Do Pasaways Insist The Philippines Follow The "Successful" Swedish Model?

Although Rigoberto Tiglao of the Manila Times is really a caveman in economics - he still does a good job with investigative journalism making me still read his articles. I was thinking about one of his latest posts about the Swedish model. The title of the article really addresses the question of pasaways themselves who are again complaining about having lockdowns. I'm so surprised at how COVID-19 cases are spread yet the pasaways still don't want to follow rules. It's one thing to criticize the government for its shortcomings. It's another to deliberately break quarantine rules, right? The Swedish model tried to achieve "herd immunity" by not having lockdowns. 

The Swedish model should be considered like a pyramid scam - it's too good to be true! If it's too good to be true then reject it. For example, what if I told you that if you give money to the 4Ps program of the DSWD that there's the 5.88 multiplier effect and three times return of the money? Certainly, such a process is just stupid. 

This is what Tiglao has to say about the Swedish model:

The Swedish model, and the fact that it was undertaken by one of the most developed and civilized nations in the world, is a serious threat to society. It is really of the same genre as American housewives refusing to have their children wear masks (as shown in a CNN report), claiming that it will “reduce oxygen my kid will breathe, and therefore affect his mind.” Or millions of Americans’ refusal to have themselves vaccinated, claiming this would be violating their freedom over their bodies. The Swedish model is the height of the science-denial thinking.

This is not just my opinion. A scientific study (not an opinion piece) entitled “The Covid-19 pandemic and the Swedish strategy: Epidemiology and Postmodernism” by a Lund University professor concluded:

“Overconfidence in herd immunity, overconfidence in individual responsibility in solving a pandemic… may be associated with post-materialist values and postmodernism, including opposition against modern authority, rationality and science, and an anti-traditionalist stance towards the experience of older generations.”

Yet, you have the pasaways who have been screaming about quarantine again such as the ABiaS-CBN stars. Their credibility already shrunk during the pandemic. I remembered when I wrote about how ABiaS-CBN had a stark contrast with K-Drama stars. South Korean stars gave a flood of donations whether it was Rep. Sarah Jane Elgago's "twin" Shin Hye Sun or Shaina Magdayao's "twin" Jin A Nana - there were many more. The ABiaS-CBN stars really had helped COVID-19 in its spread through the noise rallies. They were acting as if ABiaS-CBN cured COVID-19. I laughed at how Angel Locsin Colmenares (who got married to her husband, Neil Arce, congrats by the way) had one statement after the other. Meanwhile, Tiglao was also right to blame ABiaS-CBN and communists for the spread of COVID-19. Can they REALLY guarantee that they had social distancing?

It reminds me that I also wrote an article regarding the rationale for rallying. The very statement that the Black Lives Matter rallies (daw) didn't lead to a surge is questionable. In fact, it defies high school biology at a huge level. I may have not gotten good grades in biology back in high school (due to poor study habits) but that doesn't mean I can't learn more of it now. Fortunately, we have the Internet and some scholarly websites to learn more biology. One basic rule in virology is that a virus without a host dies. If a virus is contagious then social distancing is needed. Yet, these pasaways still insist on RALLYING AND RALLYING. I'm amazed at how they keep having rallies then they insist that they're not responsible. I'm not saying Francisco Duque shouldn't be scrutinized for his incompetence. I'm saying that it may take more than one side in the spread of the pandemic. In fact, Vice President Leni Loud Robredo has been breaking guidelines herself too making her vaccination drives now even more questionable. I'm not saying Leni Loud should stop her vaccination drive. Instead, Leni Loud needs to take extra care if she really wants to help. 

Maybe, we need to think about the hard lesson in Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque of the Red Death. The plague was personified and the king tried to celebrate during the plague. The whole idea ended up with the guests dying. I guess the pasaways still want to have their happy-happy time even if social distancing is needed. Some go against vaccines by saying that no vaccines work (which is questionable) maybe to avoid the pain in the needle and the side-effects you may get for a few days. These people are pretty much like the guests that dropped dead in the short story by Poe. The Swedish Model might as well be comparable to The Masque of the Red death in that regard. It disregarded safety for leisure resulting in the deaths of those who did.