'Blitz' Travel Agency of Diepenbroich, Germany, Won't Let You Come Along w/o Covid Passport

You may travel only if you fulfil the '2G Rule' (Vaxxed or 'Recovered')--Spread the Word and Let 'The Market' Do Its Magic (UPDATED)

Kind of unplanned, but when I saw the advert, I was stunned:

Header reads: ‘Travel with us in 2023 only for "fully vaccinated” or recovered”

Blitz Reisen—The Travel Agency with the Little Sting

From their dedicated ‘Corona Info’ website (my translation and emphases):

In 2023, we will continue to ensure that only those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or who have recovered are permitted to take part in our trips.

In the interest of safety of all fellow travellers and our staff, and to ensure that our trips run smoothly, we will continue to apply the 2G rule in 2023. Well over 6m people worldwide have already died from or with COVID-19 [with or from, what does it matter, eh?]. Many people who were infected with COVID-19 are still suffering from the after-effects and side-effects of the disease [sure, but what about what Health Minister Lauterbach called ‘post-vac syndrome’? They don’t count, apparently]. Vaccination never offers 100% protection and side effects can also occur with vaccinations. Yet, compared to the risks of contracting COVID-19 and the ‘side effects’ of the pandemic, the risk of vaccination is very low [why air-quote side-effects?]. There are people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, but theirs is only a very small share [and it remains unsure if those few would be permitted to travel with Blitz].

Humanity would be in a much worse position if medicine had not made such progress over the centuries. Vaccinations against smallpox, polio, and tetanus, for example, have led to much lower mortality and contributed to a significant increase in life expectancy [hahahahaha, good one; any evidence? Well, here’s a heretical thought: what about sanitation, antibiotics, and indoor plumbing?]. And vaccination against COVID-19 have also led to saving many lives [no evidence cited]. In our view, there is no scientifically sound reason not to get vaccinated. There are always risks—throughout life [would that incl. the risk of taking these injections? Evidence-based reasoning looks different].

Vaccinated people can still become infected with COVID-19 (this has also been clear since 2021), but usually have no or only very minor symptoms [two things: if so, why didn’t I notice this in, say, public health or political messaging? Perhaps I lived on a different planet back then…the latter part, with the ‘very minor symptoms’, would say a lot about, e.g., natural immunity, which calls into question the entire injection thingy, but I digress]. This is shown by the experience of our many trips in 2022 [I’m so glad we don’t need any evidence, but all that’s required is trusting your experience: ‘The Science™’, at work], and this is exactly the reason why we only allow people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or who have recovered to take part in our trips in 2023. We want to reduce the risk of serious illness during our trips. With our rule, we are able in good conscience to allow guests who become infected with Corona during a trip to continue to take part in the trip and do not have to exclude them from the rest of the trip because all the guests on the bus have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or have recovered from an illness [travel with Blitz, and even if you get Covid and a little ill, you’re in for a ride]. Please bear in mind that we as tour operator have a responsibility towards all tour participants…

We know that some will not agree with our rule—but the vast majority will understand because it is a reasonable solution [talk about giving reason a bad name]. We are not discriminating against anyone: those who do not get vaccinated are marginalising themselves [see, for the brilliant and ‘good’ people over at Blitz Reisen, if you’d elected to discriminate against yourself by not getting the injections, it’s your fault: talk about intersectional victim-blaming at its best; but if you’re injected and get sick, it’s obviously not your fault]. Without the vaccinations against COVID-19, which have been carried out since the end of 2020, we would not be as far along in overcoming the pandemic as we are today and/or would have many more Corona deaths to mourn in Germany as well [again, absence of evidence ≠ evidence of absence].

We also do not discriminate against anyone, because with every trip and every tour operator, travellers have to fulfil certain requirements in order to be able to take part in the trips [like, say, undergo gene therapy; the following examples are hilarious, though]. For trips to Great Britain, a passport is required (if you don't have one, you can't take part in the trip); for almost all our trips, a certain level of physical fitness is required to take part in the sightseeing and guided tours (if you aren’t fit and healthy enough, you can't take part in the trip); for our trips to southern Africa, we expect all participants to be vaccinated against diphtheria and hepatitis A [pro tip: do include ivermectin against river blindness; you could quite likely buy it locally, just ask for ‘Sunday Sunday’ drugs]. And those interested in taking part in our trips must also be able to pay the price for our trips, which are sometimes very expensive. Smoking is also not allowed on our buses. None of this has anything to do with discrimination, and it just shows you that there are certain rules everywhere. You also cannot go to a restaurant and eat the food you have brought yourself, which is not discrimination either.

Thank you for your understanding of our clear words.

Bottom Lines

What a great and glorious piece of information. Up-to-date on whatever crap the good people of Blitz Reisen pulled out of their proverbial, we now know for sure how to spot discrimination:

If one makes up arbitrary rules that you don’t wish to follow, well, it’s your fault if that means you’re excluding yourself. So, shut up and blame yourself.

For an alternative view, we may turn to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, which explains the word ‘discrimination’ as follows (my emphasis):

a: prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or treatment [see also: racial discrimination]

b: the act, practice, or an instance of discriminating categorically rather than individually

So, here we go: technically speaking, Blitz Reisen is engaged in discrimination as they refuse an entire category of people to come along.

For even if, for the sake of the argument, we’d accept that Blitz Reisen checks everyone’s vaccination status individually, there’s one thing that would unite all these individuals as a group: they’re not allowed to travel with Blitz.

Moreover, there’s yet another aspect that begs consideration: the Covid Passports must be checked by someone. Technically, that someone should be a public health official and no travel agent. Legally speaking, a Covid Passport is only ‘valid’ as long as its bearer can provide a photo ID alongside to ascertain proof-positive identification.

Absent a state of emergency—which not even the Germans are upholding—photo IDs may only be checked by police officers (not even public health officials are permitted to do so, to say nothing about, say, travel agents).

In short: Blitz Reisen is setting itself up for breaking numerous laws, regulations, and, possibly, the constitution. Well played, Blitz Reisen.

I do realise that most people travelling with them will, in all likelihood, have absolutely no problems with these issues and, quite likely, also possess little to no knowledge about, well, their constitutional civil liberties and the many ways they are deprived of them.

There’s this old saying that those who go to sleep in a democracy, they’ll wake up in a tyranny.

If there’s a moral to this sad story—which, again, is happening in 2023—it is this: most ‘citizens’ (if that’s indeed the right word here) of Western ‘democracies’ have, apparently, stopped worrying about civil rights and liberties long ago.

Little wonder, to me, that this is happening.

As a thought experiment: is it actually possible to have a democratic republic without an active, motivated, and alert citizenry? I do think we’re about to find out…

EDIT: finally, what about these Covid Passports—they are expiring 3-6 months after one’s last dose and/or recovery. So, it’s one hell of a stupid business model as it would require repeat injection or infection just to be able to travel with Blitz…