The Omicron variant was not a "Western Covid variant." It originated in South Africa, which is far from being a Western nation. It is incorrect to state, as Tooze has in several of his essays, that the West failed to control Covid. It is a lie of omission. All the world, with a few exceptions, like China and Australia (a Western nation),…
The Omicron variant was not a "Western Covid variant." It originated in South Africa, which is far from being a Western nation. It is incorrect to state, as Tooze has in several of his essays, that the West failed to control Covid. It is a lie of omission. All the world, with a few exceptions, like China and Australia (a Western nation), failed to control Covid. The non-Western nations with no control are around 5x as populous as the West. Therefore, we may reasonably assume that around 5/6 of the Covid mutations occurred outside the West in the critical pre-vaccine period.
Some mention of China's undermined international credibility, given its extremely selfish response to the original Covid outbreak, might have been suitable in this essay. Oh, wait, that undermining didn't really happen because elites around the world do not care about their hoi polloi dying prematurely. Instead, there are multiple ongoing Covid-related cover-ups, led by the Chinese and the Americans. The dog didn't bark, the high and holy trade system is unperturbed.
I particularly love the outbreak of pure Toozian communism in the unironic comparison of the dangerous power of Musk (oh, the poor, beleaguered American deep state) and the dangerous power of the CCP (proud achiever of the Great Famine). Someone needs an editor. Someone needs an anti-communist editor.
The Omicron variant was not a "Western Covid variant." It originated in South Africa, which is far from being a Western nation. It is incorrect to state, as Tooze has in several of his essays, that the West failed to control Covid. It is a lie of omission. All the world, with a few exceptions, like China and Australia (a Western nation), failed to control Covid. The non-Western nations with no control are around 5x as populous as the West. Therefore, we may reasonably assume that around 5/6 of the Covid mutations occurred outside the West in the critical pre-vaccine period.
Some mention of China's undermined international credibility, given its extremely selfish response to the original Covid outbreak, might have been suitable in this essay. Oh, wait, that undermining didn't really happen because elites around the world do not care about their hoi polloi dying prematurely. Instead, there are multiple ongoing Covid-related cover-ups, led by the Chinese and the Americans. The dog didn't bark, the high and holy trade system is unperturbed.
I particularly love the outbreak of pure Toozian communism in the unironic comparison of the dangerous power of Musk (oh, the poor, beleaguered American deep state) and the dangerous power of the CCP (proud achiever of the Great Famine). Someone needs an editor. Someone needs an anti-communist editor.