It is worthwhile to set one’s sights on an ideal of political life that would put most real-life politicians to shame. And it is worthwhile to teach that ideal to our children. However, high-minded ideals of politics must be balanced by a keen appreciation for the ugly underbelly of politics: the fact that many, and quite possibly, most actual politicians are prepared to bend their moral compass to advance and protect their career; and the fact that for many, and quite possibly most actual politicians, the goal of holding on to power and increasing it often wins out against the public interest.
One of the puzzles of the past few years is how citizens could stand idly by while their political representatives set at nought their basic rights, from the right to protest to the right to move around freely, to the right to informed consent to medication. It is puzzling that citizens so quickly bought into the argument that it was really all just about protecting us from a virus, even after it was known that Covid was relatively innocuous for the vast majority of healthy people, and even after the manifest failure of lockdowns, masks, and vaccine mandates to stop the virus from spreading through the community. And it is puzzling that many citizens still refuse to even entertain the thought that a multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry might have actually been acting on a profit motive that overwhelmed considerations of health and safety.
*Consider upgrading to a paid subscription for just 5 EUR per month to read the rest of this post and all other subscriber-exclusive content. Your subscription will also be supporting my work in defence of a free society*
There are numerous factors that might explain citizens’ failure to interrogate the true motives of power-holders, be they politicians, journalists, or Big Pharma officials. Initially, it is likely that the fear of Covid-19 itself short-circuited people’s critical faculties. But even after this fear subsided, many continued to insist that the WHO, Anthony Fauci, and others who have defended highly unorthodox and dangerous health measures such as lockdowns, and supported the administration of experimental vaccines to people at negligible risk from Covid-19, are as pure as the driven snow.
If fear alone cannot explain the willingness of so many citizens to put public officials on a moral pedestal or consider them somehow immune to the temptations of power, then what can? Why would citizens view their politicians and public health officials through rose-coloured glasses? I believe the answer has much to do with the way we have been taught about politics and public service.