Crazy Times: From the Absence of Any Principle of Precaution to Its Excess. Lessons from the Mismanagement of the Pandemic in Italy and Belgium

Abstract

The origin of the current pandemic lies with the absence of any precautionary principle. What seemed to have come out of the blue, for most part of the worldwide population, for the experts was a matter of everyday concern, since long time. All breeding and slaughtering activities carry with them a certain degree of risk of zoonosis and triggering pandemics, but neither the industry nor the competent authorities have done anything to reduce such risk. On the other hand, once the pandemic exploded, some Western Countries, more than others, plummeted in the most horrendous collective fear, fuelled by an army ofpoliticians, experts and journalists. It is the case of Italy and Belgium, which, at the time of writing, in furtherance of a dogmatic “precautionary principle”, have won the unwelcome trophy of the most draconian limitations to human rights and adverse economic impact, combined with the highest official death tolls. Finally and again, no precaution has been applied when promoting mass-vaccination. Could this “snakes and ladders” be a suggestion that certain forms of the precautionary principle tend to nothing but protecting self-centred politicians?