Are we being infantilized by our governments? Or are we just lazy?

The outbreak of swine flu is the latest avenue for our governments to act out as the ‘parental’ states they are. Here in the UK we are pretty used to always being told what to look out for. ‘Mind the gap’. ‘Look left’. ‘Take care when alighting the bus’. Now there is a new campaign out from the NHS, telling us how to sneeze. Or rather, what to just after we have sneezed. Are we being infantilized by our governments? Or are we just lazy?

The swine flu is great for the media.

After months and months reporting on the economic downturn there is finally a new kid on the block; swine flu. This week there hasn’t been much talk of unemployment figures and recession, but much, much has been said about sneezing pigs. So much, in fact, that the media has a whole country fooled. The swine flu is great for the media.