When COVID-19 first appeared on the scene, the Chinese government reacted with a heavy-handed, authoritarian approach to the virus, instituting lockdowns, forcing citizens subjects to submit to temperature checks, and generally acting as any dictatorship would. We at RedTea thought there was no way such behavior would be tolerated in the West, but boy were we wrong.
Not only did Westerners accede to government restrictions, many millions even welcomed them. If nothing else, COVID demonstrated that too many of our fellow citizens are dying for the chance to become pawns for the government.
Yet nearly two years after the virus was first discovered, we’re still at the mercy of totalitarian government. And perhaps no Western government has been more tyrannical than that of Australia.
Australia’s lockdowns have become infamous for their severity and their cruelty. All of this in a country in which case numbers and even deaths from COVID have been minimal. But again, too many Australians are not just happy to comply, they’re also happy to snitch on their neighbors.
Now Australia has gone a step further, creating concentration camps not just for those diagnosed with COVID, but for those who have possibly come into contact with someone with COVID. You would think that the idea of concentration camps would be abhorrent to anyone with even a smattering of a conscience, or some knowledge of 20th century history. But Australian leaders appear to be ignorant as well as evil.
They’re trying to downplay the fact that they’re creating concentration camps, trying to make it seem as though the people in them are happy and free to do what they want, even if they’re unable to leave and are being held for as long as the government wants them to be there.
It’s a terrible thing that’s happening Down Under, and we have to hope that it doesn’t spread. But given the way Western leaders have reacted in the past, we can’t be too confident that they’ll do the right thing today. It’s up to us now to remain vigilant and put pressure on government officials never again to give in to their authoritarian urges in the name of combating a virus.