"Australians did not protest against lockdowns; selfish idiots who happen to be Australian did."

This is very true and it's escaped much of the American press that reported it. Unfortunately, the blind side of many Americans is that they seem unable to add nuance to the word freedom which puts them at odds with much of the rest of the world. Without nuance, to them freedom is a black and white/all-or-nothing issue, which when boiled down means that they should be able to do whatever they damn well like irrespective of the wishes and rights of others.

What they fail to realize is that other citizens also have rights and that one of the most important is the right not to be killed by a virus spread by damn ideological fools who either do not know or accept the fact that with rights come responsibilities. If they want to live in a democratic society then they have to accept the minimum standards set by that society, if not then they've the option of opting out and living somewhere in the wilderness.

They also fail to realize that the arbiter of those rights is democracy itself and that's why we have governments who then set the limits on what they can and cannot do. If they fail to accept the rules then in effect they are rejecting democracy itself. As Churchill once said, democracy is far from perfect but it's the best system we have.

As I pointed out in post to another COVID story (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27793470) about a week ago:

"<...> many seem to forget the a priori reason for government is to keep the citizenry safe—safe from the threat of outsiders, and safe from insiders who wish to harm their fellow citizens, they're justification for the military and law enforcement respectfully.

Incidentally, I expect Government to keep my fellow citizens and me safe; if it doesn't then it has failed in its mission."

For those slow-on-the-uptake here's what this means: in normal society if we have a dangerous individual roaming around threatening citizens with a gun then we have law enforcement arrest him to minimize the danger. With COVID, the best advice available has told us that people should not associate with others and isolate themselves, and if that is the consensus of the democratic process then that's what should happen (they can criticize but not block the edict). In effect, those who disobey the edict are no different to the guy wielding a gun and thus we need to restrict their freedoms as they're endangering the lives of others.

Thus, mandated lockdowns are made in the light of utilitarian considerations; that means they are democratic decisions made to provide the greatest good or benefit to the greatest number of citizens. That said, in the current heated political climate, nothing I say—or anyone for that matter—is likely to alter the distorted logic that's catapulted the debate in the US (and elsewhere) over the notion of freedom up into the realms of religious zealotry.

Unfortunately, like veganism and other 'special' subjects where debate has been stilted through political orthodoxy, this subject cannot be rationally debated in the current political climate. I only have to look at my posts to the aforementioned HN story to attest to that. There, I was accused of flaming even though my comments were made in general against those who weren't prepared to accept that others also had rights. When others aren't prepared even to listen to the arguments then I reckon that's a tragedy for free speech.

" This article does raise some valid concerns about freedom in Australia - the raiding of press offices, and attempts at backdooring encryption. But while I find those an affront to freedom, I will gladly wear a mask and stay indoors so that other people won't suffer and die a horrible death from a miserable fuck of a virus."

This situation is very different to the above scenario over COVID and is something that I consider very worrying and disconcerting. Unlike the COVID debate, these moves by government are authoritarian and little by little, we are moving towards a totalitarian state. In my opinion, we all would be much better off if these idiot COVID protestors put their efforts into objecting to these government intrusions into our freedoms, as demonstrably we've already lost some of them that were hard won over the past few centuries. Unfortunately, I realize that's just wishful thinking on my part.