Coronavirus and "human rights"

[lightand]

I was thinking to start a thread about this, this morning, but couldnt think of quite the right words.
Now I have been on a thread, and with the permission of another poster, I am reposting her words here.

"A year ago if you'd told me what the rules would be I wouldn't have believed you. I would have thought it a human rights abuse. I feel scared, unsafe. I'm living in a world where the government can put law abiding citizens into solitary confinement. That's fucking terrifying. I couldn't escape it. I couldn't escape what they did. Nothing feels safe, knowing they can take everything. Take away your loved ones."
[She wrote it in the context of living alone and being separated from loved ones].

I think this will be one of the many enduring memories when people look back on what has happened in the last year. That what we think of as human rights, were, and still are, being easily taken away from us.

dividedwefall but UK countries are not the only European countries taking action against new variants. Look at Germany, for example, which is taking some draconian action (four blocks of flats being placed under police surveillance) to stop the spread of the B117 variant.

It is telling that you don't want to elaborate on WHY you think governments would take this action if not needed.

Well restrictions are staying apparently Government in full agreement i saw this coming
Joke
Forget vaccinations not going get your freedom back

@dividedwefall

The irony is I bet Boris Johnson would have been writing the same as me back when he was a journalist. He loathed the idea of Blair's ID cards. What would he have made of immunity passports I wonder?

And that is an excellent example of how Johnson is going completely against his libertarian instincts in handling the pandemic. Why would he do that if he didn't think it was necessary?

Forget vaccinations not going get your freedom back

There is no proof to support this view.

@pinkearedcow

dividedwefall but UK countries are not the only European countries taking action against new variants. Look at Germany, for example, which is taking some draconian action (four blocks of flats being placed under police surveillance) to stop the spread of the B117 variant.

It is telling that you don't want to elaborate on WHY you think governments would take this action if not needed.

I see this posted so much. Just because other countries have chosen to do something it doesn't mean we should.

And it is not telling that I don't want to WHY the government might be taking this action if not needed. I just don't know, and my inner musings on the possible reasons are hardly useful and might detract from the fundamental issues of the thread.

*discuss

Then the discussion is at an end @dividedwefall. As usual the conspiracy theorists cannot develop their arguments in any meaningful way apart from Bill Gates and all that rubbish. Well, we shall see where we are this time next year.

@pinkearedcow

Forget vaccinations not going get your freedom back

There is no proof to support this view.

Seen the news today?

@dividedwefall I considered replying point by point but decided against it because what’s the point? You’re haven’t said anything that’s even made me consider changing my point of view and there is nothing that hasn’t been widely said already that will change yours.

Ultimately I disagree with you and your assessments at almost every level.

It really isn't just octogenarians who are at risk from Covid,. Because, once again, it isn't just about deaths. It's about the risk of long Covid, me being one person suffering from this.

But you just don't listen, do you? Because it doesn't fit with your agenda that the restrictions are about eroding our civil liberties rather than protecting us from a virus that's a risk to the health of more than just the elderly.

@pinkearedcow

Then the discussion is at an end *@dividedwefall*. As usual the conspiracy theorists cannot develop their arguments in any meaningful way apart from Bill Gates and all that rubbish. Well, we shall see where we are this time next year.

Bill Gates? For god's sake, this is your conclusion to my posts. Way to shut down a conversation that you don't like.

Whether I think the government is driven by mistake or malfeasance is irrelevant, and like I have said, I really don't know and either option is possible. I can develop my arguments perfectly well and I engaged with you rather than calling you a sheep or a drone.

I can develop my arguments perfectly well and I engaged with you rather than calling you a sheep or a drone

But you haven't developed your arguments here. OK you may not be a Bill Gates conspiracy theory type and I apologise for that if you aren't.

@Beaniecats which particular piece of news, there is rather a lot of it? Link?

@dividedwefall if you refuse to engage and leave gaps in your argument people will fill them. Don’t get pissy about leaving blanks and people filling them in if you’re not prepared to elaborate yourself.

Why is everyone polarising it into lockdown/no lockdown?

