Do people really think all will be ok in the next few years ?

[LemonSherbetFancies]

You've got people saying this will never end and then others who seem to think that it will all be over by July with no restrictions. I have been in both camps.
I am definitely of the belief that restrictions will be eased and we will have more freedom. But I also think that there is a going to be a huge knock on effect which will last for years as well as an ever widening divide between the rich and poor.
I think long term unemployment, mental health and economic fall out will be beyond what we realise.
I do think eventually we will recover as a country but it will take years. I am surprised at those who think this will all be done and dusted by the end of the year and into 2022. Maybe it's the middle classness of Mumsnet with many people working from home and saving money? Just think some are in for a shock.

I really don't think the Government will restore all the rights and freedoms they've snatched away
Economic fallout, the impact on children especially their education and total destruction some sectors is ahead of us

I'm not saying I agree with that, but it really doesn't take a genius to work out why people are, at this moment, more frightened of covid than climate change.

OK, point taken and I don't disagree. However the fear has been almost entirely whipped up firstly by the government who admitted that they needed people to see it as a personal threat (whether it was or wasn't) in order to get them to obey, and then by a media whose primary purpose seems to be for clicks. They have both been shameful, and people have bought it wholesale.

It goes to show though that if they put their minds to it they could actually manipulate public opinion into taking climate change seriously in an effort to tackle it.

I feel for those working on sectors that will change forever ( retail, hospitality etc)
Such huge businesses that employ so many people.

It goes to show though that if they put their minds to it they could actually manipulate public opinion into taking climate change seriously in an effort to tackle it.

I doubt it because, again, nothing tangible will happen in the UK to seriously threaten wide-scale lives for a considerable number of years. Whereas I have known several people with covid, a few of whom have died, a few more who now have long covid.

So if you were asking what, to me, feels like the more immediate threat to my life, I'd say covid, not climate change.

I'm optimistic. I was made redundant in August, start a new job in March. I've had to adapt but being pragmatic and flexible, we'll be fine.

The economy will bounce back, companies have been forced to adapt to homeworking and hopefully will continue to be flexible over working practices.

So if you were asking what, to me, feels like the more immediate threat to my life, I'd say covid, not climate change.

And yet the lockdown proponents constantly urge us to stop being selfish and to completely change our lives for the sake of others.

I'm not really sure exactly what point I'm making here so please don't dissect my post. It just all seems completely arse about tit.

Climate change and antibiotic resistance seem like far bigger man made threats to humanity than Covid.

And I'm putting pole reversal and asteroid strikes firmly into the "can't do anything about them so quit worrying" box.

It’s easier to persuade people to make sacrifices for a temporary period and promise them nice stuff later on than to say actually we need you to give up things forever.

@halcyondays

It’s easier to persuade people to make sacrifices for a temporary period and promise them nice stuff later on than to say actually we need you to give up things forever.

Which is why the messaging really needs to change in order to get people to care. Don't ask me how.

I think much will be given up , but only for the poor or middle income people.
For example, I was hoping to see a bit more of the world as I age , but that seems unlikely as I'm not rich enough to pay the prices that will be added on to any trips or holidays once the tourist industry is up and running again. They will have to charge more because of covid or climate change and it will only be the very wealthy that will be able to pay for it in years to come. Cheap holidays or flights will be a thing of the past. I can understand why, but it'll increase the divide between those that can get round things and those that can't justify the extra costs so won't bother.

See with the whole work from home thing, if that continues it will impact on other areas of the economy. I think it's not as simple as some suggest that's all.
I think people who have lost loved one or their livelihoods will be suffering for many years to come but on the other side, there will be people who will bounce back. For others, they will not be as lucky.

My son has saved over 500 a month on train fares and bus fares into north London from essex. He is now wfh.
He was spending money on lunches and nights out and all sorts before, not any more ( maybe a delivery sourced locally now and again for lunch as a treat)

Times that by all the others also wfh and the economy in the towns and cities must be shrinking so much and I bet the coffee shops and cafes he used to go into are struggling , even doing take aways. Commercial rents must have been halved.

And I'm putting pole reversal and asteroid strikes firmly into the "can't do anything about them so quit worrying" box.

To me climate change is sort of in that box tbh as we all know the vast majority of pollution comes from major corporations and I can't do anything about them. I can make choices such as only having one child and not travelling by air and not owning a car (all choices I've made!) but these things feel very very minor.

