Anyone else find this slightly dystopian now ?

[Whitechocolatemarshmallow]

We may be 'allowed' to see families etc. Over Christmas but should be expected to 'pay' for this with subsequent lockdowns, and hugging will be banned.

Now, there's talk of a 'freedom pass' for people who test negative twice a week to allow them to live a more normal life, which they will be able to present should they be stopped and questioned.

What's coming next, having to show proof of vaccination status ?
I'm no conspiracy theorist and i'm fully aware that Covid is real.

Why are we willing to give up our old lives like this ?

www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=1898187&d=0#seperator
Interesting, long running discussion on Pistonheads.

We've had posters here saying - entirely seriously - that people should get a financial incentive for snitching on their neighbours and that the entire transport network should be shut down to stop people travelling to see their families over Christmas.

A year ago, who could even have imagined any of this? So yes, I'd say it's pretty dystopian.

I think some people are just quite miserable and desperate to inflict that on others, or their lives are pretty mundane and they're genuinely loving the drama this brings.

@lljkk

More than slightly dystopian. I loathe libertarians. And yet I find myself on their side in this situation. So I must be wrong. Because the Libertarians are selfish nutjobs. I try & try but still can't convince myself I'm wrong even knowing I'm on side of anti-Lockdown protestors among whom there are selfish zealots.

I End up being quiet, just trying to endure.

I know I shouldn't but this did make me smile at least. I know what you mean exactly.

@PattyPan

Yellow fever certificates have been about for years and no one kicks off about them. I don’t see how it’s any different to carry something showing your covid vaccination status.

The difference is anyone who needs a yellow fever vaccine for travel can get one.

We are being told that those under a certain age will be at the back of a very, very long line for the vaccine. Are we really saying those under 50 will need to stay in some sort of lockdown whilst the over 80s can go to a nightclub every week?

If it really is just about protecting the NHS then surely vaccinating the vulnerable should allow a return to normal at the end of that process.

OP - you have started a thread about a Dysoptian future quickly attracting all sorts of nutty conspiracy theorists which MN seems full of at the moment and you think the rest of us are dramatic ?😂

Maybe some of us are able to find things to do despite current restrictions? I am not sitting at home moping. This year has been shit for me and my family too, but we adjust and make the most of it. Not allowed to say that on MN I know🤷🏻‍♀️

Honestly OP I think you are being ridiculous, we have a few more months of this whilst vaccines are being rolled out. The end is in sight. Its rubbish but far less rubbish than the plagues of the past. I think everyone should largely forget about Christmas this year, maybe see close family on one day and then have a big Easter celebration.
This dystopian drama nonsense doesn't help anyone. Head down and time will pass, good days will return.

Lockdowns and vaccinations are pretty essential for controlling a novel virus

Yes, but the lockdowns have been to buy us time until the vaccines arrive. Once the vaccines have been widely rolled out (particularly to the vulnerable demographics) it's time to get on with life.

The alternative would be closer to dystopia

If the virus was left to run wild and we had no restrictions, then services would start to collapse. Health care, police, social services, food retail. This would mean strict curfews, food rationing, severe penalties, armed military patrolling the streets.

@Flaxmeadow

The alternative would be closer to dystopia

If the virus was left to run wild and we had no restrictions, then services would start to collapse. Health care, police, social services, food retail. This would mean strict curfews, food rationing, severe penalties, armed military patrolling the streets.

Apparently it's a recognised psychological phenomenon that if restrictive measures are put in place to prevent catastrophe from happening, many people will think the measures were not necessary. I suppose because they don't actually get to see what would likely have occurred had the measures not been taken, they can only see that the measures make things worse than they were previously and so this is all they compare.

It's the adverts about coronavirus restrictions on the TV and radio that always make me feel most like I'm in a dystopian film. And, to begin with, shops full of people in masks, but I'm used to that now.

You would have hated the 1970s, when we were bombarded with TV public health and safety warning adverts.

I suppose because they don't actually get to see what would likely have occurred had the measures not been taken,

Yes, covid deniers have no foresight

Also, anyone else read about President Xi of China advocating for a global QR code to enable travel etc.

Ugh. It was thanks to China that we're in this appalling mess in the first place.

