To wonder why people aren’t more angry?

[Rainbowb]

Throughout this whole crisis I have really been surprised by the level of acceptance from everyone in this country of the whole situation. I know we haven’t had much choice in the decisions made and we’re probably a very polite nation as a whole but we have been so quick to accept the arrival of a deadly virus and drastic changes to our lives, seemingly without complaint. Is no-one out there demanding to know how on earth this was all able to happen? We’ve faced the huge loss of human life worldwide and it is continuing, surely we are all entitled to get angry and demand answers? I see grieving families, children missing out on being with other children and not having an education, families being separated indefinitely, people’s mental health suffering and vulnerable people potentially at risk and I feel so frustrated and angry. If we got fired up about climate change, why not this??

I’m angry - right or wrong ? Who cares, it’s a visceral reaction and valid.

We have become very distanced from disease in the higher income countries. For many people on this planet, what we are experiencing now is not unusual.

This makes me really angry
“Every year, nearly 11 million children die before reaching their fifth birthday, most from preventable causes. That is approximately, 30, 000 children per day. Another 300 million children suffer from illnesses caused by lack of clean water, poor nutrition and inadequate health services and care.”
www.unicef.org/media/media_21423.html

Anger can be quite useful, only to motivate you in a situation you can change or control, getting angry at something that you have no control over only causes stress. It may be helpful to feel angry about poor supplies of PPE for example as something could be done about it but raging against the lockdown or the virus itself really is pointless.

I think it's really poor taste to get angry about being asked to stay at home when people are dying. Where is your sense of perspective?

we have been so quick to accept the arrival of a deadly virus and drastic changes to our lives, seemingly without complaint.

We've had no choice but to accept its arrival - it's not like it asked for permission - but I'm not sure who you've been talking to if you think there's been no complaint. For myself, I'm very angry with the way our government has handled things (if unsurprised) but I also think there are some unexpected benefits that have come in the wake of the virus, and I hope some of the wholesale changes to our way of life will become part of the new normal.

@Jakadaal Just reading your post filled me with sadness, god only knows how you and your family must be feeling.

I'm truly sorry for the loss of your father

I am puzzled & curious as to how this will change us as a society. I also feel we were desperately in need of change - so maybe long term this change might be better for humanity. We were about to over consume ourselves into obliteration and very few people gave a damn enough to even think of change. We seemed to be able to grasp change as long as it involved more consumption- oh the irony.

I also feel that as far as pandemics go this is fairly mild and that there may be some much more serious pandemics in our future. What if this is our trial run?

So angry - well what does angry achieve? I am angry at our Conservative government and how they ignored all the preparation they knew they had to do for a pandemic. but it seems there is absolutely no point in being angry at the Conservative government in this country because time and time and time again the British public will vote them in. So should I be angry at my neighbours? Should I be angry at the people in my society? How would that effect my life to be raging at the general populace?

To the posters surprised there have been no riots, did you get ready for battle and march onto the streets but find the streets empty or were you just hoping others would go out and riot on your behalf whilst you peered from behind the windows?

• The british are angry at another country causing them pain and anguish and loss of freedom and decimating the economy?? Oh the irony.*

So well expressed!

There were so many people on here before social distancing began saying they were going on holiday and didn’t care what was happening around the world. People are now complaining we have been on lockdown too long, and trying to come up with ways to break the rules on it. People wanting schools to fully reopen. What happened when they announced pubs were going to close, people flocked to them for one last hurrah? If we had locked down earlier and with much stricter rules, how angry would people have been then?

I also feel that as far as pandemics go this is fairly mild and that there may be some much more serious pandemics in our future. What if this is our trial run?

This is a trial run - not the "big one" - according to some bloke on R4 a few weeks ago (sorry, cannot remember his name - he's written books on pandemics).

This one is bad, but merely a 'shot across the bows" compared to the really big one - which will be bacterial, and resistant to antibiotics, according to him.

And of course, we should be learning from this NOW - and planning for that. But I sincerely doubt this is the case sadly.

Might as well be angry at the moon.

This.

Of all the emotions arising out of the pandemic, anger is the most futile. Talk about self-absorbed.

*Rather than anger, I’m surprised more people are not challenging the information they are being fed.

We’ve all just laid down and accepted it. Worldwide. Even in countries and cultures that protest readily.

I find that really strange.

Our whole world, our customs and relationships, livelihoods, habits, even religions, all stopped without our input on the matter.

On an ordinary day people hop up and down about the timing of bin collections and want vote after vote about comparatively minor changes to the functions in our lives, yet we’ve all just handed over our free will no questions asked.

It’s weird.*

This!

The phrase "tilting at windmills" springs to mind.

Clitterarti “ I also feel that as far as pandemics go this is fairly mild and that there may be some much more serious pandemics in our future. What if this is our trial run?”

I think the same.

@Theflushedzebra I didn't hear him on R4 but yes I instinctively feel that way too.

Years ago I got my first kindle and the very first book I downloaded was about viruses, bacteria & the threat they present to us. It's stayed with me.

I agree about this being a test run as it were. The big one has not yet hit. I think a lot of people will be planning for how they will deal with that prospect now. I wonder if there will be a big upsurge in people moving to the country and becoming more self sufficient.

So has anyone established what we're supposed to be angry at yet?

Anger is only a useful emotion if it can be used to effect change.
At the moment there doesn't seem to be anywhere useful to channel my anger, and sitting at home being angry wouldonly negatively impact my family and my own MH.
So I am squashing it all down, putting one foot in front of another and just trying to be kind to those I love. TBH the fear of not being able to breathe is the emotion nearest to the surface for me (been there before don't want a repeat of it) - if I let go of how I am feeling I will probably unravel.

The food (and soap, and loo roll!) crisis has certainly been scary enough during this. Not to mention the NHS planning - PPE, intensive care beds and so on.

I hope powers that be will be learning from this, and not just getting through it and then forgetting about it. Proper planning needs to be in place for the future.

I saw anger at China in the beginning, anger at Boris for not closing down sooner and anger at the lack of PPE and healthcare worker deaths.

Right now all I feel is sad and helpless.

Biggest mistake was getting people back home from countries that had the virus and not quarantining people coming into the UK. This is still not being done. Other mistakes are blatant like lack of planning etc. Then there is the smoke and mirrors of bleating numbers out every day with no understanding of the amount of PPE that is actually needed or the amount of actual deaths from the virus... some of which will be because people didn't seek medical help for other conditions/emergencies for fear of getting it in hospital. I'm usually angry about this government and it's continuing incompetency anyway.

On an ordinary day people hop up and down about the timing of bin collections

Anger at bin collections being cancelled and delayed is the one thing I have seen on my local FB pages, they have collected general waste but not plastics, cans and paper.

People also complained about their bins not getting emptied during Beast of the East!

Some things never change.

Anger is pointless. But questions need to be asked and lessons learned.

21,000 people die every day because we refuse to distribute food fairly. Over 3 million children every, single year.

It's not unexpected, or a surprise. It happens every year, it has done for a while, and it doesn't have to.

I'll get angry at that before I get angry about governments being caught on the backfoot for a novel virus event that's expected once a century.