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Original poster

Government or individuals? Who is to blame?

92 replies

Plussizejumpsuit · 16/01/2021 12:50

Seems from real life conversions, stuff I'm seeing on social media and reading /hearing in the media, there's a devide between where blame lies for covid. I don't mean where it originated.

But why it is how it is in the UK now. Many people seem to have run with the narrative it is about individual action. People being selfish, taking risks and causing spread.

The other way of thinking about it is the government initially locked down way too late, track and trace was shit, people couldn't get tests, loads of restrictions were too late etc etc. I'm sure most people are familiar with the criticism.

Personally I think covid is yet another example of blame shifting onto individuals. Other examples where this is a conscious comms and policy route by government is over immigration, austerity and the welfare system to name a few.

Seeing how quickly people have taken this on regarding covid and run with it in a way is shocking but given how society is about the issues I mention, not surprising.

I'm not perfect of course I get annoyed when people can't wear their masks over their nose! But do I think the fault lies in individual action? No.

So am I alone in how I feel over this? Do people really blame individuals or are they just getting frustrated as everything is shit right now?

OP posts:
cherrypie111 · 16/01/2021 12:53

The government are 100% to blame

They decided to lockdown too late

Ignored scientific advice

Took 13 months to require tests prior to entry at airports

Even people breaking the rules in the end is their fault, other countries have had curfews, the army patrolling to ensure people don't break the rules.

The rules being so confusing is their fault

The rules changing so much is their fault

AuntieStella · 16/01/2021 12:55

People are frustrated, and wanting to attribute blame as somewhere to hand their frustration.

But there is no blame here. It's a virus. It's loose in a world which was highly interconnected. The only way to take the edge of the worse possible scenario is to reduce contact between humans. All governments round the world grappled with how to do this best. Individuals were also expected to live responsibly. There have been strengths and weaknesses.

frozendaisy · 16/01/2021 12:55

Some government policies haven't helped.
Some individuals haven't helped.

Life isn't black and white ever, every issue is always many shades of grey.

Butterflyfluff · 16/01/2021 12:58

It’s utterly ridiculous to say the government are ‘100% to blame’

And I’m no fan of this government

People need to take responsibility for their own actions

cheninblanc · 16/01/2021 12:58

Both. Government act too late, and they give out messages that aren't always clear. The u turns are beyond a joke!
The public have twisted the rules to suit themselves.
Is not really a one size fits blame I don't think

jessym · 16/01/2021 12:59

Both.

The government have made serious mistakes, in particular they have been consistently too timid & too slow about instigating lockdowns. They also scandalously neglected care homes during the first wave. ‘Eat out to help out’ was a ridiculous idea, and telling people they could mix freely for five days over Christmas was inevitably going to end in disaster, as we have seen. When they tried to backtrack, it was too late. Ireland made the same mistake, so we are not the only ones.

The public are also to blame, of course. Most people have behaved responsibly, of course, but the minority of the stupid, the selfish and the entitled who ignore the guidelines, or try to game them, or think they only apply to everyone else also have blood on their hands.

Kazzyhoward · 16/01/2021 13:01

@frozendaisy

Some government policies haven't helped. Some individuals haven't helped.

Life isn't black and white ever, every issue is always many shades of grey.

Exactly, no one person, group, or whatever is to blame. It's a collective thing - some govt decisions were wrong, some NHS management decisions were wrong, some individual decisions have been wrong.

Right at the start, individuals wouldn't comply. We were told to social distance, to wash hands, to avoid large gatherings, etc., but too many didn't, hence the first lockdown at very short notice. You can't blame the government for that. In our village, our village pub was heaving on that Friday evening after Boris has said pubs must close - so full there were crowds of drinkers on the road (this is normally a quiet sleepy pub but almost everyone came out "for one last drink"). The police had to come and close it down.

You can blame Boris for lots of things but not for the fools crowding to our tiny village pub "for one last drink" last March. Replicate that all over the UK, and you can visualise why things got out of control so quickly.

cherrypie111 · 16/01/2021 13:14

@Butterflyfluff

It’s utterly ridiculous to say the government are ‘100% to blame’

And I’m no fan of this government

People need to take responsibility for their own actions

They are 100% to blame though

People wouldn't break the rules if the government had acted swiftly and firmly. In many countries people can't break the rules, due to the severe punishments and active police presence

XenoBitch · 16/01/2021 13:16

The virus is to blame. The government can makes laws, and we can take some personal responsibility... but ultimately we are fighting against nature.

