The way the ‘pandemic’ was handled was harsh on everyone, and especially tough on young people. From a personal perspective, it severely affected my education, my life and nothing good came from it. However, people apparently believe that the measures did not go far enough.
A recent poll showed that 51% of those aged 18-24 consider measures were not strict enough, and 54% of the population as a whole think that they were not a mistake. And it is no mistake that the majority of people generally approve of lockdowns, something confirmed in a recent Unheard poll. How can people believe that two years of tyranny and torture were not strict enough? It was unbending, and it is unfathomable to me why they would want more of this or to make measures more severe. Noah Carl in a recent article in The Daily Sceptic analyses the reasons.
Carl argues that some doubt can be cast on any poll, but I strongly suspect the recent vote on pandemic measures was rigged. Everyone I have asked about the pandemic said it was beyond strict, and I do not see anyone wanting a repeat performance. I hope they were rigged, because if this is what people really want then God help us.
What exactly would more draconian measures have entailed? Perhaps those in favour would like us to have been kept locked in separate rooms in our houses and not allowed outside at all. In addition to education being interrupted, businesses were affected; loved ones died without the right to a proper send-off, and families were torn apart. Those living alone were denied visitation. My grandmother was one such case. When I dropped off her shopping, I could not even give her a hug or have a long conversation with her. Millions of people were in this situation.
As we now know, lockdown was not just harsh, it was imposed by clueless hypocrites. Earlier in March, Matt Hanckock’s Whatsapp messages were leaked and they gave us an insight into what was going on behind the scenes. He wanted to ‘frighten the pants off everyone’, he extended the isolation period to fourteen days instead of five (to avoid the implication that the government ‘had been wrong’), and he failed to adopt expert advice because of a shortage of testing kits.
Hancock and Johnson did not even abide by their own rules. While the public faced severe penalties for disobedience, including the possibility of a 10-year jail term, Hancock was caught having an affair in public and Johnson attended parties. At this time, like many people I had to stay indoors, wear a mask, socially distance and miss out on vital education. This simply should not have happened.
Looking back at this period, I just laugh and think, “What the hell?” Were we foolish to listen to those who had no intention of sticking to their own rules, and appeared to be making them for their own amusement? We endured three lockdowns in the space of two years – a sure sign that lockdowns do not work.
We work masks while standing, despite the evidence showing that they did not help prevent the spread of the virus – but of course, we could remove them when we sat down. We had to socially distance inside, despite sharing the same air. And worst of all, families members on the brink of death were denied access to their loved ones.
I hope the government will be more wary about how they handle the next pandemic, but perhaps some portion of blame lies with ourselves. Knowing what we know now, maybe the fiasco of the Covid years will compel the citizenry to be more rebellious in future. With 15-minute cities on the horizon and emergency mobile phone messages being rolled out, more not less government control seems to be the order of the day. If nothing else, I trust that next time around there will be more scrutiny of those making the rules.
Jack Watson is a 14-year-old schoolboy, who has a Substack about being a Hull City fan. You can subscribe to it here.
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