. . . were the countries that were experiencing massive success by nationalist parties? Britain has Brexit. France has Le Pen. Italy had recently elected anti-migration politicians. Many people in Germany were sick of Merkel and her dumb policies. And the United States has President Trump.
So, is/was this a China Virus issue?
Or is it a freedom issue?
South Korea had the toughest lockdown restrictions of any country lol
New Zealand shut down their whole economy
Eritrea suspended all trading, markets, courts, etc.
Bolivia shut down all religious, work, and holiday activities
this is a confirmation bias thing
You could be right about my observation being rooted in confirmation bias. I don't think that your examples prove that is the case. Some countries instituted lockdowns not necessarily because of a problem, rather because of a "monkey see - money do" type response. I might, without doing any research, put South Korea in that category.
New Zealand, on the other hand, is a data point in my favour. They've been a freedom-lovers paradise for ex-pats the world over. The lockdowns and the gun bans sort of put the brakes on that.
Bolivia? Eritrea? I don't care. Ha!
Thank you for your response and the good observation!
New Zealand's president is definitely not a nationalist
dismissing data points because. you "don't care" isn't how this works
You're correct that New Zealand's president is not a nationalist; she's quite the opposite! The people are -- and that was implicit in my original observation, though I may not have expressed that adequately. The people -- and the politics -- are moving toward the right (read: not socialism) and the politicians are pushing back with the lockdowns (read: not freedom).
It is permissible to dismiss data points. My response was more of an attempt at humor than it was a serious rejoinder. Did I not amuse you? (That's humor, again. Maybe. Ha!)
Bolivia and Eritrea, I would argue, fall into the "monkey see - monkey do" realm. Or maybe they're receiving money from WHO? Or someone else? I don't know. Suffice it to say that I don't think their decisions are made independently.
I think the politics played over the CV by country is more interesting.