Jkvenjd wktuhnb, dfuidsoe refcvdsff hbcer uyereu dfohfd iuhjcdjfsj. No, the previous sentence is not a misprint, it is a condensed and eloquent summary of government practice regarding the current SARS-CoV-2 crisis, quite possibly in Welsh. Do you have evidence that the disease is spreading early in the outbreak? Permit unregulated immigration and international movement without any adequate health checks or quarantine. Then discharge COVID-19 patients from a supervised and barrier nursing hospital environment, to a less regulated nursing home or indeed the community. Implement draconian social distancing rules destroying the national economy. Potentially leave thousands to die due to medical resources being urgently redirected to a non-existent pandemic. Cases now dropping off toward zero? Implement mandatory face masks, tighten lock-down rules, increase fines and roll out thugs disguised in police uniform or high-vis jackets to quell any dissent. Ensure that any resistance is crushed beneath the jack boot of unrelenting peer pressure. You could not sow more confusion, despair, fear or insecurity if you tried. This is not incompetence, this is deliberate malevolence.
I’m not going to cover the extensive evidence proving the above paragraph in this article. Like Brexit, both sides of the argument have now been endlessly promoted, debated and regurgitated. The battle lines drawn, beliefs violently polarised. The country is now very clearly split in two, between those that have drunk at the sickly sweet fountain of kool-aid propaganda, and those who have read, researched, and spent hours seriously considering the implications of history, science and their personal choices. Ultimately, the COVID-19 narrative is about one issue and one issue only. Who has control over your body, your behaviour, your mind? Is it you, as a sentient individual or is it a bunch of nameless, faceless individuals that may punish you for having seven people in your house? The latest tranche of government legislation makes this very clear, breach the COVID guidelines and you are to be considered a risk to national security. The UK, like many nations such as Australia, has now gone full Stasi.
I find it both ironic and deeply troubling at the same time that an ethical narrative which has been drummed into generations of children, teenagers, university students and indeed adults, is now so clearly unimportant and indeed, worthless. I am talking here about “A woman’s right to choose”. This appears to be a totally legitimate argument when it comes to a multi-billion dollar industry aborting the defenceless foetus, but is null and void when it comes to wearing a mask, taking a vaccine or indeed choosing the appropriate number of individuals invited to supper. What is more irritating (apart from the traditional hypocrisy of the Left who are forever rabbiting on about “Rights”), is there does not seem to be anywhere near a sufficiently strong grass-roots movement to redress the balance or indeed, push back. Unlike the vociferous and well funded pro-abortion lobby. It seems that like Black Lives Matter, some rights are far more important – and less transferable – than others.
It would therefore be rather prissy of me not to come out in support of Piers Corbyn, the 73 year old “COVID conspiracy theorist” (Thank you, Daily Mail – another reason not to read your dross), who has been arrested and fined £10,000 for daring to be a lightning conductor at an anti-lockdown rally. When it comes to agenda, Piers Corbyn has been a persistent thorn in the flesh of the establishment, eviscerating the holy grail of climate change amongst other things, so it emerges as no surprise that this latest act of defiance has been met so robustly. His treatment at the hands of the police, as well as some of the other protesters, should be a red warning flag to anyone who thinks the traditional British right to peaceful protest is still acknowledged or respected. Despite prior approval from police regarding the protest, there seems to have been a special “Snatch” unit directed from elsewhere in the political machine to facilitate his arrest, a classic Stasi tactic. Give permission at the lower, local level, but send in the secret police to do the dirty work at 5:00 am.
So I want to get back onto the most important detail here, personal choice. I can count on the fingers of one hand those in my social circle who have been scared witless by all of this and unquestioningly follow the rules. By far the majority of my friends and indeed relatives, think all of this sets a very dangerous precedent and trust our current democratic government, if that is not too generous a term, as far as they could throw a vintage 1950’s ventilator. We all agree on one thing, and that is it should be down to the individual as to what level of risk they are willing to tolerate, and the proportionate response would be to protect our elderly and those with pre-existing conditions. That approach would of course, eliminate the ability to facilitate the plethora of social change that is coming beneath the cloak of “The virus”. Everything from destroying the high street and small businesses, increased environmental controls, a cashless society, mandatory vaccination and the introduction of universal basic income – all rest upon the laurels of SARS-CoV-2. Without such a driver, the many pieces of legislation and indeed policy that will be implemented in the very near future, would be impossible without public support. A bit like a rerun of 9/11 on a grander scale then.
As with Brexit and President Trump, if you think these issues are divisive, consider the depth to which COVID-19 will affect us all. We are being encouraged to report our neighbour for social distancing infractions, something, once again, straight out of the Stasi play-book. Listening to the radio, I hear a sheep bleating that if I don’t wear a mask “I am not a decent human being”. I suppose I should just wear one, trigger my COPD, asthma or possibly hypoxia or a heart attack and shuffle off this mortal coil as a result. That would be one less gammon to worry about, one less pension to pay, one less Brexiteer, one less burden on the environment, one more fatherless family. Forget about individual rights, but I strongly suspect that the ruminant mammal concerned would be the first to bitterly complain if the tables were turned. We are heading for unprecedented social conflict and unrest, for a society cannot remain cohesive when such polarised views are held simultaneously, especially by approximately half the respective population.
So we will undoubtedly roll into a second wave, be it down to a genuine increase in infections, or a confected pastiche of statistical anomaly. It will be interesting to see what the effect the annual flu vaccination will have on the figures, as there have been major suspicions that a prior vaccination trial may have increased the number of COVID fatalities in certain circumstances. With the potential of further lock-downs, the rule of six, ridiculous as it appears now, may appear generous as we move into the autumn and winter flue season. Why the number six was chosen, I will let others decide if this has any major significance. For those who practice Numerology, it is the motherhood/fatherhood number. It is all about sacrifice, healing, protecting, and teaching others. Never forget, it is not about what you believe, it is all about what they believe. Which is why it is so difficult for us to get our head around how twisted some people actually are.
My daughter is now off work, having just returned from an extended furlough. Exhibiting a sore throat and a cough, her employer immediately sent her home upon arrival. On trying to obtain a COVID-19 test kit, she was informed that due to demand, there were none available in our area and they don’t know when there will be any more. In fact, according to LBC, there are no tests available in Bolton, Salford, Bradford, Blackburn and Darwen, Oldham, Preston, Pendle, Rochdale, Tameside and Manchester. So it is not just us then. We have little choice but to see what happens over the next week. I have no reason to believe anything other than that my daughter will soon recover to be her usual, generous, self. I should know. She has already freely given me her cold.
© Rookwood 2020
