I mean, governments want to ensure their income stream (tax payers) are alive to pay taxes, but that's hardly "corrupt" and is still to do, indirectly, with public health
Yes, it's quite a possibility. Please read into the growing concentration of world power via corporations and un-elected organization like the WEF and WHO. Further, please read into puplic-private partnerships.
Our world is a global one these days and nearly every government is corrupted by a form of corporatism.
I think it's a stretch to suggest all the countries are in on this together as some sort of 'control' method.
Public/Private partnerships are a modern necessity in countries that choose to keep their citizens happy through low-tax policies. There's room for corruption there sure, but that doesn't lend itself to all countries agreeing to go with this wild covid idea as an exercise in exerting greater control over their populaces
So communist Cuba is corrupted by a form of corporatism? Big pharma got to the ayatollahs in Iran? Maduro in Venezuela is goose stepping to the beat of the pharmaceutical conspiracy?
https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/cuba-he...
> Authorities of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) and the Biotechnological and Pharmaceutical Industries of Cuba (BioCubaFarma) met with representatives of European embassies, Cuban-based partner agencies and PAHO/WHO country office to continue promoting collaboration in the health sector.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13990121000392/Ayallah-Khame...
> The World Health Organization has considered priorities in combating coronavirus and Islamic Republic of Iran obeys and follows up priorities as defined by WHO.
Admittedly Iran banned US made vaccines, but then just put out their own in cooperation with the WHO, COVAX and Gavi.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/01/12/iran-khameneis-reckless-...
> Iran has said that the country is participating in the COVAX Facility, which is an effort by the World Health Organization, Gavi (the Vaccine Alliance), and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to help low- and middle-income countries get access to vaccines. Iran started the first phase of the human trial for a domestically produced vaccine in December 2020.
See https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/who-funds-world-healt... for who the WHO is funded by. At the point when the US pulled funding, the largest donor was the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the third was Gavi. Bill Gates owns a lot of pharma stock. The foundation is a way to garner influence in a tax free and humanitarian looking way.
Who funds Gavi?
It's a rabbit hole, but the world is complicated and conflicts of interest (corruption) abound. Please do follow a few of these research threads and try to be open minded to those suspicious of wealthy people claiming to operate in our interest.
You're not even proposing anything specific. This is Glenn Beck level 'just asking questions'.
The government, for the most part, is not an evil cabal of deep state cultists (in most countries that describe themselves as liberal today). People like you or me can join a party, and then get elected within a year or two.
What I absolutely do believe is that people elected, through what is essentially a harmless popularity contest in peace time, are the worst type of people you want to have taking decisions in a crisis. People worried about their next re-election are _not_ going to make the right decisions, apart from the fact that in peace time the electorate optimizes for populism and extremism, and the candidates are sometimes more like actors than leaders. In short: they are incompetent, heavy handed and not even remotely equipped to deal withe massive leverage attached to the levers they control.
A small town mayor has none of the power a member of congress would.
In democracy the larger the seat, the larger the infrastructure required to get there.
The funding of this infrastructure brings the necessity of corruption.
Assuming the mayor is in an executive mayor system (not a council-manager) system, they often have far more practical power than a member of Congress over any issue, but their power is over smaller issues. Even in a council-manager system, the mayor (who is a primus inter pares council member) is more likely than member of Congress to have decisive power over any issue within their ambit.
(Also, being a small town mayor, or similar local officer, is not an uncommon way to build the infrastructure for becoming, say a state legislator. And that's a way to build the infrastructure for Congress, and that for Senate/Governorship, and that for the Presidency.)
Also what's the end game here. Why would a corrupt government gain by mandating masks and encouraging vaccination. Even the potential motive is lacking.
Do you make no allocation in your mind for the potential that the government is corrupted and the motivations have nothing really to do with public health?