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We're not comfortable with the possibility that not doing something is a decision too.

And now the good fight with Yasha Monk.

It has now been over a year since the pandemic really closed down Western democracies.

Since we've had stay-at-home orders, since restaurants were closed down, since many shops shut at the doors.

I have spoken before on this podcast about the contrast between our expectations

then and the reality of what happened over the last year.

I have spoken about the fact that at the time it felt as though this would prove a real test of a global

economy, it would prove the irrationality of just in time

production mechanisms, for example.

And it would prove the capability of our economic system,

economic system, welfare state capitalism, a strong capitalist element with a real welfare state

element, has turned out to be surprisingly resilient, our governments have in many ways

failed. I want to revisit that theme for my little spiel today because I still think that we haven't

grappled enough and I haven't grappled enough with the extent of our failure, which has only become clearer over the last months as the United States and the United Kingdom are slowly starting to move out of the pandemic but many European countries have done such a bad

job on the vaccine rollout have failed to conclude these contracts early enough that they are still in deep lockdown with schools closed with curfews with just extreme restrictions on the lives of citizens.

And it seems to me that this will seriously damage the prestige of democracy in two ways.

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