Thread by @FreedomFriesInc

A bit of thread. About unitary vs federal government models during an emergency like a pandemic.

I focus the most on 5 countries, the main Anglosphere:

UK, US, CAN, AU and NZ.

Only NZ has a unitary system. Now, we are small but:

A major weakness in the federal model is exposed by how these countries have fared so far in the pandemic.

The federal model has some important strengths, and is necessary in a massive country like the US.

I'm saying there are more than two options. They're infinite.

In NZ and AFAIK elsewhere, health agencies are leading the response and not civil defence / emergency management agencies.

This is a huge mistake.

And it ties in with the federal vs unitary debate, too.

CD/EM agencies have solid LOCAL networks that can help citizens meet their wide ranging basic needs during and after a major emergency.

Health agencies don't. They are designed for "business as usual." They are also usually one of the least effective agencies in a government.

Health agencies have a very broad remit, and they can never meet the demand for services, because of factors unique to that industry.

So they become more bureaucratic and ignoring of individuals' actual needs. Esp for the disabled or other marginalized groups.

Also, health agencies are partially staffed by former clinicians, who bring the hierarchical paternalistic baggage of the medical field with them. The nursing field is no better, BTW. There's no consumer / patient focus, despite the PR they put out. So,

This all leans toward the recommendation that sub-units of a country eg states, provinces, or the 4 countries within the British nation should have maximum independence to run the pandemic response, because they are closer to the citizens.

But:

When a governor, premier, or first minister bungles their response, it compromises national security. Nat Sec isn't just foreign policy or the military. It includes disasters, law enforcement, & all kinds of things. eg supply chains, telecomms etc. You can't wall off your state.

Changing the balance of power for times of emergency only, is fraught with problems. But I think there needs to be some movement on this issue.

AU PM Scott Morrison is too much of an idiot to realize he should have bullied NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian into acting earlier.

The outbreak in NSW was left to fester and even now the measures trying to limit harm are too weak to be effective.

It's going to worsen things for the rest of AU and all of NZ.

Berejiklian should not have been allowed to do this.

Similar things are happening in the US, best examples are TX and FL.

In other national security matters the country is not held to ransom by one idiotic governor.

There is a fundamental misunderstanding at the core of pandemic response in all 5 countries.

If our pandemic planning had been better, then existing local networks would have been empowered to fight for their own community and be more responsive to them.

It's just like what happened in WWII. Yes we eventually won, but we could have done so within 2 years.

We (our 5 countries) were not ready for WWII. Churchill had been trying to raise the alarm in public but no one listened to him. Like Biden, he had to clean up a mess left by his predecessor. And Churchill lost re-election in 1945, because people are fickle. He came back in 1951.

I'm heartbroken by all the Covid deaths that didn't need to happen. And the Long Covid cases, and kids with neuro damage, and all the various harms of the pandemic.

We have got to lift our game in future. That means every citizen doing all they can, incl. voting choices.

Don't settle for crappy political leaders. Hold them accountable. And, it means more than voting.

Scott Morrison in AU could have phoned Berejiklian in NSW daily about it... I'd have said to her at 48 hours that if you don't get moving before 72 hours I'll publicly shame you.

The way we tolerate cowardly leaders is perhaps our biggest problem.

You can tell a courageous leader by the unpopular things they do that are right for the country.

"All's fair in love and war." - John Lyly (1553-1606)