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Anyone else find this slightly dystopian now ?

408 replies

Whitechocolatemarshmallow · 22/11/2020 11:46

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 ?

OP posts:
Pollynextdoor · 22/11/2020 18:11

We don’t live in an anarchy though. It’s the governments job to protect all its citizens. Again I don’t really understand the alternative way to handle a global pandemic. Most governments around the globe has acted the same way on this presumably because they are being guided by science.

boobot1 · 22/11/2020 18:12

@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 ?

This is not 'slightly' dystopian, it's very dystopian. How do some people not see itConfused
AcornAutumn · 22/11/2020 18:18

@Pollynextdoor

We don’t live in an anarchy though. It’s the governments job to protect all its citizens. Again I don’t really understand the alternative way to handle a global pandemic. Most governments around the globe has acted the same way on this presumably because they are being guided by science.
Polly

Seriously! People fall for this? You think infection control amd behavioural control are the same thing?

You know SAGE have admitted they didn’t even know care homes weren’t protected?

mobile.twitter.com/cjsnowdon/status/1330524108359131136

AcornAutumn · 22/11/2020 18:19

Just to add - I do appreciate that many people would have no reason to think about infection control before.

But 8 months into life restrictions and ruined economy, I thought they might try to learn a bit!

AcornAutumn · 22/11/2020 18:20

@MaxNormal

What would you have said to those who predicted this in March?

I would have accused them of scare-mongering, but I'd partially have been angry as I was afraid they might be right.

Interesting. Some of my contacts thought I was certifiable.
AcornAutumn · 22/11/2020 18:21

@BlueBlancmange

Why is this kind of topic coming up now when we have just heard that there are likely to be highly efficacious vaccines available very soon and it's likely the situation will start to improve very soon?
Do you mean why is it being looked at in Whitehall, or why are we discussing it?

A successful vaccination programme will not give your freedom back.

Hardbackwriter · 22/11/2020 18:25

@BlueBlancmange

Why is this kind of topic coming up now when we have just heard that there are likely to be highly efficacious vaccines available very soon and it's likely the situation will start to improve very soon?
Because the papers are full today of 'government sources' talking about this mad freedom pass idea - OP quite clearly says that's why she started the thread. I don't think it'll come to pass, but it hardly inspires hope and trust that we're getting towards the end of this.
Pollynextdoor · 22/11/2020 18:27

@AcornAutumn, so how would have handled this crisis if in charge?

Hardbackwriter · 22/11/2020 18:28

@AcornAutumn

I’m curious

Those who are finding it dystopian now

What would you have said to those who predicted this in March?

I simply would not have believed that people would accept this level of restriction on their lives for a virus - in some ways, I've actually been pleasantly surprised by compliance levels (and in others a bit disturbed). Already some of it seems like a weird dream - the NHS clapping, for instance, which I didn't love at the time just seems so surreal now.
BlueBlancmange · 22/11/2020 18:40

@AcornAutumn

A successful vaccination programme will not give your freedom back

Why are you stating this as a fact?

AcornAutumn · 22/11/2020 18:46

Hardback yes but I can’t tell if that poster meant she thinks freedom will come back.

Polly infection control. Those returning from abroad in February should have been asked to quarantine for two weeks.

Separate covid wards with full partitions between patients. If we can build the Nightingales, we can do that.

Full PPE should have been available as per the pandemic planning of ...was it 2016 or 2018? For hospitals and care homes.

Tracing should have been done the old way - tell your doctor, pass on very close contacts, not people you walked to the station with in fresh air! NHS staff then do the contacting.

The whole thing is an exercise in people control amd making money for pharma and tech. As it stands, if I get covid, my GP won’t even know!

Id have made HCQ available as many covid patients might benefit and will have had it before with no harm.

Money available for those shielding if need be.

Not telling people only to call an ambulance when lips are blue.

A committee of doctors and nurses in charge, those with experience of infectious disease, not epidemiologists with mathematical modelling and philosophy degrees.

Neil Ferguson nowhere near the show, look at his previous record.

Working at home where possible seems fine although people have gone mad with it, in my place you have to sanitise the lift buttons if you go in.

No mandatory masks - increases bacterial tonsillitis etc

No gatherings over 50 a la Sweden

No money on nonsense track and trace or test and trace or apps.

Public told to stay home home if ill, possibly a small fine as a deterrent to the nutty.

We didn’t shut everything down with the high flu deaths in 1999 and 2017-18.

I tried to read Klaus Schwartz 4th Industrial Revolution in 2016, I couldn’t as it was so dystopian and depressing. Until March, I didn’t think it was actually going to happen.

