Our human rights have been taken away

[Soph7777]

I know it's for a good cause.

I know it's to save lives.

But our basic human rights have been taken from under us, in the short space of a week.

I find this part most of all the scariest.

I'm really struggling mentally with government control to this extent.

How long can this last before people lose their minds and rebel?

I get you, OP.

I'm following all of the rules, I intend to continue doing so. I fully understand why they are there and why they have been brought in. I want to minimise the risk to everyone and I am supportive of our NHS and other key workers on the frontline.

It doesn't mean I like it though. It doesn't mean that I don't sometimes need a place to vent. That is how I read the OP. Needing a place to vent, not a place to be attacked for having perfectly natural feelings. She may have phrased some of it questionably, but these are feelings that a list of us do still have and need an outlet for. It doesn't mean that we are not following the rules and have no idea why they are there. Nor does it mean that we are not just as worried about Covid 19 and the terrible chaos it brings as everyone else.

I've no doubt that some extremely virtuous soul on here will now proceed to pick me apart for saying this.

I agree that there needs to be more discussion on mental health... The will be lots of people already struggling who will struggle more cos all of a sudden their support networks have been cut off.

Maybe with this more people will understand what a struggle mh problems can be? As this isolation will indeed make many people struggle with it, who haven't struggled before.

Anyway. No one likes feeling controlled but if people had been sensible perhaps the gov wouldn't have had to slap down more enforcible restrictions. It is what it is... But it's temporary.

I feel sad about it too. I feel a bit hard done by that my mat leave should be restricted when i really wanted to enjoy going out and about showing my baby new things. I'm sad my mum hadn't seen the baby yet. That my wedding is all likely to be cancelled.

But what can i do? Just gotta suck it up. I'm very fortunate that financially not effected. I work for the nhs so def have a job to go back to and my other half can work from home.

I do worry about the small business effected and all the people struggling. I worry about the economy and i don't think that the current level of restrictions will be sustainable for long. But we need to keep it up for as long as possible and accept there will be restrictions, even if reduced, for a while yet. Then comes the higher taxes...

Better to accept it and just try to find a way to live with it than fight it. Think of ww1... No one had gone through that before (i guess by ww2 at least some people had experience) but people just had to get on. And we had a lot more restrictions back then, than we do now. I imagine people still thought it was unfair then, but that's life. There'll always be some.

P.S malaria isn't a pandemic. It's most likely predictable, can be treated by drugs if caught early. It's still pretty shit. But it isn't new or spreading via people across the world.

Would you rather we all just died?

I also feel a bit sad I'm not at work during all this. I wouldn't want to return now (i work in a support role, they can do without) because of my baby. But I'd like to be alongside my colleagues and feel like I'm doing something.

At the moment I'm just singing The Grand Olde Duke of York and going a bit stir crazy.

I really feel for the people all alone at this point. My mum is in her 80s and recently widowed and is really struggling. She’s started singing to herself as I think it’s her way of coping. She’s not able to use social media as she’s struggles with the basics, I count myself so lucky I can communicate with the world in my own house. Count your blessing there’s many a lot worse off other than the feeling of being controlled, I think volunteering will help you feel differently about this awful situation.

But something comes along that kills old white men in rich countries and suddenly all my civil liberties need fixing

This has been at the back of my mind the whole time.

OP, if you're still watching, I'm totally with you including the worry that we may never get our rights back again.

Soph7777
You missed Article 2 in your list- which flips things back the other way. Might be useful to start looking at it from another angle to allay some of your fears
Article 2 of the Human Rights Act protects your right to life.

This means that nobody, including the Government, can try to end your life. It also means the Government should take appropriate measures to safeguard life by making laws to protect you and, in some circumstances, by taking steps to protect you if your life is at risk.

Couldn't agree more. Exactly the same thoughts were in my mind several days ago and I still think that this virus is just a nice info line for us all to be distracted and tamed, so that some bigger forces could do something bigger behind the veil of the virus. I believe there is nothing too dangerous in this "deadly disease" but it is a great thing to draw people's attention to. Maybe the next global crisis is coming or maybe something worse. I bet we will know what is it exactly in 1 or 2 months and I bet we won't like it.

I think there are two conflicting priorities that the government need to deal with.

Individual personal freedom vs medical care available for sick people.

If they allow the first, the second isn't possible. If they want to provide the second, the first isn't possible.

Unfortunately we live in a society where noone takes responsibility for their actions. If they did both could be possible on the understanding that if you choose not to isolate, you give up your right to treatment. Would certainly reduce population numbers, which also has its benefits.

However people want both and they are mutually exclusive.

The only way to escape oversight by government is to go somewhere remote. If you choose to live in society, then you need to follow rules that are for the good of society. The current rules are to try to ensure medical help is available when people need it.

I think people are pretty naive to think governments will never give directives and expect compliance. Of course they will. The difference in democracies is those directives are not issued lightly and duration is limited.

