The Rawlsian veil does not react well with deontological meliorism.

There's nothing "very liberal" about constant lockdowns/closures in the first place. Not only did the "very liberal" hurt society, they've invented a faux ideological lane of progressivism that increased inequities. They've betrayed their own cause & damaged the Democratic Party.

— Josh (@Bagsy_J) March 18, 2022

Indeed. I was surprised to see us import a strategy from an authoritarian country and implement it widely as the only and obvious solution the pandemic, while other countries that fared fine did not do lockdowns at all.

I’m not being dramatic; it really did surprise me. We’re lucky that in America that lockdowns didn’t really last long. People resisted and they were right to do so. However, we also didn’t do much else that would’ve really helped, like ventilation and air quality improvements. That’s not so good because those were easy wins we just blithely left on the table and which would’ve helped with numerous other illnesses, not just Covid.

I’m getting sidetracked here, though. Lockdowns are evil, despite any benefit they might bring about. Not because they originated in an authoritarian country, but because of the harm they cause and will continue to cause long after they are well in the past.