In terms of its social consequences, the corona crisis is clearly not over yet. Time and again, a “real” or even “honest” reappraisal is called for, sometimes with more, sometimes with less meaning.
Now the “reappraisal debate” has received new impetus through the protocols of the RKI crisis team. A year ago (!) the portal “Multipolar”, which is close to lateral thinkers, received the protocols and has now published them. The protocols contain redactions motivated by data protection law, which are now being checked again, after which a few more names will be visible.
“Multipolar” says that they wanted to wait for a court ruling on a lawsuit against the redactions before publishing, but have now decided to publish with the redactions because the court date was not scheduled until May. Well, “Multipolar” had a year to find really critical passages in the documents. Nothing came of it. Except what you can secret in the right places with the right imagination. Of course, the lateral thinker milieu always brings up this fantasy. Unfortunately, others have also taken the same line and suspected scandals, from ZDF to Fact-Markwort, who whispered in a Focus commentary that it would now be dangerous for Lauterbach – because of his sometimes half-baked statements about vaccination, as if Lauterbach and other politicians : inside wouldn’t constantly make half-baked statements. But well, if it fits into the picture, it fits.
The traffic light groups are now also in favor of a “reprocessing”. I hope you have an idea of how this can become more than a political reckoning with minor catharsis effects. In 2021, the Conference of Health Ministers suggested a study commission that should consider the consequences of Corona for children’s health and the help aimed at this – that would have made sense. This study commission did not come, but now “what was wrong and who was to blame” commissions are being called for again, especially by those who always knew everything better.
Against this background, one can discuss what social psychological function the “RKI files” have. On the one hand, releasing the documents seems to trigger a “there’s a scandal” reflex: If something needs to be released, it can only be because scandals are supposed to be kept secret. After all, every investigative journalism intern knows this. But perhaps something else is also expressed here, the fallacy that behind great events there are always great plans, and behind every great disaster there is an equally great villain?
The “RKI files” are perhaps something like the reification of the feeling that an event of the century like Corona simply could not have been handled correctly, with mistakes, false expectations, profiling neuroses and tangible stupidities as well as with plausible or effective measures an increase in knowledge, but ultimately just banally human. There has to be something to uncover, the “big plan” can’t just vanish into thin air? Just mixed politics, that can’t have been everything?