There have always been people who find illness fashionable. Tuberculosis, in particular, was seen as a 'romantic disease', and individuals with tuberculosis were thought to have heightened sensitivity, which was seen as a good thing. see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_tuberculosis Social media amplifies everything, so why not this too?
"My guess is that in a decade, you will be hard-pressed to find anyone who admits to having been in favour of lockdowns."
I have written this line myself over a dozen times since March 2020. Most of the lockdown advocates have already retreated to the "I only wanted to lock down for 15 days" line of defense.
The issue isn't that we can't admit we have moral panics after the fact. It's that these moral panics:
1) Go on and on (two years is a long time)
2) We go from one moral panic to the next so there is never really a pause
3) The impacts of each seem to be getting worse over time
So for instance we've recently repealed the Iraq War Authorization, but it doesn't seem like we learned anything about jingo-ism, real politick, and nation building. They recently had several OP-EDs in the NYTimes about the 20th anniversary of Iraq and I was amazed to learn that the wars major supporters, even amongst liberals, all think that they were basically correct despite some issues. They learned nothing!
It seems to me that Christianity helped Europe to develop in the High Middle Ages.
Maybe it was the church insisting that murders be executed. Maybe it was the concept of limited warfare. Maybe it was the church banning cousin marriage.
Maybe it was the doctrines or maybe it was an accident.
What is clear is that Europeans in 1500 are very different from Europeans in 1000.
Nowadays, the greatest sin in writing is using the passive voice. Still, wouldn't the second sentence of the last quote sound better using the passive voice? Using the third person plural here sounds artificial, awkward and grammatically incorrect (is Western Europe a they?) to me. Or is it because English is not my mother tongue?
"The government has little incentive to regulate banks effectively. When there is a breakdown, public officials just end up with more power."
While breakdowns likely increase govt power, I see no basis for assuming this is a primary motivator for govt regulators. I'd posit they either want to minimize harm to the public (optimistic view) or want to minimize harm to themselves for making what others judge to have been the wrong decision (pessimistic view). I'm not sure which of those dominates but I'd bet there is more of either than a desire to use it to increase power. Politicians tend to be power hungry, bureaucrats tend to take the safe option.
"It could easily be that less-depressed people are less likely to use social media."
Sure, but the chicken and egg question raised does not address the INCREASE in mental health issues most common in those who use it.
Reactions to Covid and Covid lockdowns were mostly emotional. Emotions fade. I'd bet in 10 years nearly everyone will look at the experience as far less important than they see it today.
There have always been people who find illness fashionable. Tuberculosis, in particular, was seen as a 'romantic disease', and individuals with tuberculosis were thought to have heightened sensitivity, which was seen as a good thing. see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_tuberculosis Social media amplifies everything, so why not this too?
"My guess is that in a decade, you will be hard-pressed to find anyone who admits to having been in favour of lockdowns."
I have written this line myself over a dozen times since March 2020. Most of the lockdown advocates have already retreated to the "I only wanted to lock down for 15 days" line of defense.
COVID
The issue isn't that we can't admit we have moral panics after the fact. It's that these moral panics:
1) Go on and on (two years is a long time)
2) We go from one moral panic to the next so there is never really a pause
3) The impacts of each seem to be getting worse over time
So for instance we've recently repealed the Iraq War Authorization, but it doesn't seem like we learned anything about jingo-ism, real politick, and nation building. They recently had several OP-EDs in the NYTimes about the 20th anniversary of Iraq and I was amazed to learn that the wars major supporters, even amongst liberals, all think that they were basically correct despite some issues. They learned nothing!
It seems to me that Christianity helped Europe to develop in the High Middle Ages.
Maybe it was the church insisting that murders be executed. Maybe it was the concept of limited warfare. Maybe it was the church banning cousin marriage.
Maybe it was the doctrines or maybe it was an accident.
What is clear is that Europeans in 1500 are very different from Europeans in 1000.
Nowadays, the greatest sin in writing is using the passive voice. Still, wouldn't the second sentence of the last quote sound better using the passive voice? Using the third person plural here sounds artificial, awkward and grammatically incorrect (is Western Europe a they?) to me. Or is it because English is not my mother tongue?
"The government has little incentive to regulate banks effectively. When there is a breakdown, public officials just end up with more power."
While breakdowns likely increase govt power, I see no basis for assuming this is a primary motivator for govt regulators. I'd posit they either want to minimize harm to the public (optimistic view) or want to minimize harm to themselves for making what others judge to have been the wrong decision (pessimistic view). I'm not sure which of those dominates but I'd bet there is more of either than a desire to use it to increase power. Politicians tend to be power hungry, bureaucrats tend to take the safe option.
"It could easily be that less-depressed people are less likely to use social media."
Sure, but the chicken and egg question raised does not address the INCREASE in mental health issues most common in those who use it.
Reactions to Covid and Covid lockdowns were mostly emotional. Emotions fade. I'd bet in 10 years nearly everyone will look at the experience as far less important than they see it today.