April 2021, we've now experienced our second Easter under the shadow of the pandemic, and as a self-employed artist, musician, and DJ, I still see no light at the end of the tunnel. According to Wikipedia, a horizon is an imaginary line that recedes further and further the closer you get to it. One might suspect something amiss when politicians once again prattle on about "easing restrictions on the horizon."

In a blog post a few weeks ago, I still expressed hope for a small window of opportunity for private events in the summer of 2021. However, this hope is becoming increasingly shaky when I look at the speed of vaccinations and the current "open, don't open" approach of the federal government. Of course, things could change very quickly at a certain point, but in the current situation, no one dares to predict which way the pendulum will swing...

Vaccination in pandemic times - a societal duty or an infringement of fundamental rights...?

First of all, yes, I will get vaccinated when it's my turn, because my job involves a lot of travel and contact with many people, and for my own protection and the protection of everyone in my immediate or temporary environment, I think it's simply responsible to get vaccinated.

Every vaccine opponent or critic has already clicked away (bye for now), and vaccination is currently one of the hot topics in Germany. Not only has one vaccine manufacturer recently lost a lot of trust, which has unfortunately been greatly exaggerated by the media (there are also fatal side effects and incidents with other vaccines), but more and more details regarding vaccine procurement are now coming to light, sometimes leaving one shaking their head in disbelief...

If a purchasing manager at a DAX company had negotiated such deals, he would have been fired long ago and perhaps still allowed to order pencils, but the EU has nothing to reproach itself for here, or perhaps it does...?

Let's just take out the clause in the EU treaties that explicitly prohibits sharing data from vaccinated individuals with vaccine manufacturers for research purposes. Okay, it's possible, especially if you've looked into the GDPR in detail, but in a pandemic situation like this—a new one in the modern world—it's rather counterproductive to developing an effective vaccine that also offers protection against the mutated strains of the coronavirus.

The price differences between countries outside the EU and those within the EU unfortunately suggest that money was simply thrown around, money that will be sorely needed elsewhere in the near future. Sometimes I really wonder what all those consultants in Brussels are doing going in and out for, but probably just drinking coffee, justifying their (exorbitant) fees, and paying commissions to the politicians they brought to Brussels...

Here, the first mask is slowly beginning to fall, unfortunately revealing to the "average" citizen that even in pandemic times, when various industries are on their knees, those in positions of power who make decisions are enriching themselves during the pandemic and, in the same breath, deciding on the disbursement (or not) of aid funds. Before the pandemic, this was called "putting the fox in charge of the henhouse," and now, in addition to political interests, more and more information is coming to light about the greed of certain politicians.

In this context, writing "shame on you" is certainly justified, but for someone who accepts a six-figure commission for a mask deal, I believe shame is something they can live with, since they don't truly know or feel it...

Corona makes us all the same - yeah right...

The virus itself certainly doesn't discriminate; it doesn't care which person it takes their breath away. What makes us different is politics and the resulting measures. I myself belong to the group that always tries to adhere to the regulations as best as possible; there's no other way, and I want to be able to work again someday and provide you with good music. (And I'll still be able to look myself in the eye after Corona.)

One example that stirs up strong feelings is the topic of "travel" during the coronavirus pandemic. The difference between business travel, permitted under certain conditions, and private travel, which is prohibited or at least advised against out of personal responsibility, creates a divide. New Zealand, for example, has banned all domestic travel, whether private or business, and has thus isolated the island so effectively that infection rates are now at a level where concerts with 20,000 people are permitted again without masks or social distancing.

Sure, Germany isn't an island, but if the government is going to support airlines with tens of millions during this crisis, it could have at least stipulated that flights to high-risk areas shouldn't be allowed, even for business purposes. Instead, they're permitting travel to Mallorca again, while domestic hotels and restaurants have to remain closed. That's neither logical nor sensible, because hygiene regulations could be better monitored and enforced within Germany than in another country.