It seems there's nowhere to discuss the huge societal changes that have happened, the effect this has had on people, and to try to collectively process and reflect on it all. AND to discuss and express the anger at measures that were too much.

For example, I don't think anyone should have been forced to be alone through the first few months of lockdown. To be illegal to go within 2m of anybody is too much. It's interesting that there were things that were thought of, like children going between parents houses. But it scares me to know it took 2.5 months for people living alone to be thought of, like it just didn't matter that we were prevented from meeting a basic human need for social contact. That goes beyond liberties and freedoms, it should be treated the same as if they were restricting basic food and water supplies. It's also interesting that once bubbles were introduced, they are here to stay. As if they only realised how important social contact is (even if v limited) after the ill-effects of deprivation started showing. Despite the reams of pre-existing evidence! It does suggest that the human rights side wasn't really considered.

Plus I agree with the comparisons to other regimes. Not that I am a covid denier, more along the lines of realising how they could take hold, how people will go along with stuff. A few months ago I found myself avoiding the news, just trying to keep coping in my tiny world and occasionally checking the restrictions. Realising I was one of the people who would just go along with whatever!

I don't know, maybe I should start a sociological thread !

[quote pinkearedcow]@Beaniecats which particular piece of news, there is rather a lot of it? Link?[/quote]
Been reported widely today
So angry

Christ, it’s like pulling teeth. What news @Beaniecats? I’ve scanned the headlines and can’t see anything outrageous.

Could it be that social distancing is going go be in place for the foreseeable future?

I'm done
I moved on my racing tickets from last year but as clearly not going be allowed racing any time soon applied for refund
Will cancel booked summer hols tomorrow
As for where, bbc, sky , guardian everywhere restrictions to stay
The roadmap from Scotland is just lockdown by another name we will only be the same

@Beaniecats

I'm done I moved on my racing tickets from last year but as clearly not going be allowed racing any time soon applied for refund Will cancel booked summer hols tomorrow As for where, bbc, sky , guardian everywhere restrictions to stay The roadmap from Scotland is just lockdown by another name we will only be the same

I must be going mad because I can't see anything on the BBC, Sky or the Guardian to this effect??

Regardless of political side, James Delingpole's podcasts (the Delingpod) cover a range of issues (eg Orwell, freedoms, human rights and why journalists are ignoring big questions) through interviews with guests.

Yes, he will rant about the current situation so it may not interest everyone, but if you want a non-mainstream view from a former mainstream journalist then it provides another angle: delingpole.podbean.com

Beaniecats is talking about another new variant that's been discovered in the UK. It might prove resistant to the vaccine, like they were saying about the so-called South African or Brazilian variants previously.

We're going to hear about new variants! However, with this one, it was first noted around Christmas and there are still only 38 cases that are known about.

Would you prefer not to be told about these variants?

@TravellingTilbury

Regardless of political side, James Delingpole's podcasts (the Delingpod) cover a range of issues (eg Orwell, freedoms, human rights and why journalists are ignoring big questions) through interviews with guests.

Yes, he will rant about the current situation so it may not interest everyone, but if you want a non-mainstream view from a former mainstream journalist then it provides another angle: delingpole.podbean.com

Jonathan Sumption's pieces are also excellent. A mainstream Supreme Court judge and brilliant historian.

I feel disappointed that he is one of very few senior figures speaking out but he commands great respect and it is hard to call him a Bill Gates-obsessed conspiracy theorist to shut him up, which is great.

@Mittens030869

Beaniecats is talking about another new variant that's been discovered in the UK. It might prove resistant to the vaccine, like they were saying about the so-called South African or Brazilian variants previously.

We're going to hear about new variants! However, with this one, it was first noted around Christmas and there are still only 38 cases that are known about.

Would you prefer not to be told about these variants?

But Beanie is going on about restrictions to stay? I haven't seen that on the news?

I know. There's nothing in the news about restrictions being here to stay. But it's the only thing I can think of that Beanie might be referring to, suggesting that these mutations will be used to justify keeping restrictions in place indefinitely.