The idea of freedom having a price is not a metaphor actually, for some countries this price means the power and resources they handed over to EU and those 2% from GDP to NATO. Nothing is for free, I agree, but some pay more and some less.
I'd start reforming EU accordingly, cut some undeserved funds and PR from those countries that enjoyed way too long lots of advantages some others didn't, and still complain as if EU is the worst thing that happened to them.

The US, being the genocidal mass murderers they are, lack the moral standing to make any kind of reproaches.

The US don't accept any authority other than their own. AFAIK a UN warcrime tribunal won't happen unless the country (all countries involved) submits itself under its rule.

Besides, "whose bread I eat, whose song I sing". IIRC the US contributes about a quarter of its budget. Assuming they fulfill their contractual obligations, that is, which is far from a given.

This.

Good leadership is tough, when in good times you are pushed to not run centrally and when in crisis you are blamed for giving the power to individual areas to suit their needs. Any federal oversight is in the same double pressure, anywhere.

What genocide have they commited?

Native Americans
Japan
Vietnam
Cambodia
Philippines
Guatemala
El Salvador
Palestine
Iraq
Aghanistan

Apart from the nearly nonstop killing since 9/11 almost 20 years ago, there's a longer list of wars by proxy from CIA backed coups etc to facilitating the support of maniacal dictators from central & south America to Africa & every corner of the globe that have perpetrated genocide with the tacit approval if not logistic support of the US. There isn't a country in history that has been involved with the taking of more innocent lives than the US - it's not an opinion, it's simply a fact (>20 million)

Another thought came up in conversation with a friend of mine who is a doctor. He was saying that he is completely bored at hospital at the moment, no operations or consultations are taking place unless they are emergencies. Most staff are furloughed. He said this is the situation across the country and ICU's haven't been overwhelmed with Coronavirus cases as they'd expected.

What will this mean to health insurance next year? Are we going to see a big jump in premiums? And who will support the hospitals financially, they also have their costs and risk going bust when not being used?

I think the premiums have a better chance like this, knock on wood, than in the opposite scenario. Slow trickle of Covid patients and appropriate care is cheaper than a complete overwhealm NYC/IT style. It shows that CH got ready fast. Maybe ask this question in a month, you will know more.

And on the lighter side, and you can´t make this stuff up....

Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia was "offered" by a Chinese company 10 million face masks for the paltry sum of 14.7 million Euros....
They paid the monies, got the trucks lined up in a Dutch port...
Only to find out they have been scammed!
Looks like the sons and daughters of Teuton fell hook line and sinker for a e-bay fraud.

Did they say who did this?

No, but it seems that they were able to recover most of the money, except for about two million.

What an easy way to make money, who do we know who needs a good scamming, just asking.

Been having thoughts, I know they are coming from out of a strange place, but that´s the world we live in.
With all this corona stuff going on people are forgetting other things.
Bear with me but I am wondering; for the last few years temperatures have been rising and our bit of Europe has been drying out, remember two years ago and the Rhine almost had no water flow? Well this year the drought is shaping up to be worse, especially now that due to the reduction of air traffic and the easing up of atmospheric pollution earths albedo has sunk almost to 1950ties levels, meaning that sunlight is not being reflected back into space further heating up the planet.
Scientists have long had the idea that the only thing holding back runaway global warming are our own emissions into the atmosphere.
I did read that one of the things that climate scientists struggling to figure out is that the level of global warming is not as high as it should be.
Perhaps this year we will find out just how much we are fooked and that corona is the least of our worries.

__________________
Back in Bavaria, god´s own belly button.

Yes, (yer losing your marbles in isolation).

Oui.

Actually the climate is benefiting from the Corona crisis in the short term. Unfortunately it will not continue to be the least of our worries when things “normalise”. That might be our next crisis, who knows?

You're late to the party

But you tell people to maybe bother at least a tiny but about climate change and no one gives a sh*. God forbid you should make minuscule changes in your life. Too much to ask.

Yet it's undoubtedly the bigger risk to ALL of us than anything else. Directly and indirectly.

Let's see how much excess mortality the next heat wave will lead to, around here and elsewhere. But I have a feeling there will be no live ticker for it.

It'll also be fun to watch the excess damage that wi be done once everyone ramps up, very likely more than before wherever they can, to make up for lost time and money.

Fun times ahead.

I guess many will be too afraid to travel as much as before or to do other things exactly as before. Concerts, frequenting crowded places etc And probably there will be new rules most countries will impose to prevent similar...episodes. At least for a while. I don't think we'll be back to business so soon.

And the Swiss will go back to their " normal " social distancing of 1 metre!

If anything,
Perhaps,
Just maybe,
When it's all over,
Biological research will get more funding.

Will countries be allowed to reopen their own research institutes or will they be kept dependant on the big pharma and "friendly governments" while their best people will keep migrating to the aforementioned places?

We'll see. Ha.