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codeyperson

> You also see an increase in totalitarian behavior, eg, the Australian lockdowns compared to the US lockdowns.

Don't believe tabloid media. No it wasn't 'totalitarian'. I can't take you seriously now.

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I guess we disagree on “totalitarian” — or if the BBC is a “tabloid”.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-59486285.amp

I can't see "totalitarian" used on that page. I'm confused what your point is. The story is about 3 people escaping from "one of Australia's main quarantine facilities for people returning to the country" and being arrested when they were caught. That sounds like very unremarkable news to this Australian, but it seems that to some people it sounds like totally unacceptable totalitarianism, no idea why. Not the first time I've seen people post similar unremarkable "news" items on HN accompanied by extravagant claims that Australia is suddenly like the USSR or something.

> Officials did not state whether the escapees were returning travellers or locals in quarantine.

> In recent days, the centre has also housed people infected from a Covid outbreak in Katherine, a town 300km (185 miles) away.

> Police had set up checkpoints around the compound on Wednesday and inspected cars moving through the area.

I feel like the key to you seeing great significance in these reports are your unspoken premises, the beliefs you have, how you are framing this, which you will have to say out loud for me to know why you're posting this stuff.

I feel like you’re intentionally avoiding the point by saying things like “I don’t see the word totalitarian” and then ignoring the obvious implication that the article describes camps which are forcibly quarantining people who never traveled, including taking measures like searching unrelated cars who happen to be nearby.

I think you’re responding in bad faith because it would challenge your view of yourself and your nation to admit that forcible imprisonment in camps for quarantine is what people mean when they say “totalitarian”.

On the other hand the US has the highest incarnation rate of any western country by a large margin. So I guess the guns don't help against the totalitarian tendencies of their government.

Are you saying you believe that number would be lower if Americans owned fewer guns? — what mechanism do you believe would cause that?

No I'm saying that your argument is that putting people into forced quarantine if the disobey requirements is totalitarian and that it would be prevented by higher gun ownership. I'm saying that the US is putting a much larger fraction of their population into jails (for disobeying requirements), which should be considered just as totalitarian and the armed populace is not preventing it.

You don’t see a difference between jailing people who commit crimes versus forcible quarantine of people because they caught a highly communicable disease?

Or why forcible internment in camps for a disease might remind people of other atrocities in history?

I clicked through to the news story because I assumed from your comment that the BBC story used "totalitarian", evidently I misunderstood. For doing that I'm intentionally missing the point, ignoring things and responding in bad faith?

> forcible imprisonment in camps for quarantine is what people mean when they say “totalitarian”

I think I understand that it's what you mean when you say "totalitarian". I'm not interested in communicating further, after your unfriendly accusations.

"Sir, please return to a two mile radius of your home for you own safety or else we will arrest and imprison you, for your safety"

I don’t know which country you are talking about but I haven’t heard about prison sentences for not respecting lockdowns, only fines. At least in the EU.

And while those laws were pretty stupidly implemented they were just the outcome of improvisation from unprepared governments, not some totalitarian vision. Even citizens from countries with a strong culture of disobedience understood that.

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