A cure worse than the disease?

“Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little”. “The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse” – Edmund Burke.

How could something so terrible as the Holocaust be accepted by the majority of people, why didn’t they stop it?

After observing behaviour during this pandemic response, I understand more; small incremental changes over a long time continuously fed to us through a media narrative, being told by leaders and influencers how we should act, think and feel, the targeting of fears to develop compliance, normalising abnormal behaviour, creating a mass effect so that anyone who opposes stands out as being ‘anti’ or ‘against’.

This may seem like an extreme analogy, but if you are honest, these are extreme times.

It’s just a mask, just two weeks, just to get the numbers down, just until we’re vaccinated, just a proof of vaccination, just to allow you to shop, just to allow you to travel, it’s just a temporary measure, it’s just….. Why are we allowing these changes to happen without consultation? Under the guise of public health our societal freedoms are being reshaped and these changes may endure.

In my hometown in the UK there are no longer restrictions and less than 0.5% of the population are infected. In NSW, as I write this, 0.1% of the population are infected. Where I live presently in regional Queensland, there are no community cases, yet we have restrictions. Statistics and mathematical modelling seem to be the only real consideration when imposing restrictions on the population, where is the emotional consideration?

I haven’t seen my family for two years, when I usually visit them every 6 months. Dad’s had cancer, we got married with just 10 guests and had our first baby, but we have been unable to share this with the people we love the most. It is ‘illegal’ for me to return to my birth country because I am now an Australian Citizen. I emigrated to fill a skilled worker shortage vacancy. I pledged myself to the country and became a citizen not realising that I would lose the right to free travel.

I never imagined I would face such draconian measures and be isolated from my family, not because of a pandemic, but because of the governmental and political response to it. If I leave Australia, which think I will, I won’t return because I refuse to enter a quarantine camp. I could leave the airport, drive home in my own vehicle, order weekly shopping online and not leave my house. But I’m not trusted to do this, why?

I choose to live in a liberal society and never imagined I would see police and military on the streets in an overtly controlling manner forcing the population to obey the rules; new rules that have not been discussed, debated or accepted by the democracy. What is happening in our society?

Leaving your home is an ‘offence’. Health officers dictate the behaviour of a nation. Police and military are en’forcing’ the new laws on the streets. Demonstrations have been shut down. Curfews, cautions, tickets and fines for not obeying the en’forced’ rules are ‘normal’.

I don’t want to ‘show my permit’ to prove I am allowed to be out, I don’t want to have to have a vaccine passport, I don’t want to apply for special permission to see my family. I’ve felt pressured into getting vaccinated, so that I can travel as soon as possible. I have no issues with vaccinations and was willing to have one as soon as they were available, but by the time I was eligible I felt like I had been herded into the vaccination clinic.

Last year a Google search provided no answers. Almost two years later we have a better understanding, and the same search states: “Most people who fall sick with COVID-19 will experience mild to moderate symptoms and recover without special treatment”.

I understand the initial fear, and people should not die unnecessarily. But this needs putting in perspective; the mortality rate seems to be less than 1%, lower when vaccinations are distributed. I would like to take my chances to see my family, we don’t have years to wait it out. Provide me with the best information, treat me like an individual who can think for themselves and let me decide.

Offer support, guidance and information but don’t lock me down, or lock me up, or curfew or restrict my movements. Don’t take away my freedom to choose. Don’t detain me indefinitely because I might be a threat to public health. Don’t tell me I’m a ‘risk to the community’ when I don’t have my face covered while I walk my dog, when the person overtaking me running and sweating and breathing heavily is ok, because the rules say so.

Years from now will we look back at this period in history and realise that the special temporary measures put in place provided an opportunity for other factions of our society to capitalise in a way that is unethical. We have seen this in the USA following their response to the 911 attacks.

Do not do nothing, do not stand idly by. You have the forum to use your voice. Speak up!