RedMarauder · 16/01/2021 13:18

The government by:

  1. Unclear and poorly worded guidance that changes hundreds of times per week.
  1. Doing lockdowns too late
  1. Allowing Christmas mixing in tiers 1-3 when they were warned in advance that it would cause the spike in deaths and hospitalisations we are now seeing.
  1. Not putting in place travel strict and enforced travel restrictions from the beginning.
  1. Not mandating that people who can WFH must.
  1. Allowing employers to do what they want in terms of H&S to be Covid secure. (I've read threads on here, and was involved in getting my DP to stand up to his boss as a few of his colleagues made it clear to me they weren't obeying the guidance. His boss now concedes my DP was completely right as they have now enforced stricter conditions due to a Covid outbreak. My DP was one of the few who didn't get it.)
  1. Not backing supermarkets and transport operators in face covering enforcement. (I do however know small shopkeepers/takeaway owners who have kicked people out of their shops, and got away with it because member of the public made it clear they would intervene if things got nasty. However employees can't do this.)

The vast majority of people have obeyed the government guidance as much as possible, though I know intelligent people who have broken it in small ways due to the amount of changes.

Sirzy · 16/01/2021 13:20

It’s a mix of both.

The government have undoubtedly got many things wrong but too many individuals won’t take responsibility for their own behaviour and will blame everyone else for that.

We can’t control what the government do. We can control what we do as individuals

MrsBrunch · 16/01/2021 13:28

I think mostly people but not through their own choice. The virus can only survive by going from person to person and if everyone understood that and acted accordingly it wouldn't get so out of control.

lljkk · 16/01/2021 13:30

Individuals voted for the govt we have, so....

WhenSheWasBad · 16/01/2021 13:34

Mostly the government.

Total lack of leadership and clarity. Every time they’ve locked down it’s been too late.

Johnson is frankly an embarrassment. Of course some individuals have been irresponsible too Dominic Cummings comes to mind).

Myalternate · 16/01/2021 13:35

No one was going on holiday last March but we had thousands of people that needed to be brought home. Flights into the UK were repatriation flights. I'm sure we'll all have seen those sad faces of people kicked out of their holiday accommodation. What were the Government expected to do? Some peop!e did choose to go on booked trips even though advised not to (we are not a Police state yet!) But expected the UK taxpayers to charter flights to get them home.

WhenSheWasBad · 16/01/2021 13:36

We can’t control what the government do. We can control what we do as individuals

To a certain extent. But if your employer insists you physically come to work (of you don’t you could lose your job). You put yourself at risk of spreading the infection if your workplace isn’t safe.

That’s not the individuals fault.

Splodgetastic · 16/01/2021 13:37

I agree that the government is 100% to blame due to lack of pandemic preparedness. We can stop pandemics in animals effectively and have the advantage of being an island. We could have used that to our advantage in this pandemic.

MummaBear4321 · 16/01/2021 13:42

It's a virus .... when are people going to realise that lockdown or no lockdown, viruses find ways to spread. It is literally impossible to contain a virus. Stop blaming people, government or individual. It's a ridiculous waste of time.

Butterflyfluff · 16/01/2021 13:51

People wouldn't break the rules if the government had acted swiftly and firmly

It’s actually quite worrying that people genuinely believe that

Myalternate · 16/01/2021 14:10

@Splodgetastic

I agree that the government is 100% to blame due to lack of pandemic preparedness. We can stop pandemics in animals effectively and have the advantage of being an island. We could have used that to our advantage in this pandemic.
We stop pandemics in animals by euthanasia. FMD as an example.
Splodgetastic · 16/01/2021 14:11

@Myalternate And movement restrictions.

Splodgetastic · 16/01/2021 14:11

@Myalternate Don’t imply that I am suggesting we burn the infected.

Splodgetastic · 16/01/2021 14:12

Typical Antifa.

FlyMyPrettiesFly · 16/01/2021 14:13

Both are to blame.

We have a perfect storm of an incompetent government and a large proportion of the general public being as thick as mince.

MoChridhe · 16/01/2021 14:15

I blame aChina and all its cover ups.