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...

@trulydelicious

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?

No, it's because the government's rules and the social context they are applied in aren't enough to keep the pressure off the NHS. If the government properly supported people, financially, to get tested and isolate then that would make a difference. They won't/can't do that because it's counter to Tory economic policy.

So they've come up with a set of rules that still allow people to go out to work; and allow childcare outside the home including schools for keyworkers; supermarkets; delivery services; support bubbles etc. I can see the argument that these are really the bare minimum to keep the economy functioning and people's mental health vaguely intact. People are broadly complying with these rules, even though it's miserable and protracted.

But instead of admit that the rules that keep the economy functioning aren't enough to protect the NHS, and that to do that you'd need something completely radical and politically unacceptable like paying people's bills in full while they isolated or shutting down supermarkets and delivering rations to people's houses, the government are trying to get you to direct your anger at the thicko rule flouters. That's propaganda.

Salmon.

I’m sorry you find my attitude ‘mental.’

What does that mean? I work in a senior position within NHS nectar health. I’ve worked there for 26 years. Please explain your definition of ‘mental.’

And fwiw, I’m married to an ITU consultant. In the first wave he had 60 ITU covid patients on his unit. Today he has 24. This is not representative, as our region has been less severely affected than others this time around. However, he is very tired of the distinction between information and propaganda.

The information is cherry picked to demonstrate the worst case scenarios in some parts of the country, the propaganda is then designed to prevent escalation in areas that are overwhelmed. It’s a blunt tool, it’s pretty much the only tool that the government have after royally fucking up on most fronts for the last ten months.

The problem is, propaganda is not information, it is twisted information with an agenda.

Abd you’re mental if you don’t recognise that.

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"

You're not alone carlaCox

A PP was also correct in saying we can't know what the result of not locking down might be ... but if the vaccines fail to make enough difference we may be about to find out

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

It is widely known that Johnson is a libertarian. His philosophy is give people information (which is exactly what the government has been doing on a daily basis, as demanded and expected by the people) and allow them to make an informed decision.

The fact the numbers were escalating the closer we got to Christmas meant his intention to give people the opportunity to meet over 5 days at Christmas was overwhelming the wrong thing to do. That's because this virus is not predictable, people seem to want binary black and white answers and can't deal with complexity or ambiguity.

That isn't the government's fault, and it isn't people's fault, it's a lot to get our heads around.

If people feel the "propaganda" is unfairly aimed at them, or are taking it all too personally, or if it's winding people up (which it can do, especially if you're following the roolz- and yes I could allow myself to be wound up if I take stuff about COVID-19 literally and to hear by thinking they're saying it's all my, Daisychain's, fault) it's best to ignore and recognise these are universal generalised messages and need to be taken in context, not taken personally.

to hear = to heart

As there’s no guarantee that the vaccine will mean ‘life goes back to normal’, how long are people willing to live in lockdowns? Another year? 3?

I’m just interested because there must be a point in time where we just have to restart life. There’s every possibility that the inevitable cycle is: infections rise, lockdown begins, infections eventually decrease, restrictions are lifted, infections rise and just rinse and repeat. For how long?

To be honest, I don’t see much point in anything anymore. I don’t see much of a future whichever way it goes, just an existence.

I heartily agree. I have tried mooting this idea with various groups of friends to see how long people are willing to comply. Months? Years?

I get no reply from anyone.

We clearly need an alternative advert then.

One showing happy, relaxed nurses and hospitals breezing through the day.

@whatisapension It's miserable, isn't it? What's the point in being 'Covid safe' if we have to carry on like this?

@89redballoons Exactly. It’s been the government modus operandi from the start: “don’t look at us, blame your fellow plebs for flouting our clear (as mud) roolz. Stay in your obedience school, there nothing to look at here, not even Dominic Cummings, we are freed from common rules, ours is a high and lonely destiny, we assure you we know the right thing to do, even though we said the complete opposite four hours ago, move along, ignore those who say that lockdown has bad effects, next slide, please”.