And I don't think anyone realises the sacrifices we'd have to make to truly combat climate change. It would mean a complete and utter overhaul of our entire society and a lot of curtailing of what people would view as their essential rights- forever, not just for now.

All that just to save humanity. Because the planet will be OK, in the end.

Also antibiotic resistance is in that box too- what can I do about that? Nothing whatsoever!

Whereas if I stay home and observe covid rules I have a better chance of not catching covid.

I'm not saying I disagree with you Hester, but objectively I think it is a lot easier to feel you have control over protecting yourself from covid than from any of the other things you've mentioned.

@skeggycaggy

What Nellodee said. The best years are way behind us.

I understand people feeling like this but for the next generation I think its so important we approach the future with hope and positivity. Imagine being told by older people that your life is going to be worse than theirs already when you’re young? How do we know it won’t be far far better?

From the beginning I’ve sort of focused on fall 2023 as when things will surely be ok. That is when my dd advances to the next big level in my country’s education system and mentally it’s just been a point I can focus on that we can get through this as long as everything is relatively normal by then and surely it will be. Maybe it’s wishful thinking. Maybe it’s pessimistic. I really have no idea. But it’s my mental barometer of a reasonable hope. In reality, getting all the adults vaccinated is probably going to make a huge difference.

It has been pretty easy for us though: We’ve been sheltering for almost a year now because we are medically vulnerable so we are extremely isolated, but we are on the right side of the economic divide so it hasn’t been that hard.

Getting people to change their habits has been hard , but making it permanent will be almost impossible. I guess we will have to do it, but it won't be easy. Climate change will alter everything. It is scary to think too much about it.

@LemonSherbetFancies

You've got people saying this will never end and then others who seem to think that it will all be over by July with no restrictions. I have been in both camps. I am definitely of the belief that restrictions will be eased and we will have more freedom. But I also think that there is a going to be a huge knock on effect which will last for years as well as an ever widening divide between the rich and poor. I think long term unemployment, mental health and economic fall out will be beyond what we realise. I do think eventually we will recover as a country but it will take years. I am surprised at those who think this will all be done and dusted by the end of the year and into 2022. Maybe it's the middle classness of Mumsnet with many people working from home and saving money? Just think some are in for a shock.

BoJo has said he hopes restrictions are lifted by July, but masks and social distancinh will remain in place for some time after that. I think people think the vaccine will eradicate Covid, and that won't happen, all the vaccine does is reduces symptoms, it's doesn't stop anyone catching or transmitting covid. On top of that, not everyone will be vaccinated (either because they can't or won't). Covid is here for good, just like Flu is. However it's time for people to learn how to live with the virus, just like we live with the flu, and the vaccine will mean we can do that

There's lots of promising data out of Israel to suggest the Pfizer vaccine at least does prevent transmission.

I think we are heading into unknown times we have had our hayday, I could weep for my children

Tbh I am far more worried about climate change and the global upheavals that will bring (already happening). Covid is just a blip.

Optimism is all we have. Things may go back to how they were or they may not. Whatever happens, things will feel okay again and we will adapt. That's what life is about.

I also have to agree, Covid is a blip. There will be other pandemics. We are destroying the planet and we are going against our own evolution and that of everything else on this planet at too fast a rate. That's the biggest concern but then everything is cyclical and perhaps humans have run their course.

It's not climate change which follows economic crisis, it's the coming confrontation with China.

That prospect is terrifying.

I don't think covid will be over this year, I kind of think next year is more likely really. We've got a good rise in people getting vaccines right now, but will that last? Many people have said they won't be getting it for various reasons, and children aren't getting it. Other countries may not either, but I can guarantee they'll be allowed into the country on holiday. All of that causes spread. It's mutating quite quickly too, already got 3-4 strains of the damn thing. But they are hopefully working on those already so even if we get another spike over winter (which wouldn't be all that surprising), then they'll no doubt have a vaccine ready by then to hand out. That would mean more protection, and more people who resisted the first time may take it after another spike, hopefully. I'm more optimistic for things to be normal next year basically, but not this year. Will be a nice surprise if it's this year.

Economic wise, god knows how that's going to go. Other health, that's not going to be good, there's going to be worse mental health for a few years which will be made worse if the economy dives.

I've given up making predictions, as most of mine have been wrong so far!
I honestly don't know what the future holds, and I'm just going with the flow now. The flow is all we have...