The Road To Lockdown 24: Pass the Port

There is talk of a covid passport. An entry to places in the honeymoon of the vaccine rollout, facilitated by your ability to prove you've been so treated. Honestly, not sure how to feel about this. On one hand, we really cannot continue to allow the virus to spread. It has been argued there is precedent: travel to certain countries necessitates receiving shots. It's not quite the same though, and one should  always question a scheme when it's being delivered by the likes of the Tories. I don't necessarily think the slippery slop fallacy applies, but none the less it would be naive to think no good can come from it. Indeed one might argue that we don't need passports every flu season, but on the other hand I started carrying hand gel each winter precisely because I got sick of getting sick from exposure to other people's germs on buses and out in public ever winter. The threat of covid is worse because it's perennial.

However where I definitely draw the line is the use of mobile phones. Not least of all because my phone isn't powerful enough of running the OS necessary to operate the covid app. While it's easy to assume everyone on benefits spends their money on the most expensive smartphones, it would be a false one to make. I certainly don't, and I don't want to. I'm not a fan of phones. I find them intrusive, plus I barely make calls so what's the point. The cheap one I have, which I am proud to say is the cheapest smartphone I could find, I use because it plays my mp3s. That's all I need it for. Besides I really can't see essential services, or entry to essential shops, being denied on the basis one hasn't clicked the app or even had a vaccine. It's not really in the interests of capitalists to deny themselves profit. As for the safety of their staff, in exposure to the virus, we've seen they don't really care about that.

I don't know what else to discuss today. I'm trying to avoid discussing Labour, or thinking about them, because they are utterly irrelevant. Keir Starmer is a clown pretending to be an authoritarian. He's naive, easily played, and behind the curve when it comes to attacking the Tories. A year into his leadership and it's not going to change anymore than Boris is, so screw him. It's nearly spring, I missed celebrating Imbolc (I'm trying to be a good pagan), we're nearly there.