“There is simply no excuse for imprisoning the population”

(Don Boudreaux)

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Indeed there is not, as explained here by pathologist John Lee. (HT Sheldon Richman)

DBx: Again I put this question to my classical-liberal and libertarian friends who think the lockdowns justified: Why do you trust with the awesome power to obstruct everyday life – work, school, worship, leisure (including family gatherings) – the same individuals (politicians), operating in the same institution (government), who you do not trust with the power to impose tariffs, grant subsidies, and mandate occupational licenses? Why do you suppose that these same political individuals who haven’t the courage, prudence, or long-term vision to balance governments’ budgets during booming economic times are acting courageously, prudently, and with a long-term vision in response to covid-19?

And why do you suppose that the mainstream media – which you recognize are consistently wrong regarding policies such as the minimum wage, trade, government budgeting, “price-gouging,” and welfare – are reporting on covid-19 with sufficient accuracy to give to you, to politicians, and to the general public a reasonably objective, complete, and clear picture of covid-19? Why would the same reporters and pundits who, say, explain price hikes following natural disasters as being the result of “greed” – who so often write and talk as if it’s an established fact that income inequality in market economies is evidence of “the rich” gaining at the expense of the non-rich – who treat as gospel truth a self-righteous Swedish teenager’s warning of a coming environmental calamit – who never look past that which is seen to report and opine on that which is unseen – get the account of covid-19 correct?