That’s just a start but I’ve got vertigo and not meant to be looking at a screen (but so bored,..)
So screen break now. Maybe more later. I’m only just being heard after 6 months of being to,d I’m mad, even though I grew up with a doctor specialist in infectious disease as a dad...

AcornAutumn · 22/11/2020 18:47

[quote BlueBlancmange]@AcornAutumn

A successful vaccination programme will not give your freedom back

Why are you stating this as a fact?[/quote]
It’s my opinion.

I think a fact is like, the sun came up this morning.

You have no idea how much I want to be wrong.

Pollynextdoor · 22/11/2020 18:49

@AcornAutumn, thanks and agree with many of the points you are making.

AcornAutumn · 22/11/2020 18:50

[quote Pollynextdoor]@AcornAutumn, thanks and agree with many of the points you are making.[/quote]
But then why would you say you can’t see what could have been done instead?!

tortoiseshell1985 · 22/11/2020 18:53

But I don't think a vaccine will give us our freedom either. Our civil liberties haven removed easily by a corrupt Government, we let it happen. They did it by instilling fear and its frightening

WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants · 22/11/2020 18:55

@Quarantino. I'm so sorry to hear about your friend 🌷. I'll happily continue with things as they are until the vaccines are rolled out. I'm happy to do whatever I can to stop as many people dying from it as possible.

People do spout a lot of Shite Yes it's 'strange times' but we've never lived through a pandemic before. As soon as restrictions can be lifted more safely, they will be. Our Govt is not interested in keeping us 'locked up' or followed. FFS.

AlecTrevelyan006 · 22/11/2020 18:59

@Pollynextdoor

We don’t live in an anarchy though. It’s the governments job to protect all its citizens. Again I don’t really understand the alternative way to handle a global pandemic. Most governments around the globe has acted the same way on this presumably because they are being guided by science.
the weird thing is most of them haven't been guided by science, nor have the followed the advice provided by the WHO in previous pandemics. There has been a collective leave of senses.
RegularHumanBartender · 22/11/2020 19:00

What would you have said to those who predicted this in March?

I did say this back in March. I can't find my post now but I remember saying that governments don't remove freedoms only to hand them back happily. I was called terrible things! A murderer, stupid, uneducated, told I deserved to catch it and "suffer alone".

I don't understand why people who express their distaste for pointless lockdowns and restrictions are called "covid deniers". I've never denied it exists. I also find it strange that the comeback always seems to be, "well, what would you do then". You don't see this on any other thread on MN!

AcornAutumn · 22/11/2020 19:03

Regular I’m happy to answer what I’d do as per the above.

I really am taking a screen break now....

dementedma · 22/11/2020 19:06

If restrictions can be lifted for Christmas so we can party, it makes a mockery of everything we have sacrificed thus far. They will then stay lifted as far as I’m concerned. Is the virus planning on taking a week off to stay home with its family for that week or something?

AcornAutumn · 22/11/2020 19:07

Witches “ People do spout a lot of Shite Yes it's 'strange times' but we've never lived through a pandemic before. As soon as restrictions can be lifted more safely, they will be. Our Govt is not interested in keeping us 'locked up' or followed. FFS.”

Depends on your age but yes you have. Swine flu.

And SARS was thought to be a pandemic at the start, with a fatality rate of 11%. I was expecting to be told to stop work with no income.

Happily - no lockdowns.

If you think government are looking after us, you haven’t had much experience of elderly deaths, hospitals or care homes I’m guessing?

Newuser991 · 22/11/2020 19:08

I have a friend who lives in the US and she was going to book a rock concert well into the end of next year so probably OK to assume it will go ahead.

She has found out they will refuse anyone who hasn't been covid vaccinated.

I dont think the vaccine will be a choice

MeringueCloud · 22/11/2020 19:08

@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.
Do you have to show your yellow fever certificate to be allowed to shop in Tesco?
MercyBooth · 22/11/2020 19:10

It is all just a way to get people spending money, while superficially making things look virus-free, when in reality the virus doesn't look at a certificate and stay away from a host

And yet people seem to think that the virus can target a wedding ring like a bullseye as only single people are allowed to bubble with another household.

Pollynextdoor · 22/11/2020 19:11

@AcornAutumn, I agree that many of the things you list should have been done and actually it was by many other countries who managed Covid more successfully than the U.K
The not calling ambulances before lips are blue and no border control was madness.
These countries find themselves in the situation as the U.K. now and most are doing similar lockdowns.