That is (luckily imo) only a tiny minority of Germans. I would be very interested: are the current restrictions really that bad? You need to wear a mask in supermarkets, do you think that's actually that big of a deal?
If I told you to list 3 things you're grateful for each day, and hounded and sanctioned you for not doing it, if I talked about all these Nazis I know who incidentally also are not doing it, and meaningfully nodded your way every time, and made fun of you in filter bubbles... wouldn't you just do this minor thing that may actually be beneficial and is unlikely to do harm?
This is the problem, and to use a pandemic to normalize that just makes it worse, morally speaking.
The difference being that there is a strong scientific consensus that wearing a mask will save many peoples lives. I don't want to be patronizing and me pointing out that op was in a minority merely wanted to correct the "fellow germans" statement. But sometimes it's difficult not to be patronizing if you are following the strong scientific consensus on a topic. Because wearing masks shouldn't be a political issue if you can't develop a reasonable counterargument.
> Because wearing masks shouldn't be a political issue if you can't develop a reasonable counterargument.
You are the one making it about the masks and only the masks, even the protests aren't, and I for one said IMO the pushiness is the problem, not what is being pushed.
It is not. Masks are meant to protect everybody, they are not meant to protect yourself. I'm not in favor of preventing consenting mentally stable adults from doing basically anything to themselves and – to answer your question – I would obviously object to other people forcing me into adopting any unreasonable habit. But this is about protecting society and risk groups.
> IMO the pushiness is the problem, not what is being pushed.
By "the pushiness" do you mean the laws that are in place to force people to do things? Because those are pretty common in all sorts of situations.
Or do you mean the general attitude by commentators (in the media/on twitter etc.) towards people not abiding by those laws?
> I would obviously object to other people forcing me into adopting any unreasonable habit.
There is nothing "unreasonable" about naming 3 things you are grateful for each day. If you did it each day, you could probably get it down to taking a few seconds.
> Or do you mean the general attitude by commentators (in the media/on twitter etc.) towards people not abiding by those laws?
I do mean the attitude, but not about not abiding to laws per se. It's just a wholesale dismissal. Like, what does "mentally stable" have to do with anything, why did you weave that in there? Because instable people are complaining about masks or think G5 causes Corona? What do, for example, arguments put forward in the OP article have to do with that?
I suppose the Swedish response would be that these deaths weren't prevented, just delayed, as there'll be a second wave, third wave... and lockdowns can't continue forever.