Austria recently became the first EU country to make vaccinations mandatory for all adults above 18. I just checked some numbers, and the current coverage seems to be around 75%. To enforce the law, the government have decided on fines of 600 EUR up to a total of 3600 EUR per quarter. This move is interesting for several reasons, but the one that I find most interesting is that such a law will be completely impossible to enforce in practice on one condition: The ones who don’t want it simply need to say No, if their number is large enough.

PhilosophyRikard ÖqvistFebruary 8, 2022vaccine, covid, authoritarianism, austriaComment

What is your red line?

During the current struggle between vaccinated and unvaccinated, I have been thinking about what it means to support the exclusion of certain groups from society. For example, Emmanuel Macron recently proposed that “they” should perhaps not be regarded as citizens. It is one thing to suggest enforced vaccinations in a heated online conversation or a Tweet, but once you dig a little deeper, certain noteworthy consequences appear. Below, I will simply list some proposals – simple solutions – that I have experienced in my own social network, and how I interpret their consequences. It will not be a pleasant read.

PhilosophyRikard ÖqvistJanuary 31, 2022covid, evil, tyranny, humanityComment

It started with a Gut feeling

A couple of years ago, I had a strong gut feeling that something bad was going to happen. Something really bad, and I told my wife that “we have to get out of here”. We had to get away from our nice apartment in the city and settle down in a house in the countryside. That gut feeling should not be dismissed. It has never failed me. Unfortunately, I have never been so right about anything in my whole life. Out here, in our new home – nothing, and I mean NOTHING has changed since 2019. A solid foundation keeps you sane.