Cascade

Throughout the coronavirus debacle, face masks were an embarrassing nuisance. There was no attempt to apply any kind of standard for porosity, material, nose piece, fastenings or instructions.

In other words, any leaky old bit of cloth would do as long as it looked like a mask. Ours were home made bits of cloth and elastic with no quality control whatever. But they were good enough because appearance was all. So what were masks all about, other than some kind of compliance badge?

To my mind, masks were both a compliance badge part of an engineered availability cascade. 

An availability cascade is a self-reinforcing cycle that explains the development of certain kinds of collective beliefs. A novel idea or insight, usually one that seems to explain a complex process in a simple or straightforward manner, gains rapid currency in the popular discourse by its very simplicity and by its apparent insightfulness. Its rising popularity triggers a chain reaction within the social network: individuals adopt the new insight because other people within the network have adopted it, and on its face it seems plausible.

The intention was to make masks into the most visible part of official policy. They were used to ensure that the whole coronavirus issue revolved around centrally planned pandemic mitigation. Nothing else. Masks were a central planner’s tactic.

Here in the UK, COP26 is apparently being used as an availability cascade for Net Zero. The absurdly heavy media coverage of COP26 certainly requires some explanation as the event itself is both uninteresting and most unlikely to advance beyond futile.

COP26 coverage in the UK feels like a highly artificial availability cascade. As if the intention here is to ensure that Net Zero discussions only revolve around the “we must do something” position, ensuring it is by far the most widely familiar public position. In other words, the only available position for most people. Another central planner’s tactic.

To my mind, there is no doubt whatever that this Boris Johnson government is a central planner’s dream. A totalitarian government where all we really vote for is the face on the TV screen.