Have people's opinions changed?

[MassiveOverthinker]

Just wondering really, if the last few months have changed people's opinion on how we managed covid in this country.

Anyone wondering if maybe fewer restrictions would've been better and if more draconian ones (often called for) were unnecessary. Anyone wondering if we needed to close schools, swab and isolate our kids, test and trace etc etc.

Or do people generally feel we did what was necessary at the time and are only okayish now because of weaker variants and higher vaccination levels?

Anyone feel less angry at the rule breakers, those who don't want to be vaccinated etc?

If it all happened again, do you think your response to restrictions would be the same, or would you be a bit more inclined to think "sod that for a laugh".

(Asking for a friend).

@mmmmmmghturep Such an objective reviewer, there... 😂

Were you the one who got the A State of Fear threads pulled. Its going to be a lot harder to smear Lucy Easthope

Laughing and sneering at people you don’t agree with isn’t the best way to make your case @Innocenta

And the laughing and sneering also makes you look a lot less worried than you claimed to be earlier.

There you go again. How tedious.

This is pointless. You just try to ridicule anyone who presents a different point of view to your own. It's a shame you weren't on MN during Spring and Summer 2020 - you'd have felt right at home.

Adding words like "frankly" and "I'm afraid" (that was another favourite around here during that period) doesn't mean you are more intelligent and more right that other people, any more than your selfishness is less selfish than the people you accuse of being selfish.

By the way, have you seen the the new WHO report which reports on their estimates of excess mortality in different countries? Sweden fares very well indeed. I know of course you will be keen to ridicule it, maybe by saying how sparsely populated Sweden is and how small their population is and how many of them live alone, while ignoring the fact that the population distribution can be compared to say Scotland's - lots of empty spaces and small settlements with the bulk of the population clustered in southern towns and cities. There are some very densely populated immigrant areas too. So actually quite comparable. Feels like letting go of a safety blanket when you have to look out of an entrenched position doesn't it?

Anyway I have a very early start tomorrow. Have a good evening.

Very well said @HesterShaw1

Honestly, at this point anyone who's denying that the government deliberately tried to instil fear as part of their strategy looks credulous at best. Actively gaslighting at worst.

And there's just no need for it, because stating this fact isn't an inherently anti lockdown argument. You could be pro restrictions and think the end justified the means. Or be pro restrictions and think it wasn't necessary, because public buy in was already high without it. But we aren't going to be able to deal with the negative consequences without acceptance that it happened.

@HesterShaw1 As outlined downthread, my position is not selfish. If you're unable to actually engage with my points at the level of argument (i.e. you can provide no refutation), then I'm genuinely unsure why you keep replying to me. Unlike many, I am open to rethinking if a compelling argument is presented.

But it hasn't been. I'm hardly going to change my mind (especially when I am actually correct) just because you've called me selfish ten or so times.

You are drastically overestimating how much time I spend on Mumsnet!

@AppleandRhubarbTart i think a lot of it is the sunken costs fallacy.

People have to justify how they behaved, and not only blindly accepted draconian restrictions but vilified anyone who dared to question.

🙄🙄

I love how when anyone dares to take you lot on and isn't immediately scared off you trot out the predictable 'It must be NannyandJohn!' insult. Hilarious.

@mmmmmmghturep, didn't you say you weren't coming back to MN? What happened there?

How come you think it's an insult, did you not like that poster much?

You know that's an insult.

Oh you are actually correct? Jolly good.

🙄

The sunken costs fallacy does play a part, I think. It's quite painful to consider the possibility that everything we went through wrt restrictions might actually have made things worse, not better. Easier to cope with if it was all for the greater good.

I just think this is something that can be separated from identifying what the government was doing at the time and why. Has to be, really. Because the use of fear as a deliberate part of government messaging is a fact. The choice is to either accept that or be wrong. What's a matter of opinion is whether it was justified.

Adding words like "frankly" and "I'm afraid" (that was another favourite around here during that period)

Ah, that takes me back! “I’m afraid it’s very unlikely we’ll ever get a covid vaccine at all, and frankly, if we ever do it won’t be for at least ten years. Sorry.”

Blimey, someone said that?

Oh I remember these posts!

Any even slightly positive news on vaccines or medications etc was quickly disregarded with posts starting "I'm afraid....."

WTH, one of my previous messages has been deleted and in it's place it just says Troll Hunting?!?!! What does this mean? I'm definitely not a troll 😂

Mention of certain ex posters is frowned upon 😉