. . . 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?
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.