It's a Conspiracy

[Lowland1]

Perhaps it’s because Governments aren’t leading but following public opinion as soon as Johnson realized people weren’t going for the herd immunity model he changed things around pretty quickly. There is no opposition because basically you don’t get elected today by telling people what they need you get elected by giving them what they want or at least promising you will give them what they want. No one dares tell the truth.

 

[Danllan]

I would say there is potentially an establishment - and they reside the other side of Westminster... You know, the untouchables..

Indians?

 

[czechmate]

History tells us that restrictions imposed for all manner of reasons can outlast the crisis by many years, even decades. Rationing continued post WW2 for 9 years until 1954 (in fact some things remained rationed until '58). The pub licencing laws that were liberalised in the early 00s were put in place in during WW1 to stop munitions workers getting blind drunk during working hours. The US Federal government imposed a 55mph speed limit as a 'temporary fuel saving measure' in response to the Oil Crisis of the early 70s, that lasted until 1987 at least, and it wasn't until 1995 that all restrictions were lifted, and even then many of the individual states chose to keep the old limits. Even now some are still limited to 65mph.

There is a massive bias to the status quo, and if restrictions are maintained in place for long enough they become the norm and any liberalisation is viewed as needing to prove itself necessary. After all, how many of us grew up in an era when pubs closed at 11pm, and never questioned it, because that was the way things were?

Plus there is the issue (problem?) that many people are frightened by freedom. They actually prefer restrictions, it gives them a sense of security. And for a (hopefully small) minority the chance to poke their noses into other people's affairs, and to order them around for not obeying the rules.

So no, I'm not optimistic that things will revert to 'normal' any time soon. The history of the nature of governance and human psychology suggests otherwise.

The universal uk speed limit was 70mph. Dropped to 50 in the 70’s « to save fuel »

 

[czechmate]

My experience is the opposite. I self treated for injuries that I would have gone to A&E before, and also know of many others who have tolerated illness rather than seek medical care.

Good god man, this thing isn’t even 18 months old! How often would you normally be taking yourself to A and E?

 

[Mek]

Good god man, this thing isn’t even 18 months old! How often would you normally be taking yourself to A and E?

It did make me wonder too.

 

[czechmate]

It did make me wonder too.

I’ve been thinking back, I’ve been twice in the last 40 years, which I thought was a bit excessive

 

[essex man]

Perhaps it’s because Governments aren’t leading but following public opinion as soon as Johnson realized people weren’t going for the herd immunity model he changed things around pretty quickly. There is no opposition because basically you don’t get elected today by telling people what they need you get elected by giving them what they want or at least promising you will give them what they want. No one dares tell the truth.

Agree, think people looked at paid lockdowns in other countries and started thinking...I like the sound of this.
Boris changed tack as a response to this, there was no sudden new information on the virus, just new information from polling

 

[Lowland1]

Good god man, this thing isn’t even 18 months old! How often would you normally be taking yourself to A and E?

The truth of it is if you’d have gone to A&E you could probably have avoided the normal 4 hour wait because the normal customers who turn up requiring major surgery for paper cuts were to frightened to venture out the house. When my Son ruined his Sisters hand modeling career with a drawbar pin she was treated within ten minutes by two doctors who wouldn’t let her leave the hospital as they had nothing better do. On the flip side my Dad couldn’t get to see a Doctor throughout the whole summer then when he finally did get to see a Doctor the state then basically kidnapped and imprisoned him for the last five months of his life and killed him with a Covid jab. His sister couldn’t get a GPs appointment and spent a month in excruciating pain before seeing a private consultant who diagnosed her with terminal stomach cancer and sent her home to die which she did. My wife was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer normally we’d have flown to UK but there were no flights and even if we had BUPA told us she wouldn’t get treatment as their facilities were reserved for Covid for the NHS luckily she was treated her and is now OK otherwise I’d have been 3 family members down. And to cap it all my son and his friend were turned away from Manchester University’s cricket nets yesterday because they wouldn’t be able to social distance even though one was going to bowl and the other bat and a cricket pitch is 22 yards long.
The state has control and they’re not going to let go for a long time.

 

[Lowland1]

Agree, think people looked at paid lockdowns in other countries and started thinking...I like the sound of this.
Boris changed tack as a response to this, there was no sudden new information on the virus, just new information from polling

I think public reaction in the UK and in Europe put him off Johnson I think doesn’t have any qualms about killing your granny he just doesn’t think being known as the ‘Granny killer’ will be good for his career.

 

[Highland Mule]

Good god man, this thing isn’t even 18 months old! How often would you normally be taking yourself to A and E?

Once in a blue moon - a couple of broken bones in early life and a bit of swarf in my eye about five years ago.

But late March last year I put a gash in my scalp, and a compress wouldn’t stop the blood. Given that we had just started lockdown and there was a lack of clarity over everything, I decided to avoid the place and got Mrs HM to patch me with superglue (which was invented as a US battlefield triage tool, remember). No scar, and I’d probably now do the same regardless of the same happened again

 

[Muck Spreader]

I was at university in the early sixties and to begin with there were no riots. I put this down to there being a significant minority of mature students who had endured national service and were a steady influence on us youngsters. My brother in law entered the London school of economics in the mid sixties and the story was altogether different. Not only were students generally less mature but the drug culture was kicking in, left wing extremism was on the rise and of course there was non conformist hippy culture. My brother in law dropped out after a year and went on to study agriculture.
There was a strong feeling among the older generation that these youngsters were not fit to be given so much freedom so quickly but it was certainly an age akin to the rise of the woke generation of today except that the youngsters generally grew out of it when they hit the outside world. The establishment as you call it has certainly been infiltrated by some very strange people and I find it worrying.

I find it disappointing that university students don't have a bit more of a radical questioning edge on society anymore, seemingly seeing it as just an extension to school. My late father was at university in the run up to WW2 and it was very fashionable then for students like him to have communist leanings much to his later embarrassment . I on the other hand, in the 80's was active in the Young Conservatives to my current embarrassment, but exposure to different political ideologies does allow you to question your own and others political beliefs. In the end it's what a party currently stands for that counts, not what it was historically.

 

[arcobob]

The universal uk speed limit was 70mph. Dropped to 50 in the 70’s « to save fuel »

I remember the blue flashing light.

 

[Highland Mule]

Good god man, this thing isn’t even 18 months old! How often would you normally be taking yourself to A and E?

Been living with a fractured rib for 2 weeks. God, it’s certainly made me feel at least 10 years older

 

[czechmate]

Ha ha. But I didn’t see anyone. And wouldn’t have

 

[Highland Mule]

Ha ha. But I didn’t see anyone. And wouldn’t have

So it might be fractured, but surely you can’t know for sure without an X-ray. Not that they’d prescribe anything bar rest anyway. Given I know a few orthopaedic surgeons I would probably have had a check.