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The way that my country has, and is handling the coronavirus pandemic, has meant that their vision of the future of society has diverged from something that I w

The way that my country has, and is handling the coronavirus pandemic, has meant that their vision of the future of society has diverged from something that I wish to be a part of. It's not about my accomplishments, but whether I feel like I have a stake in this. I have no stake in it now. They want a future that I don't want. No social ties, no bonds, no community. No counter-culture. No culture. No high street. No shopkeepers. Amazon, Deliveroo, Uber, Facebook, Netflix. Skyrocketing wealth inequality. Printing, printing, printing, QE, home prices ten times the median wage. An elite, and an underclass. A society that interacts, in a regulated manner, through a screen. By _force_. Because it's "safer". De-risked. Comfortable. And their answer for me? Therapy. Anti-depressants. Coping strategies. Learn to love the screen. Embrace the new future. Not me. Your insults, your attempts at control, they bounce off me now. "I'm alright, Jack", as they say.

dddd4alll 6y ago
There's an old movie called They Live, starring wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper. It was supposed to be satire on consumer culture. Looking at it again, it's could be called forward time shifted documentary. Now that you've become "Red Pilled" as wrong thinker, you'll search out for more truths. Especially how the establishment elite class pushes propaganda and pits the lower classes against each other. When lower classes are fighting each other about racism, etc. then they don't have time to fight against oligarchy. How the establishment elite keeps getting richer every second.
paulryanrogers 6y ago
Is mask wearing, temporary social distancing, and vaccination asking too much from the individual to sustain the weakest and most vulnerable in society?
- esotericn 6y ago
  Not at all. Those are the most minor, trivial aspects of what has happened over the last year in the UK, and what continues to happen as we speak. How about we make a trade. I'll wear a mask in situations where others are concerned, take my vaccine, and you may distance from me as much as you'd like. You know, like I am and have been doing for eleven months now. In return - I want my life back. Let's reinstate the democratic process, let's make it legal for me to go for a walk without an excuse, run my own business without having goons lock the doors, you know, stuff like that. You keep your end of the bargain, I keep mine. Fair trade? Or is this the part whereby you call me names, shout at me, and expect me to respond in kind? I am choosing to do this, for you. It does not benefit me. Take it for granted at your own peril.
  - chillfox 6y ago
    Ah, the UK, It has been interesting to watch your "circus" from the other side of the planet. IMO, the UK handled Covid exceptionally poorly by repeatedly being afraid to act until it was too late. Here in Australia (Specifically the Northern Territory) we locked down hard early on while we had around 20 cases, I think it was for 2 months, after which no further lock downs have been required. Quarantine for travelers has prevented Covid getting in to the community. Basically due to how we have handled it life is pretty much the same as before Covid here, restaurants are open, the shopping mall is packed and the only thing we had to give up was 2 months and international holidays.
    - nickthemagicman 6y ago
      You have more chance of dying from car accidents than Covid if you're under 55 years old. By locking down hard on age groups who aren't vulnerable to the virus you're enabling the clown world that OP is referring to. Sure lock down the elderly that's fine but making national health policy based on one demographic is full on straight clown world stuff.
      - chillfox 6y ago
        COVID is not just about deaths, it also has a risk of lung/heart damage. Also, even if people don’t die or gain lung/heart damage they can still take up hospital capacity until there’s not enough capacity for the people who can survive with hospital care but won’t without. Anyway, my point is that the UK choose their current situation by being afraid to act back when small steps could have made a huge difference.
        nickthemagicman 6y ago
        Oh right and Covid toes? No no it doesn't. What is the percentage of people who have that type of reaction? Have you even looked at that? It's miniscule. It's argued not to be from Covid directly but by comorbidities and would happen with any illness. The news media blew it up out of proportion to scare you and millions of other people like you who have a poor grasp ofstatistics and risk... for money and it worked! Welcome to clown world. Honk honk!
- pdimitar 6y ago
  No, of course this is not asking too much, and my family has been doing it diligently ever since the regulations started. But I can't help but wonder if there wasn't another way, like making only that most vulnerable part of society go in lock-down -- and nobody else. Most of the elder people aren't exactly spending hours outside every day anyway (by my observations at least which can of course be wrong). And many of them don't have the physical energy to be active outside, so maybe making only them go in lock-down would have been the best outcome for everyone? Who knows. But in general the COVID pandemic has been handled extremely poorly almost everywhere. And businesses are closing down forever.
  - paulryanrogers 6y ago
    You might be surprised how many people have underlying conditions putting them at increased risk: obesity, poor sleep habits, immune system disorders. And we've yet to see the long term effects of this flavor of SARS for those who survive. Hindsight will be 20/20, so hopefully we can learn and prepare better next time. Thankfully it appears the vaccines will be effective if enough people get them for life to return to normal soon.
    - esotericn 6y ago
      "Next time", I and many others will simply refuse the lockdown strategy, and if it so happens that it's a virus that has high lethality across all age groups, loads of us are going to die before the evidence is clear and we start to voluntarily reduce interactions. "Just a few weeks to flatten the curve" was a once in a generational play. I did my bit, and so far I've been punished for it. I really hope for our sake it doesn't come down to this again, because this time it really will be a bloodbath, rather than a particularly bad year or two.
      - pdimitar 6y ago
        You are spot on. People around here are at the brink of rioting. The limitations are becoming too much for everyone. You are absolutely correct that there might not be "next time" even if that means humanity's doom.
cccc4alll 6y ago
Be careful, you'll be called wrong thinker and censored and deplatformed. There's an old movie called They Live, starring wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper. It's supposed to be satire on consumer culture, but looking at it now can be thought as time shifted documentary.
- esotericn 6y ago
  Amusingly, I actually rewatched this just last night. Brilliant movie. Are you sure you're not the one that's spying on the wrongthinkers? ;) Just kidding.

