You get the impression that the function of the national corona debate is changing. Everything has actually been said. You see more eagerness to judge other people’s behavior. Yet people continue to seek discussion and that is a good thing. Otherwise they might lose their heads and you wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
In politics, the weariness of the discussion translates into more statements. Many absolute realities, one-liners as facts. Hugo de Jonge can do nothing. It’s Ruth’s fault. The state is always late. The state is failing.
It also strengthens opposition to 2G. People refer to the integrity of the body, which was constitutionalized in 1983 at the insistence of the VVD was recorded. Few Dutch people would also want to force healthy people to take medicine. But sometimes this turns out to be reality. NRC brought a letter from a medical student who had no choice: some vaccinations had to be dropped from university.
And about 2G: the principle that people are restricted in their rights because they pose a danger to others through their own actions is of course not new either. That is why drunk drivers are not allowed on the road. Denying vaccine refusers access to shops goes further, of course, but the difference in principle is not that great.
Then there is the plea from many groups to protect the unvaccinated as a minority. A strong argument from a practical point of view: research shows that compulsory vaccination only increases vaccination resistance. But in principle it is also a correct point. In our liberal democracy, it is primarily about the representation of minorities, not about (just) the majority.
This open eye for minority interests also illustrates how much corona is turning politics upside down. Because that very notion has been losing support in The Hague for years. In 2016, the States General introduced an advisory referendum, and this year a majority voted in favor of an SP initiative for a corrective referendum.
But just referendums ignore the importance of minorities: the majority wins. And the paradox is: almost all parties that now stand up for the unvaccinated minority regarding corona – from FVD to PvdD – have been vocally in favor of referendums for years. Although you do not suspect that Baudet or Ouwehand would convince the vaccinated majority of their views in a referendum.
The pandemic thus constantly confronts politicians, all politicians, with their own points of view, principles and positions. It underlines the unpredictability of the crisis. And while principled debates are always of value, it can help not to constantly replace the lack of new views with sharpened statements.
A version of this article also appeared in NRC in the morning of November 16, 2021
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