Hurray for the Swedes!

It is best to give people the opportunity to make sacrifices out of the goodness of their heart. For success however, you need to exercise this goodness-muscle round the years, not at the last moment.

Three main factors determine the chances of developing this goodness-muscle:

1. The regime: under paternalistic/autocratic regimes, one can rarely develop this goodness-muscle because they are required to outwardly imitate goodness without internalising and owning it themselves.

2. The size of society: one will naturally be willing to make great sacrifices for their family and loved ones, but less-and-less as the group increases in size and becomes anonymous strangers.

3. Cultural homogeneity: rightly or wrongly, one is more willing to sacrifice for others who share common values, especially religious values.

So some countries are able to withstand a plague happily and without coercion while others have no chance. China is probably the worst case while Australia is somewhere in the middle. The Swedes may be better off.

The main vulnerability in Australia is its size. It was therefore important for the Australian states to close their borders, but it was then somewhat too late, now we need to divide into even smaller regions while closing the borders between them.

The big mistake we are now facing are the directives from Canberra. The central government imposes collective punishments for the acts of some fools in Sydney/Bondi over people who live 1000's of kilometers away who have not only done the right thing, but voluntarily and conscientiously went ahead of the curve way before governments decreed it.

This brings about a sense of helplessness, leading to complacency: my actions, my efforts to isolate, do not really matter - my local community and loved ones will not see restrictions lifted any time soon because our fate is tied to the actions of strangers that live far away whom we are unlikely to ever meet... so why bother?

Regimes should be warned: should people end up hating the government more than the virus, they will cooperate with the latter and help it to win!

thinkabit… simply spot on. well said and explained.

I like Sweden, odd people, beautifule landscapes. Used to make good quirky cars until GM dumped and trashed them CHai-na now makes them ( NEVS electric cars) for internal use.

Agree re this articles odd view... but don't forget... while SAAB make no longer make cars, Saab-Scania trucks roam the world AND the do make exceedingly good weapons of war..(Jets, tanks, Submarines. missiles....) For a neutral peace lovin country, unlike the rest of us, they can defend themselves with weapons from their own industry..We clever/lucky ozzies … we commisiion ridiculous, expensive, stupid specs for submarines from the French ( $80bikllion estimate, 1/4 of current Stimulus tab!