dddd4alll 6y ago

There's an old movie called They Live, starring wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper. It was supposed to be satire on consumer culture. Looking at it again, it's could be called forward time shifted documentary. Now that you've become "Red Pilled" as wrong thinker, you'll search out for more truths. Especially how the establishment elite class pushes propaganda and pits the lower classes against each other. When lower classes are fighting each other about racism, etc. then they don't have time to fight against oligarchy. How the establishment elite keeps getting richer every second.

paulryanrogers 6y ago

Is mask wearing, temporary social distancing, and vaccination asking too much from the individual to sustain the weakest and most vulnerable in society?

esotericn 6y ago
Not at all. Those are the most minor, trivial aspects of what has happened over the last year in the UK, and what continues to happen as we speak. How about we make a trade. I'll wear a mask in situations where others are concerned, take my vaccine, and you may distance from me as much as you'd like. You know, like I am and have been doing for eleven months now. In return - I want my life back. Let's reinstate the democratic process, let's make it legal for me to go for a walk without an excuse, run my own business without having goons lock the doors, you know, stuff like that. You keep your end of the bargain, I keep mine. Fair trade? Or is this the part whereby you call me names, shout at me, and expect me to respond in kind? I am choosing to do this, for you. It does not benefit me. Take it for granted at your own peril.
- chillfox 6y ago
  Ah, the UK, It has been interesting to watch your "circus" from the other side of the planet. IMO, the UK handled Covid exceptionally poorly by repeatedly being afraid to act until it was too late. Here in Australia (Specifically the Northern Territory) we locked down hard early on while we had around 20 cases, I think it was for 2 months, after which no further lock downs have been required. Quarantine for travelers has prevented Covid getting in to the community. Basically due to how we have handled it life is pretty much the same as before Covid here, restaurants are open, the shopping mall is packed and the only thing we had to give up was 2 months and international holidays.
  - nickthemagicman 6y ago
    You have more chance of dying from car accidents than Covid if you're under 55 years old. By locking down hard on age groups who aren't vulnerable to the virus you're enabling the clown world that OP is referring to. Sure lock down the elderly that's fine but making national health policy based on one demographic is full on straight clown world stuff.
    - chillfox 6y ago
      COVID is not just about deaths, it also has a risk of lung/heart damage. Also, even if people don’t die or gain lung/heart damage they can still take up hospital capacity until there’s not enough capacity for the people who can survive with hospital care but won’t without. Anyway, my point is that the UK choose their current situation by being afraid to act back when small steps could have made a huge difference.
      - nickthemagicman 6y ago
        Oh right and Covid toes? No no it doesn't. What is the percentage of people who have that type of reaction? Have you even looked at that? It's miniscule. It's argued not to be from Covid directly but by comorbidities and would happen with any illness. The news media blew it up out of proportion to scare you and millions of other people like you who have a poor grasp ofstatistics and risk... for money and it worked! Welcome to clown world. Honk honk!
pdimitar 6y ago
No, of course this is not asking too much, and my family has been doing it diligently ever since the regulations started. But I can't help but wonder if there wasn't another way, like making only that most vulnerable part of society go in lock-down -- and nobody else. Most of the elder people aren't exactly spending hours outside every day anyway (by my observations at least which can of course be wrong). And many of them don't have the physical energy to be active outside, so maybe making only them go in lock-down would have been the best outcome for everyone? Who knows. But in general the COVID pandemic has been handled extremely poorly almost everywhere. And businesses are closing down forever.
- paulryanrogers 6y ago
  You might be surprised how many people have underlying conditions putting them at increased risk: obesity, poor sleep habits, immune system disorders. And we've yet to see the long term effects of this flavor of SARS for those who survive. Hindsight will be 20/20, so hopefully we can learn and prepare better next time. Thankfully it appears the vaccines will be effective if enough people get them for life to return to normal soon.
  - esotericn 6y ago
    "Next time", I and many others will simply refuse the lockdown strategy, and if it so happens that it's a virus that has high lethality across all age groups, loads of us are going to die before the evidence is clear and we start to voluntarily reduce interactions. "Just a few weeks to flatten the curve" was a once in a generational play. I did my bit, and so far I've been punished for it. I really hope for our sake it doesn't come down to this again, because this time it really will be a bloodbath, rather than a particularly bad year or two.
    - pdimitar 6y ago
      You are spot on. People around here are at the brink of rioting. The limitations are becoming too much for everyone. You are absolutely correct that there might not be "next time" even if that means humanity's doom.

cccc4alll 6y ago

Be careful, you'll be called wrong thinker and censored and deplatformed. There's an old movie called They Live, starring wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper. It's supposed to be satire on consumer culture, but looking at it now can be thought as time shifted documentary.

esotericn 6y ago
Amusingly, I actually rewatched this just last night. Brilliant movie. Are you sure you're not the one that's spying on the wrongthinkers? ;) Just kidding.