Being treated like idiots

[fessmess]

I listened to Matt Hancock on Radio 4 today and I was shouting at the radio(could be my age I suppose). He was just spouting the same crap "we don't have the science to lift lockdown" and "we are still in the peak" and the worst? " The people are with us and support the lockdown, they don't need to hear how we will be lifting it". I am paraphrasing btw. Stop bullshitting, Feds up and be honest. I have seen the graphs we are past the peak and and I feel a lot of people are now getting fed up. Anecdotally I have seen many more people out and about. Anyone starting to feel pissed off at this patronising response? It doesn't help that he sounds flustered. When asked about the 100 000 tests a day he said "yes we will be doing so but life doesn't always work out." There, the caveat. 😡

It does seem like people are idiots though. Bleating on about the exit plans and strategy when the general form has been clearly stated and is blindingly obvious and the exact details clearly should be worked out at the last possible moment, using as much data as possible on everything from hownthe virus behaves to what the world availability on masks really is to how, many people you can recruit for contact tracing and how hard might it be to contact trace effectively in the Uk and subject to continual re-evaluation if we are to stand the best chance of getting it right

We don't know when because we don't know when the infection rate will be low enough partly because we don't know exactly how the virus behaves and we don't know exactly how every person in the country will behave.

We don't know about schools until we know how much children carry the illness, how many teachers or members of their household are shielding , how many are vulnerable, how many children live with shielded people, how many live with vulnerable , what the options are for smaller classes in every school in the country, vs split classses which would have a negative impact on parents who want to return to work , we need to understand implications of having a one size fits all school solution compared to a different option for different schools, which might then have impact on the education prospects for different children

Agree and I don't see why they can't do what Scotland and Wales have done.

Mitzi - that’s like saying all of us have to be treated as criminals because knife crime is high in London

Like not being allowed to carry kitchen knives in our pockets? Or not being able to walk around carrying guns? Or having to take out car insurance for at least third party claims? Or compulsory dog chipping, collars and licensing?

You'd think that people wouldn't need Food hygiene laws, as surely everybody knows to not let rats run around in a kitchen. Or to not label something as nut free if it is made with peanut oil. But we do. Because enough people are stupid and/or don't care.

You'd think that companies would have the sense to think that you don't construct an industrial oven in a way where it's impossible to stop it in the event of it getting switched on when an engineer is inside doing his job. Or that you don't leave the doors open on a lift shaft during construction work. And that you don't throw things on railway tracks or off motorway bridges or climb electricity pylons. One I personally experienced is that you would think that a supposedly intelligent human being wouldn't instruct a junior member of staff to run electrical equipment outside when rain is forecast with standard domestic extension leads daisychained together across the grass.

There are many, many laws to protect people from themselves and others' stupidity, ignorance, negligence, incompetence and arrogance. It's not treating them as criminals. Arguably, it's treating them as idiots. But that's because people in general show themselves, time and time again, to be so.

Mitzi you’re right, I thought that as soon as I hit post. This is why you can’t even haVe a regular corded blind anymore.

That said, I think extended lockdown is the way to kill a lot more people and to break the nhs completely. But maybe that’s the advantage for the government, I don’t know.

Thank you, @LilacTree1.

I think what they are actually prevaricating over is the fact that this isn't a one off. It's not just the crest of a Tsunami and everything will be over and done with, it's going to be a succession of waves.

Whatever way they deal with it, somebody is going to lose out except the rich. They never lose out in the end. And they need to not let things descend into unrest and anarchy. Maintaining control and compliance is vital.

Is the risk of suicide/missing non emergency medical appointments enough to say 'Fuck it. Everybody back to work and we'll deal with it'?. No, it isn't. It hasn't run through all the elderly yet. It hasn't finished killing off NHS workers or bus drivers yet. They aren't ready to deal/cope with cancer patients, never mind bunion surgery and a scale & polish.

If they open things up, who goes first in the firing line? The Poor (ie, shopworkers, bar staff and support staff in schools?), the Middle Classes (ie, teachers, managers, council employees?), everybody employed by the Public Sector? Just private companies?

If they say nothing, the press capitalises on this and says they're ineffective and people start doing the same as in the US and infecting themselves through demonstrations. If they say we're fucked the moment this is allowed to spread, they're ineffective for not doing enough. If they do it gradually, somebody is going to be pissed off and scared that they're cannon fodder.

I think their actual choice is do they let masses die right away and hope to get over it or do they string it out and hopefully have fewer die in the long run. Morally, I think saying 'You're on your own.' would be worse socially and politically. People won't like it, as I've said, some are already demonstrating their stupidity by blaming chemtrails and 5G connectivity. Some are already saying they won't let the flu stop them seeing their families.

The rest of the population who would far rather everything was back to normal but would also rather not die if they can avoid it, will follow instructions - the goal is to keep that sector consenting to follow the instructions, as that keeps society functioning peacefully compared to the alternative. They aren't necessarily smart, they're just smarter than the chemtrail lizard haters, so they aren't told the full extent, they're allowed to think 'not much longer' without actually being told 'next Tuesday everything will be normal again'.

Mitzi just so you know, I’m never in a discussion to shout my point. I’m never embarrassed to say “I was wrong” or “I’ve changed my mind” so I really appreciate your answers.