analysis? How is it that so many Portuguese went along with the nonsense?

My guess is that it has to do with two factors. One being the high confidence the Portuguese have in pharmaceuticals. They're not only anarchists, they are impatient when it comes to any kind of illness or discomfort. They're off to the chemist at the first sign of a fever or sore back.

The other reason is that their approach to authority is to let them have their way as long as it doesn't meaningfully interfere in their lives. If the authorities put up a hurdle that's easy to pass, they jump it without any fuss. The constant talk of the vaccine as both safe and effective made the population think that this was just another low hurdle to jump rather than fight.

The social contract