German Angst has become German Insanity
The new Infection Protection Act forces Germans as young as six years old to get a booster shot if they want to avoid wearing masks indoors. Welcome to the world of German Insanity.
It is quite stunning how George Orwell’s classic “1984” serves as a perfect commentary on current events, like a wise prophet from the past: “If human equality is to be for ever averted — if the High, as we have called them, are to keep their places permanently — then the prevailing mental condition must be controlled insanity.” The insanity of 2022 has indeed reached the next level, thanks to the new Infection Protection Act (Infektionsschutzgesetz) cooked up by Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach and Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann. It is a bill lacking any sense of reality, which uses an absurd analogy that tries to compare using masks to using snow tires in the winter (yes, you read that right). Any fearful and obedient German citizen will love this insanity of rules and bureaucracy:
Among other things, German government proposes an indoor FFP2 mask mandate, including public transport, for every German citizen older than six years old; on a state level, these measures can be complemented by regular testing in schools and daycare centers as well as mandatory mask-wearing for students in middle school and older. So far, so insane. But there is one crucial exception: If you had your booster shot “recently”, meaning if your booster shot was done within the last three months (90 days) – or if you have recently recovered from COVID-19 – you are exempt from wearing a mask. There is also a discussion around the idea of using stickers to identify loyal vaccine subscribers.
The new Infection Protection Act therefore means: If you have dutifully and obediently followed the rules set by the German Federal Government so far, meaning that you have received your two booster shots, it doesn’t matter. You are just as outlawed as those who didn’t get vaccinated or who just received one or two doses. Three shots aren’t enough, we need to inoculate everyone with a fourth, a fifth, even a sixth shot – then we will mercifully free you of the mask mandate. Nobody cares that the efficacy of such a vaccine subscription is not scientifically proven, that countries like Israel even decided against offering a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Nobody cares about the increasing number of people who in some cases have suffered severe side effects from vaccination. Even the President of the German National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, Andreas Gassen, doesn’t want to get vaccinated a fourth time.
Unfortunately though, the German Federal Government has already ordered around 666 million vaccine doses in total; this corresponds to a whopping eight (!) doses per citizen if you count infants as well. Paid with German tax money, these doses will of course need to be injected some way or another. Eight shots in the name of the Federal Republic. Pfizer/Biontech lobbyists have indeed done impressive work here and will surely be thanking the Federal Ministry of Health. Welcome to the world of German Insanity.
German politics – and a big number of German citizens – have been dominated by this kind of insanity for quite a while now. Insanity often stems from fear, from paranoia which focuses on one tremendous danger that seemingly looms on the horizon and that eclipses everything else. COVID-19 is perfect for fearmongering: it’s a virus you cannot see, that constantly mutates, that suffocates you, that can attack anyone, even multiple times. After two and a half years of pandemic we have reached a state of constant fear, propelled by an incessant media exposure that offers more and more apocalyptic prognoses day after day. Whereas at the beginning of the pandemic it might still have been justified to be afraid of COVID-19, this exaggerated fear is now nothing but gratuitous in the light of milder variants. However, going down this spiral of fear, the average German citizen will cry out for the protecting hand of government which will guide him through calamity, and he doesn’t mind giving up some of his basic rights in the process. First, it was “flatten the curve”. Then staying home for Grandma. Wear the mask as a sign of solidarity. Keep your distance. You may only meet with one other household (yes, that was a thing in Germany). You may not sit next to each other on a park bench. Close down schools. Reduce infection rates, preferably down to zero. But don’t worry, it’s just until the spring, just until after Christmas, just until we have defeated the virus once and for all.
Unfortunately, you can’t defeat a virus and you can’t control it either. That’s why the goal of this bill – “infection protection”, meaning the controlled avoidance of being infected with a virus – is deceptive; it’s a delusion that has nothing to do with reality. However, you can quite nicely control people with fear, as we have seen in the past two years. You can divide society quite nicely by making the fear of the virus a fear of the other. A fear of those who don’t wear the mask right. Those who might not be vaccinated. Those who might only have gotten one or two shots. Maybe – hopefully – Germans will now start to understand that the majority of measures taken by the government were nothing but politicking, which have not only caused a massive public health disaster but have also initiated an economic mega crisis.
While most European countries – from Sweden which opted for a liberal approach, to Spain which at first implemented draconian measures and then came to its senses, to France and even Austria – have suspended all COVID-19 regulations, Germany is heading for a third COVID-19 winter marked by German Angst and insane measures which, at this point, border on harassment. Ironically, it was Minister Lauterbach himself who made a mockery of his own Infection Protection Act: Shortly after announcing the bill, he caught COVID-19 – despite his fourth dose. In response to the Berliner Zeitung which inquired the date of the minister’s fourth shot – was it administered within the last 90 days? – a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said: “Please understand that we cannot go into details about medical affairs.” We’ll see if this sentence can also be applied to the average German citizen who wants to enter a gym or cinema this fall.
The new Infection Protection Act is nothing but a charade; it is purely arbitrary and completely ignores the fact that other European countries go the opposite direction. If Federal Minister of Justice Buschmann announced in November 2021 to “end all restrictions” in March 2022 only to propose such an absurd bill, if Federal Minister of Health Lauterbach requires millions of citizens to lay out their immunization status but refuses to do it himself, then this is pure hypocrisy and harassment. One can only hope that Germans will finally overcome their German Angst and put the “High”, as Orwell says, in their place1 to stop this (un)controlled insanity.
About the author: Born 1987, with roots in Germany and the Philippines, living in Spain. Constantly curious and eager to learn new things. Freedom > safety. Your own opinion > groupthink. Coffee > tea. Currently reading: “QualityLand” by Marc-Uwe Kling.
Die deutsche Version des Artikels findet sich hier:
The hashtag #RücktrittLauterbach demanding the minister’s resignation has been trending on Twitter for weeks.