How many people must die? COVID19, lockdown and the question of social consent

Wuhan

Alan Freeman wrote this paper, early in the pandemic, because critics of China’s ‘lockdown’, both from the right and the left, said the West should not do the same because it would infringe civil liberties.

By Alan Freeman

Published on Geopolitical Economy Research Group-Academia, July 28, 2020

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I wrote this paper, early in the pandemic, because critics of China’s ‘lockdown’, both from the right and the left, said the West should not do the same, because it would infringe civil liberties.

The critics said COVID was no worse than flu or even a fake.

Lockdowns would strengthen state power and take away fundamental rights like freedom of movement.

I won’t waste time on the first argument. The USA, the UK and Brazil lead the world in new deaths per million, while Sweden, held up by naysayers as a ‘relaxed’ alternative, approaches Italian death levels.

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