OP - nobody is enjoying having their normal freedoms limited, and, yes, it's putting psychological pressure on everyone. Some are fortunate to be much more resilient than others. The longer this goes on, the more cracks will start to show: in individuals, in relationships and in families - all feeding through into society. I'm concerned about the long-term impact of this on mental health and wellbeing. But there are plenty of counsellors and psychotherapists out there, working by video or phone. There is tons of self-help available - in books, articles, videos, online classes - on mindfulness, yoga, breathing, etc. Many of our usual coping strategies have been taken away, but there are other options.

The government can only continue to confine us to our houses, which some seemingly can't grasp is a deprivation of human rights, if it is shown to be proportional. This is why the antibody test is important, it will help us to understand the death rate.

You do realise there would be riots and civil unrest on a scale never seen in this country if the government refused to give us back our freedom once this is all over?

Phew. Please define 'over'.

I accept that we have to stay home for 3 weeks to slow the spread of Corona. What I do not accept is the alacrity with which the country has accepted this without debate, the vilification of people who question it, and the non-existent exit criteria.

There's going to be no point over the next 18 or even 24 months that the government couldn't make the case that we should stay home based on their current reasoning, and this should make people uneasy.

We should all be worried that lockdowns are now part of our new normal. Just consider - it's no longer unprecedented, it's part of what we do for the greater good. IF you're not worried about this, please wake up.

I’m with you OP

This is all buzzard and feels overwhelming.

Bizzare* lol

I'm utterly sick of the kicking anyone gets on here who dares to voice their personal struggles with the situation, but conspiracy theories are equally, if not more, annoying. Yes, this kills 'old white men in rich countries', but it also kills people with chronic conditions and is also a great threat to life and health among those in vulnerable or precarious circumstances. Our values are predicated on protecting life no matter who the person is.

I do think anyone who believes this isn't going to take a dreadful toll in terms of mental health, suicides, social problems etc - that all we have to do is stay at home for a while and all will be well - is naive, and I do think the least we can do is all try to be kind to one another and let people be scared and frustrated even if their concerns seem 'entitled' to us. But seeing so many governments across the world with politically wildly different emphases take this action is highly suggestive of its being probably the only alternative right now. As someone said on a thread yesterday, we are in a situation where a Tory government (especially this Tory government) is paying people to not go to work.

I agree OP, mental health seems to have been totally disregarded here. I'm struggling too

The government doesn't want a lockdown any more than you do OP.

Their reasons for this may be different to yours but nobody wants a lockdown for longer than necessary.

China has one of the worst human rights records in the world but they are desperate to get things back to normal for the economy.

I am not saying governments aren't capable of corruption or screwing you over, but in this case, you are more likely to suffer because they lift the lockdown to early for economic reasons, leading to more deaths, than to keep it in place longer than they have to.

But seeing so many governments across the world with politically wildly different emphases take this action is highly suggestive of its being probably the only alternative right now. As someone said on a thread yesterday, we are in a situation where a Tory government (especially this Tory government) is paying people to not go to work.

I don't agree with this. No government will pay any political price for 'overreacting' to this crisis because as we have seen, people are enthusiastic about trading their freedom for the purpose of 'saving lives' (see this thread) and if it turns out that this virus has a death rate only marginally higher than the flu rate, these same people will say 'it wasn't a risk worth taking'.

When we're tackling the debt i.e. higher taxes, higher unemployment, much worse public services over the next few years, we'll just be reminded that we were saving lives and who knows where Johnson will be.

I am enjoying the fact that pollution has gone down, but not enjoying having very restricted civil liberties. The legislation should have had a much shorter lifespan with Parliament forced to review every two weeks and vote by Skype or Teams. Otherwise this will drag on for ages as governments love to interfere with civil liberties given half a change. We should question everything until this is over. We should particularly question what we are being told about when it is going to be over and how we were groomed for three month, now six months with tighter restrictions and then what? I may agree with the approach but I have the right to be sceptical. Remember that the first thing that happened was that local elections were postponed for a year or was it two? That could have been handled differently.

Human rights do not exist without human responsibilities.Dead humans dont have many human rights so all the efforts should aim at preserving human life and the rights can take a back seat.

*half a chance

Why not get a job as a key worker? Work for a supermarket, the NHS or farming.
Those jobs mean you are out the house everyday if that’s what’s upsetting you.

You do realise that we aren't the only country in lock down don't you? In Spain you can't even go for a walk, at least we have that at the moment.

What about the human rights of people that get ill because people break the ban because they can't cope with only a week into lockdown? Why are you more important than anyone else?

Get used to it, it will go on for longer than 3 weeks. We are all in the same boat. This lockdown is in place to protect people. What part of that don't you understand?

And no amount of bloody mindfulness or yoga is going to stop me thinking about human rights and civil liberties.

I'm usually the biggest rebel without a cause, despise being told what to do and will do the complete opposite most of the time but this is very very different.