Endless Propaganda

[Bewareoftheblob]

I cannot believe the endless Covid propaganda on the news channels at the moment. There doesn't seem to be any challenge to the stay at home/don't kill Gran/crying nurses narrative at all.

I am pretty disgusted by the emotional manipulation and attempts at behaviour modification going on.

Or am I being unreasonable...

@InTheDrunkTank

The sheer level of ignorance some people demonstrate is quite honestly staggering. There's a reason lots of you aren't experts in anything. You're obviously not very academic and you don't have the attention span to actually learn anything in depth. You just believe whatever is most convenient for you.

You know you can just google market data - the market crashed long before any lockdown. Covid is a natural disaster of course there's going to be a recession. There was always going to be a recession after a decade of quantitative easing and an unsustainable bear market. Look at any index which tracks the UK economy and it's been stagnant for decades anyway. As much as some of you morons struggle to accept it this isn't north korea, we're not an independent entity. You can't just decide hey we won't lock down our economy will be unaffected. You can't have people dying in hospital corridors and being refused entry to hospital and think the economy will just chug along unaffected - people still eating in restaurants and tourists happily jumping on planes to visit us you cretins. It isn't going to happen.

There has not been any evidence that lockdown has caused 200,000 deaths. That is not true. At the end of the day a large proportion of the country is morons and mumsnet is known for being particularly low down the IQ scale but some of the comments here even scrape the barrel for this website.

Some of your points are valid, but to come across as having a credible perspective, you'd need to stop calling people cretins and morons.

[quote trulydelicious]@MadameBlobby

Boris has her dad’s blood on his hands. Not us. And yet we are the ones being guilt tripped by the propaganda

Yes, sure, because the two of them have gone round all over the country with a little flask disseminating the virus amongst people...

It's people's actions (and in many cases stupidity, recklessness and selfishness) that cause transmission, not 'the government' FFS[/quote]
They’ve got you hook line and sinker haven’t they.

They told people they could meet up at Christmas and now it’s caused the carnage those of us who didn’t do it could see they are blaming the people.

The death toll is a failure of government, not individual decision making.

Does anyone look at those ads and re-think?

Do people think they will be effective

I follow all the rules and some pieces of information have provoked an emotional reaction, that child suicide one below for eg, but those ads... couldn’t be more redundant

But maybe others feel differently?

The 'can you look them in the eyes' advert also makes me angry.

I am so sick of the blame for 'flouting the rules' being pitched at everyone. Most people leave the house to work, shop, get educated or exercise. All within the rules and all necessary to function as a society. So stuff the blame game as I am not interested.

And people work in the NHS to care for people in ill health. They get paid for it and I totally understand if they look for a different job (I did many years ago) but equally there will be others that see those type of jobs as safe and secure and will think about training to move into the NHS. We don't have adverts saying can you look them in the eye because you couldn't be bothered to look after your health at any other time. And over summer a lot of people couldn't see their GP or dentists when they were apparently still 'open'.

I think we should have a serious discussion about the NHS and whether it is fit for purpose and how it is funded after this.

@trolltrollingsheep

Because they make sense and you are showing your lack of understanding on public health on populations versus thinking myopically

They told people they could meet up at Christmas and now it’s caused the carnage those of us who didn’t do it could see they are blaming the people.

The death toll is a failure of government, not individual decision making.

What's the point pointing the finger at anyone? How does that make any difference?

I can't get with the mindset that saying it's all the government's fault or it's all "the selfish people's fault" as if that's going to change what's happening.

What I will say is that everyone in my family and extended family and friends planned towards a very very quiet non mingling Christmas not based on anything the Government said but based on common sense, and funnily enough we didn't catch the virus.

If the Government sais "go and leap off a bridge" would you do that just because they said so, or would you do something different?

I wonder if the intended effect of the "look them in the eyes" ads is to change people's behaviour, or whether they are actually intended to make people feel superior to the stupid rule flouting morons who need to have the facts hammered into their thicko skulls

I'm not anti lockdown - obviously I'm not enjoying the restrictions, no one is - but I understand why we need to severely limit our face to face interactions right now. I'm not a covid denier or a conspiracist. I know the NHS is under unprecedented pressure, and that if NHS has to ration care (more than it already is doing) the consequences will be terrible for everyone in this country.

Propaganda is "information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view." So I don't think reporting on what's going on in our hospitals is propaganda, because it's true - not biased or misleading. But using that information to promote the idea that what's going on in our hospitals is the general public's fault is propaganda.

There's recent evidence to show that compliance with lockdown is actually still very high. The exception is people not self isolating or going for tests and this is because many people can't afford the time off work. The government should be supporting people properly to get tested and isolate, and then tightening the rules if the current measures are still not keeping the pressure off the NHS, not turning people against each other for going out for a jog or doing the weekly food shop. It isn't fair.

