I learned something that I find worrying. If you put fear into people, authoritarian government can thrive.
The UK's bumbling mess of a PM and his bunch of merry twats created a bunch of illogical and ever-changing rules, and people not only followed them to the letter but eagerly policed and denounced each other. In fact, there were a large contingent who wanted more rules.
Shop staff became gatekeepers who decide when you will be allowed into their establishment and on what terms. It's chafing to be on the wrong end of such a power relationship with people who control access to something that you need, like border guards or doctor's receptionists. Suddenly, I was consciously on my best behaviour a lot more often. You don't dare show a flicker of irritation at the person who puts their arm out to stop you approaching.
We became a much less free society very quickly but many were in favour because they were given sweeteners. No need to come in to the office - in fact for many no need to do your job at all for months, but you can still collect most of your salary. If our government had malign intentions, most people would have been wilfully blind to them.
I fell through the cracks because I'd left a job less than a month before lockdown started and had savings that were earmarked for major repairs to my house. So I got no money whatsoever. It felt like 1984, with the Party workers complacent and obedient in their enclosed environment, and anyone who didn't fit in the system outside the walls.
It wouldn't take much to tip this country, any country, into a dictatorship. That's what I was surprised by.