The fact that neither the airlines nor the airports are fulfilling their obligations is something you read about very often in various daily newspapers these days. And then there are the "egomaniacal & narcissistic" influencers ( I now like to call them "company whores" – because if the money's right, they'll do almost anything, even cheap Chinese junk you can get on Wish for €5, which they then sell to their followers with swipe-up codes for many times the price – I wonder how stupid you can be that it doesn't dawn on you why influencer products are so overpriced – you can't live as an influencer in Dubai without money, and someone has to pay the commissions – but that's another story ) who are blithely flying around the world despite Corona ( and have already been deported from countries ), thus reducing the serious situation we're in to a social media fake and not giving a damn if one of their followers gets sick and dies from Corona, because you can travel without problems during a pandemic.

There haven't been any major outbreaks in our industry - I'm being careful...

These are phrases and statements I've heard repeatedly in recent weeks and months, and I wonder, if this is true, why are there still restrictions in place for certain sectors? Why are the numbers rising again? Why are the intensive care units filling up again? If there aren't any coronavirus outbreaks at any company or business (okay, slaughterhouses aside) and everyone is supposedly being so careful...?

Since I'm neither a conspiracy theorist nor a conspiracy theorist, I assume that blatant lies are being told here, not by politicians, but by businesses and companies, because, as the saying goes, "don't kill the messenger." An illustration of this theory is the fact that at the last meeting of state premiers, almost everyone called for mandatory testing in companies. You can probably guess three times why this wasn't implemented nationwide (no, there wasn't a shortage of self-tests available for purchase). It was precisely the business associations that vetoed it, insisting that it remain voluntary. This is also reflected in a report by the Süddeutsche Zeitung, and even with working from home, everything remains "voluntary," although from a purely operational standpoint, it would be possible to allow or implement significantly more jobs from home...

Since a certain segment of the population isn't affected by COVID-19 restrictions in terms of work—okay, they only notice COVID-19 because they can't go shopping as usual, have to wear a mask, aren't allowed to travel, and have to cook for themselves—the question of working from home doesn't really arise for them, because every employee sitting at a distance in an open-plan office is essentially teleporting to work. Even in the executive suites, the COVID-19 factor is often downplayed, because that's the only way to somewhat explain why they can't provide their employees with two COVID-19 tests per week, whether mandatory or voluntary.

Everything is better at home, or is it...?

Even in my personal life, a certain divide is emerging. While I, as someone directly affected by the pandemic (no DJ gigs, no events, etc.), am taking it relatively calmly, I keep encountering friends, acquaintances, and even family members who aren't directly affected by the pandemic and who suddenly drift towards conspiracy theories or lateral thinking. Here, I can only offer one piece of advice: trying to keep everyone "on the same page" is exhausting, and some people are so stubborn and incorrigible that they can't even be swayed from their "YouTube virology studies" by facts. You simply have to weigh up who is truly important to you and worth the effort of talking yourself hoarse and trying to bring them up to a level of understanding with facts and arguments so that we can all get through this pandemic mess together.

Surprisingly, I noticed a relaxed aspect of this situation at Easter (and also somewhat at Christmas 2020). In normal times, before the pandemic, you'd receive dozens of Easter greetings and pictures via various social media platforms and messaging apps – all the things that just steal your time – and because you're polite, you always replied. But at Christmas and now at Easter, such messages were extremely limited; especially at Easter, I received zero. Only two verbal Easter greetings arrived; everyone else was silent. Okay, if I were sitting in Mallorca right now, I wouldn't write to anyone either, but this trend alone speaks volumes to me about how far the division in society has already progressed and how the mask of superficiality has slipped away...

The societal divide has been laid bare in many facets during the pandemic, and if privileges are now added for vaccinated individuals, this divide will deepen, and the "me first" mentality will become even more entrenched and pervasive. The current political handling of the pandemic is already a disaster for our society, and I'm quite certain this is far from the tip of the iceberg, because when it comes to systematic exclusion, the human mind is remarkably resourceful...