It's not about you, FFS.

I hate it when people say this. For most people, of course it's about them and those closest to them. To expect people to spend a year+ putting unknown strangers ahead of their own interests is not realistic.

I'm also tired of the dismissive putdowns.

@daisychain01

They told people they could meet up at Christmas and now it’s caused the carnage those of us who didn’t do it could see they are blaming the people.

The death toll is a failure of government, not individual decision making.

What's the point pointing the finger at anyone? How does that make any difference?

I can't get with the mindset that saying it's all the government's fault or it's all "the selfish people's fault" as if that's going to change what's happening.

What I will say is that everyone in my family and extended family and friends planned towards a very very quiet non mingling Christmas not based on anything the Government said but based on common sense, and funnily enough we didn't catch the virus.

If the Government sais "go and leap off a bridge" would you do that just because they said so, or would you do something different?

I didn’t meet mine either. But some people did because Boris didn’t grow a pair and say no

@sadpapercourtesan

Allison Pearson is a desperate hack. Two brain cells short of Katie Hopkins.

I'll say one good thing for this thread; it's useful to be able to see all the thick, selfish morons in one place.

I’ll say one thing from this thread. It sadly still has posters showing themselves as being such unpleasant people with their awful name calling of anyone who doesn’t have the same opinions as themselves.

This past year as unfortunately really highlighted these people.

@MaxNormal

It's not about you, FFS.

I hate it when people say this. For most people, of course it's about them and those closest to them. To expect people to spend a year+ putting unknown strangers ahead of their own interests is not realistic.

I'm also tired of the dismissive putdowns.

Exactly.

Plus these reports and adverts are in my front room day after day. If it’s not about me/us why are we all being subjected to them? It’s about all of us.

@MissEspresso

still allow Christmas Day mixing

People may have decided not to mix, even if it was 'allowed'

@TheKeatingFive

No, it’s a virus that causes it

The virus infects, but it doesn't cause transmission. Transmission is enabled by people coming close to one another (I would think 9 months on most would understand this TBH)

Yes I know. We didn't mix as we didn't want the risk. Some people did take the risk and for some it was a gamble that ended in tragedy.

At the end of the day a large proportion of the country is morons and mumsnet is known for being particularly low down the IQ scale but some of the comments here even scrape the barrel for this website.

I remember being called a "moron" on here when I said last April that we would have to live with coronavirus long term. And then was told I was "fucking thick as shit" in early December when I disagreed with the statement that vaccines would mean "back to normal by February".

I'm sick of being lectured by a government and guilt tripped when the stories are coming out.about their own department (DVLA) not bothering to follow the rules. Tbh I think they knew that was coming and they got in first by putting Priti on a press briefing to blame the rule breakers.

I'm NHS and we have never had social distancing. I am not even 1m away from my nearest colleagues. But hey crack on and tell us we're the ones to blame

Does anyone actually believe anything the government says any more?

I do know what propaganda is and I do know the government use it. You've also asked if I can distinguish between propaganda and factual reporting and the answer is YES unlike many posting on this thread. Mental is how a lot of people would describe your attitude BTW.

*@ Countess

Plus these reports and adverts are in my front room day after day. If it’s not about me/us why are we all being subjected to them? It’s about all of us

if you're doing the right thing, it's not about you.

HTH.

@echt

Plus these reports and adverts are in my front room day after day. If it’s not about me/us why are we all being subjected to them? It’s about all of us

if you're doing the right thing, it's not about you.

HTH.

So you think they’ll work for those who are not?

Good luck with that

Does anyone actually believe anything the government says any more?

Not me anyway

Hasn't it occurred to you all that if the government has to resort to what you call 'propaganda' is because they have no choice but to continue to hammer into people's heads the need to take precautions as some still don't seem to grasp the seriousness of the situation we are in?

Totally agree OP.

And the government have been very selective with their science. Propaganda doesnt cover it. Outright lies at times.

Here is the evidence of the major fuck up in March last year:

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/13/coronavirus-science-chief-defends-uk-measures-criticism-herd-immunity

Patrick Vallance explaining why the government was delaying installing any coronavirus restrictions:

*Our aim is to try and reduce the peak, broaden the peak, not suppress it completely; also, because the vast majority of people get a mild illness, to build up some kind of herd immunity so more people are immune to this disease and we reduce the transmission, at the same time we protect those who are most vulnerable to it. Those are the key things we need to do.

"If you suppress something very, very hard, when you release those measures it bounces back and it bounces back at the wrong time,” he said. The government is concerned that if not enough people catch the virus now, it will re-emerge in the winter, when the NHS is already overstretched.*

@MadameBlobby

Does anyone actually believe anything the government says any more?

Not me anyway

No not me