Ever changing goalposts....the cynic in me...

[Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow]

....wonders if there is more going on.

First we had to “flatten the curve”. Then we needed to wait for a vaccine. Now we need to wait for a vaccine against a new strain.

But new strains will always appear. There will be a new one come September by the time the next vaccine is out.

I can’t see a way out of this using current strategy but no one is discussing any other strategy.

At what point does it end? When our children have no future? When most service business are gone? When we are all vaccinated every three months?

At what point do we aim to reduce serious illness in the vulnerable and then get on with our lives? We have vaccines that do that.

This isn’t me saying that long covid isn’t a thing or that I’m not worried. But I gravely fear for other things at this point.

I’m no conspiracy theorist usually but it does feel like this is a new world order of control through the back door. There is no dissent. There can be no opposition nor protests

We are of course being softened for longer lasting restrictions even if younger children go back to school. Concerts and large weddings - when? In a decade?

I think you should stop at the 'of course' there and ask yourself why you think that. That's really not what's going to happen, we're not being 'softened up' for that. It feels like fucking eternity at the moment but even Scottish Govt is now plastering "The end is in sight!" adverts all over social media, I really don't think there's evidence of some nefarious plan to ban all gatherings until 2038.

Haffiana - love it! Funny how no-one responds to the question of what the Government stands to gain 🤫

bumble I don’t even travel abroad for various reasons. It doesn’t affect me personally

But that’s not the point.

I am of an age when covid May affect me. So be it. Why should we trash the lives of my kids’ generation any longer once threat to the NHS has gone?

easy solution - follow the law!

Ah great. That's what Hitler and Stalin said too!

What I find the most terrifying about all this past year is how useless and deliberately complient the media has behaved. Most odd. And that was before the Gov became their biggest advertisers. It's like an echo chamber out there, with very little debate or dissent. Creepy.

@bumblejee

But if you stick to the quarantine rules you have no fear of a prison sentence, so easy solution - follow the law!

Need to be careful of a slippery slope argument here.

Remember: The people who sheltered Anne Frank were breaking the law. The people who killed her were obeying the law.

I haven't a clue what the Gov could gain from trashing the economy. I hear a lot of soundbites of BuildBackBetter but when I wrote to my (useless and disinterested) MSP, he said it was just Boris Johnson trying to sound like he had a plan. Except Merkel and Biden use that slogan now too.

Maybe they want to re-organise society and saw this is their chance to lower carbon emissions or something? They did sign us up to be Carbon net zero by 2030 or was it 2050?

@Katie517 and what did your MP say?

You're right OP

In fact, I'd say better late than never because a lot of us had these concerns in April

But you won't get many understanding your POV here.

@GetOffYourHighHorse

'I simply cannot believe this is happening in the UK. Ten years in prison for travel.'

Well its not 10 years for travel is it. Its 10 years for refusing to test and quarantine. Behaviour which could continue to import variants leading us to being stuck with restrictions, which ironically is what your moaning about.

You got even get ten years for raping a child!

Ten years is jail incase you pass on a virus that 98% of the population will get over. You could make it up..

@Randominternetbitch

Well, considering protesting is also now illegal, it’s going to take nothing short of mass civil unrest or civil war to get our freedoms back. We’ve sleep walked into a draconian authoritarian regime under the guise of keeping us safe, and it seems most people are only toohappy to keep spreading their cheeks and begging for more.

I tell you what from the dramatics on mumsnet this year, I really don't know how any of you would get through a civil war so you'd be as well to be hoping that we don't end up in that scenario because another while of covid restrictions would be a walk in the park in comparison

Don’t even **

@bumblejee

What I would love to know is what you conspiracy theorists think the Government gain from these restrictions? If as you all state it is trashing the economy, what would be their motive?

I don't know their motives or even if they have any but knowing the atrocities other world governments did to their people / neibouring nations nothing will surprise me

Tbh @gallbladderpain I’m getting more and more Parler vibes from MN lately. It’s not people sharing their concerns it’s people inciting and inflaming one another.

Weird how people are quick to suspect their government yet think it’s perfectly safe to join a rabble online when we know that there are parties that have an interest in controlling the tone of social media.

I’m quite happy that more people are questioning this. The willingness with which we have given up our civil liberties has been staggering. However, in my more logical moments (which, I admit, are few and far between at the moment) I cannot for any reason see why a conservative government particularly would want to screw over the capitalist society we lived in until recently. Time will tell I guess.

There are so many on MN who snort with derision and do the Sarah Jarvis head-tilt at anyone who expresses views like the OP has. They then pat each other on the back and snigger at us tin-foil hat wearers.

I look at them and am equally, if not more baffled that anyone can NOT be alarmed at what is happening. TEN YEARS in prison for not filling in a form correctly. How the fuck is that justifiable or proportionate?

Everything you said was reasonable OP until you said "new world order". That implies an underlying hidden agenda and plan which there is no evidence for. Our government can hardly plan for next week let alone a new world order. I don't buy it.

@Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow

bumble I don’t even travel abroad for various reasons. It doesn’t affect me personally

But that’s not the point.

I am of an age when covid May affect me. So be it. Why should we trash the lives of my kids’ generation any longer once threat to the NHS has gone?

But you are the only one catastrophising that it will go on once the threat to the NHS has passed, and that we are being 'softened up' and all the other stuff.

It is all based on your fearful assumptions. Can you see that? You are literally doom-mongering on no evidence at all. Future faking in fact, with the new world order and all that imaginary shit.

@TinaYouFatLard

There are so many on MN who snort with derision and do the Sarah Jarvis head-tilt at anyone who expresses views like the OP has. They then pat each other on the back and snigger at us tin-foil hat wearers.

I look at them and am equally, if not more baffled that anyone can NOT be alarmed at what is happening. TEN YEARS in prison for not filling in a form correctly. How the fuck is that justifiable or proportionate?

I agree.

Can you imagine back in March had they implemented a ten year jail term?

We have been conditioned to this.

So I ask what is next? Jail for students who have parties? Extended jail for those who protest or even say they want to? Do we forcibly vaccine? Do we have countries implementing the death penalty for a breach of the rules?

Because right now, none of that seems so
far fetched any more.

What happens if we are no further forward in two years?

Posts like this are more concerning than the virus. As it is this prevalent lack of understanding which will undermine the collaboration necessary to get ahead of these variants. I do actually fear for our futures because seemingly we can't all accept reality, adapt to it and work together towards a brighter future.

@TinaYouFatLard

There are so many on MN who snort with derision and do the Sarah Jarvis head-tilt at anyone who expresses views like the OP has. They then pat each other on the back and snigger at us tin-foil hat wearers.

I look at them and am equally, if not more baffled that anyone can NOT be alarmed at what is happening. TEN YEARS in prison for not filling in a form correctly. How the fuck is that justifiable or proportionate?

Depends. You could bring in a virulent strain that continues to fuck up the lives of millions of UK citizens, children and our economy. Sounds pretty awful to me.

Weird how people are quick to suspect their government yet think it’s perfectly safe to join a rabble online when we know that there are parties that have an interest in controlling the tone of social media.

Yes and some of them wound people up to make sure we dismembered ourselves from the EU, and then used similar algorithms to get Boris the GE. You can't have it both ways.

Wtf is this thread.

What happens if we are no further forward in two years?

I don't know. But I'm terrified by the fact that that no longer seems an utterly crazy and unthinkable prospect.