I bet the same people who don’t like the public information broadcasts on tv are the same ones complaining that the rules are sooo confusing.

I think we need to do a lot more questioning.

I'm more concerned about the removal of human rights than the virus.

It's not helpful to call anyone with a different perspective a conspiracy theorist.
If you are not going along with the media / government, you are the mad one, discredited and a conspiracy theorist.

I think it is going to be impossible now for things to go back to the way they were.
So many people have already lost so much.
People talk about lives being more important than the economy, but the economy is lives.
Also, what makes a life worth living?

I don't know what the answers are, but I feel that what is being rolled out is not it.

@Onacleardayyoucansee

I think we need to do a lot more questioning.

I'm more concerned about the removal of human rights than the virus.

It's not helpful to call anyone with a different perspective a conspiracy theorist.
If you are not going along with the media / government, you are the mad one, discredited and a conspiracy theorist.

I think it is going to be impossible now for things to go back to the way they were.
So many people have already lost so much.
People talk about lives being more important than the economy, but the economy is lives.
Also, what makes a life worth living?

I don't know what the answers are, but I feel that what is being rolled out is not it.

Ok so you have questioned. What is your solution to controlling the spread of the virus so that it doesn't overwhelm healthcare and other services?

Apart from the fact that testing negative twice in a week is no guarantee we won't get Covid the next, I can't work out where they're coming from with this "Freedom Pass". Is it ...

An attempt to get more tests which they can claim are positive?
The same but in reverse?
An excuse to release folk from a restrictions they know were pointless?
An exercise to give the test centres which are empty something to do?
Or something else?

If that's aimed at me, @Pollynextdoor, then I'd like to point out that @Flaxmeadow cut off the rather relevant next sentence of my post, presumably so she got one more chance to be sanctimonious:

It's the adverts about coronavirus restrictions on the TV and radio that always make me feel most like I'm in a dystopian film. And, to begin with, shops full of people in masks, but I'm used to that now. I'm not criticising either thing, by the way, or saying they're unnecessary/shouldn't happen.

Allowing us to have a Christmas makes a mockery of any lockdown or restrictions. It's all a shambles.

@Puzzledandpissedoff

Apart from the fact that testing negative twice in a week is no guarantee we won't get Covid the next, I can't work out where they're coming from with this "Freedom Pass". Is it ...

An attempt to get more tests which they can claim are positive?
The same but in reverse?
An excuse to release folk from a restrictions they know were pointless?
An exercise to give the test centres which are empty something to do?
Or something else?

I think it'll be like the moonshot stuff, briefly raised and then not much discussed because it's clearly, obviously unworkable (and pretty flawed in principle, too). I think they're desperately trying to keep people thinking that there's an end in sight, as it undermines compliance so much if people think there is no end game, but they can't actually promise anything concrete so they throw up these ideas from time to time. Hence, also, why vaccine plans are always leaked - they want people to think it'll be soon but don't want to say it'll be soon because then if/when it doesn't happen they'll be embarrassed by footage of them saying it'll be here by April or whatever.

It's starting to get scary. People queuing like mindless zombies for an hour to get into Sainsbury's.

I have not queued to get into a supermarket since Easter

@Whitechocolatemarshmallow

Exactly, it's disgusting. At least let children go for a walk outside or something. Reading posts on here like "My son isn't allowed out of his room except to use the bathroom." It's just wrong.

I had a notification from the app saying I needed to self-isolate for one week due to a close contact. Not told who or where the contact was from. Uninstalled and reinstalled the app and it was gone.

Part of the problem is that test and trace doesn't work. And people who are supposed to don't self isolate.... Of course the notification disappeared if you deleted and reinstalled the app. Why have it if you're just going to ignore it?

What is your suggestion if you think the rules are getting out of hand? Just let everything go back to normal and see what happens?

Why is it that anyone questioning things is always asked what their solution is?

Is it not possible to question things without having a solution?

People seem surprised that the emergence of an infectious virus that spreads largely without symptoms and kills lots of people is dystopian?
"a state where there is great suffering or injustice"? (The justice system is a huge casualty of the virus, btw, although it was in critical condition due to cuts anyway)

No shit.