@Stellaris22

One showing happy, relaxed nurses and hospitals breezing through the day

Exactly, people like to believe in magic

@Justa47 no they don't!
I think you are lacking some common sense.
But don't worry because of those like you this country will fall into a chaos that you will soon enough understand

No one needs adverts for fucks sake.

I wonder how much money has been spent on pointless adverts and shitty road signs reminding us that people are DYING.

[quote trulydelicious]@Stellaris22

One showing happy, relaxed nurses and hospitals breezing through the day

Exactly, people like to believe in magic[/quote]
No they don't want this type of advert and no we don't believe in magic. We can see what's happening perfectly clear however these adverts are not required. No need for the guilt complex.
People can see the gravity of the situation and are not denying however they can also see the repercussions on the lockdowns.
This needs to stop!

@Whatisapension

No one needs adverts for fucks sake.

I wonder how much money has been spent on pointless adverts and shitty road signs reminding us that people are DYING.

Yes indeed. People need financial help whilst the gov is spending money unnecessarily on adverts to throw us deeper in the black hole that we are already in.

@trolltrollingsheep

I can assure you have lots of common sense. You are demonstrating to the world you do not understand science unfortunately

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

[quote Justa47]@trolltrollingsheep

I can assure you have lots of common sense. You are demonstrating to the world you do not understand science unfortunately[/quote]
As I said no common sense 😉

@EmmanuelleMakro

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

I agree!

@CountessFrog
"cherry picked to demonstrate the worst case scenarios in some parts of the country"

You mean the news is highlighting the most newsworthy situations currently happening in the country? You don't say. By this logic, the reports re. the flooding atm complete with residents/interviewees shedding tears should be balanced with the news that many parts of the country remain unflooded.

We are living through UNPRECEDENTED times and the things that are happening to parts of the NHS are absolutely newsworthy and it would actually be odd to omit them.

@Notthemessiah

So why are the government doing this? Who does the lockdown benefit?

If you can answer this without sounding like some Q-anon, tin-foil hat wearing moron then I might actually start taking these threads seriously but at the moment all I can see are lots of fed up moaners desperately hoping that if they believe strongly enough that this isn't really happening, everything will suddenly magically go away.

Boris didn’t want to lockdown initially. The reason they are doing this, I believe, is because the majority want restrictions as it makes them feel safe. Most politicians are only concerned with keeping their seat.

There have been studies on the correlation of Vitamin D deficiency and severity of Covid. Also on obesity being a factor. Why are they not spending money advertising this? A virus is going to virus no matter how long we stay at home. Hospital/care home acquired Covid is still a large portion. You or I sitting at home won’t change that.

I don't understand why we have to have adverts at all!

Those of us behaving responsibly don't need to have the awfulness of it rammed down our throats every five minutes and those who are not behaving responsibly sure as hell aren't going to be persuaded by emotionally blackmailing tv adverts and roadside posters.

I have stopped watching tv - it's Netflix only for me now or pre-recorded tv so that I can fast forward through the adverts

This may not go down well but I think the tone has shifted because as more data is being analysed and understood they’re seeing a bumpier road ahead.

A lot of our future progression is pegged against the effectiveness of the vaccines. Should the mutations cause issues then we are essentially back to square only with a more transmissible version with possible higher lethality.

@Thewiseoneincognito

This may not go down well but I think the tone has shifted because as more data is being analysed and understood they’re seeing a bumpier road ahead.

A lot of our future progression is pegged against the effectiveness of the vaccines. Should the mutations cause issues then we are essentially back to square only with a more transmissible version with possible higher lethality.

Agree with this, a lot less bluster from Johnson suddenly

Some countries didn’t lockdown. Sweden less cases than the U.K.

California locked down, Florida is not (and would have an older population). Both have the similar cases.

North Dakota has restrictions and masks. South Dakota has no masks. North Dakota has more cases than South.

The NHS is always overwhelmed in January. The government have known for nearly a year we are dealing with Covid why did they not prepare better? Why are they not using lateral flow testing? Is the NHS overwhelmed with numbers or lack of staff?