COVID and the Fraying of Authority

In Melbourne at least, this lockdown feels very different from the same time last year. Back then rainbows were chalked on the footpaths, messages hung in street facing windows that we could beat this thing. The general tone was of broad unity: we were all in this together. Trust and faith in the decision-makers was at an all time high. The state’s Premier Dan Andrews’ press conferences became moments of solidarity. Here was our elected leader and we were united against a common microbiological enemy.

This time things are very different. As COVID drags on into the second half of its second year morale is at an all time low. I’ll take a stab at why this is - and it certainly is not just a function of time, although that plays into it. First - COVID is clearly here to stay. The theory that we (Australia) as an island can expunge ourselves of the disease has been debunked. Of course it was the Delta strain that has been the game-changer - it has meant that success was not returning to life before COVID but the far more modest (and while a much harder sell still worthy) goal of reducing cases.

Secondly, and related, government messaging changed. Instead of the rallying cry - let’s beat this thing - we have been told to expect “rolling lockdowns”. While this is consistent with the shifting situation (thanks to Delta) this felt to many like a classic bait and switch. Do the right thing now and you will be free later. Then later comes and we’re still all holed up in our fortresses of solitude, staring at each other’s bloodshot eyes over the top of masks.

These two have contributed to a crisis of authority in Australia - both on a state level and on a federal level (although Scomo is keeping his head below the parapet to avoid the blowback). At the moment this is manifesting in weariness and small acts of civil disobedience but it could tip somewhere else entirely.

Moving from a suburban house (thanks to a COVID breakup) and into an apartment that overlooks a park - I am now free to observe many such public acts of civil disobedience. They are not major. On the first day of spring, for instance, there was a soccer game of about twelve men. It was certainly not a game that could have been played whilst maintaining 1.5 metres distance or with masks. There have also been groups out after curfew in the park. This is significant because 300 metres away at one end of the park is a police station.

I am not here to judge but just to observe - observe that weariness is manifesting in greater and more numerous acts of disobedience. Indeed such acts had been going on during the previous lockdown but not to the same degree. Walking through Edinburgh Gardens last year saw it fill the moment the sun came out but mandated group sizes were more or less observed. This is not the case this time.

There are other indicators too. Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree continue to operate as before. Many of my friends have challenged the 5 kilometre bubble and lived to tell the tale.

Perhaps the most visible marker of civil disobedience though is how face-masks are worn. This ranges from the nose poking above the rim to masks slung below the chin. Occasionally and more brazen is walking without a mask at all but that is in a different category altogether. The point is that it takes effort and it is uncomfortable to wear a mask correctly, especially as the seasons turn warm. It is also possible to disobey the spirit of the order but wearing it incorrectly. This is a safe act of defiance because the chances someone will get fined for not wearing their mask correctly are essentially nil. This is why masks are such a good indicator.

Visible acts of disobedience unchallenged by authority result in a feedback loop. At some tipping point a person will decide that some critical mass of people are NOT following the rules - so what’s the point. The goal of the rules achievable only through collective action becomes unreachable, the process futile, obedience becomes irrelevant. Disobedience feeds itself.

I would just like to mention a caveat about bias: it is also possible that the people doing the right thing are invisible because they are at home for all but their exercise hour. This heavily skews the visible sample one receives under lockdown in favour of disobedience - those staying out longer (another act) and doing the wrong thing. Groups larger than those of mandated sizes are more visible because it is easier to disperse in public than confined indoor.

All in all I would say that we are at that tipping point right now. The general sense of weariness has pervaded a population who is eager to push on with their lives. Hope is at the lowest point since the beginning of the pandemic. It is easy to bend the rules and when convinced they are not being enforced to break them altogether.

It is also difficult to have a conversation about this sort of thing at this point in history. Culturally throughout the West we have upheld as a value individualism and questioning of authority as a means to keep overreach and corruption in check. This has strong and noble roots - reviewing past eras as late as the 20th century it is clear just how often a population’s faith in authority is manipulated for a ruler’s gain far more frequently than for the common good.

Yet it is difficult to see how it is possible to respond to a threat like COVID without collective organising ability of government and the authority it brings. In one sense we need to trust that authority has the rules that are good enough to operate in the interest of the common good - because there is no established alternative. Rules are only valid if they are enforced somehow.

Both the left and the right are guilty of fudging this nuanced question. The right which are veering dangerously towards an American model, characterise rules for the common good as a gross infringement on individual liberty. The left are more willing to support rules based on science but shy away from enforcing them on anyone but right-wing anti-mask protesters.

For the last time - I’m not here to be pro-rules but to comment that we are witnessing acts of disobedience (corresponding with acts of heightened authority) at the highest in my lifetime and this may have profound consequences for the relationship between the people in their government in the future.