Odinian Beta

Yesterday thousands of people joined anti-lockdown protests in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Unfortunately, some idiots decided to get violent, and didn’t help their case by allegedly attacking police horses.

While I oppose all mass gatherings during lockdowns and condemn the violence, why are people so surprised at these protests?

Out-of-touch

To me this shows how much the media and most politicians from both sides of politics are out-of-touch with normal people.

Yes, people are scared of COVID-19, not the least because the very same media and politicians have spent 18 months scaring the living hell out of them to help justify lockdowns, border closures and other government policies in response to the pandemic.

But what scares many people even more is how they are going to keep putting food on the table for them and their families.

And this is where the media in particular are so out-of-touch.

Unfortunately, no journalist – nor any politician, for that matter – will lose their jobs from lockdowns and border closures, nor will any of them have their pay reduced by so much as a cent as a result.

So the media can absurdly ask why NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian hasn’t put a “ring of steel” around Sydney – and even why she doesn’t have the military patrolling the streets – knowing full well they will suffer no adverse consequences from these actions.

Contrast this with the battlers on struggle street, who are less likely to be able to work from home and so see their income fall substantially or even disappear during lockdowns.

Or consider small businesses, many of which struggle to make ends meet at the best of times. Even with takeaway, click-and-collect or delivery, most are suffering substantial reductions in their revenue, making their situation even more precarious.

And given that many small business owners finance their business using loans secured by their home equity, if things don’t improve they could potentially not only go out of business but also lose their homes.

All of this is obvious to anyone who has doesn’t have a cushy media or government job.

A disaster

Yet the total incompetence displayed by governments at all levels in trying to get us out of this nightmare has made Australia’s situation much worse.

Needless to say, the vaccination rollout has been a disaster. Combined with the conflicting advice over the safety – or lack thereof – of the AstraZeneca vaccine and the ever-changing communication from government over what it will take to end this nightmare, many people have had a gutful.

With much of Australia locking down while the rest of the world gets on with life, many are wondering whether we will ever get out of this nightmare.

So who can blame them if they conclude that it is better to just get on with life and learn to live with the virus rather than being continually locked in their homes and facing the loss of their jobs, businesses and future?

Double-standards

To top it all off, many people including myself watched with incredulity as governments approved the absurd BLM protests in Australia a year ago. This was despite BLM having absolutely nothing to do with Australia, not being relevant here, and it being an incredibly divisive, racist and anti-capitalist organisation to boot.

Why are BLM protests ok but other protests not ok?

And if BLM protests aren’t super-spreader events – as many in the media incredibly argued at the time – then isn’t it rational to conclude that other protests also aren’t super-spreader events?

Do journalists think ordinary people are stupid and don’t see the double-standards at play here?

In reality, ordinary people aren’t fools and react accordingly. This is a major reason behind yesterday’s anti-lockdown protests.

Ultimately, there are going to be more protests until lockdowns are no more and we get back to normality.

So the solution to the ongoing pandemic nightmare is for governments at all levels to devote every waking hour and spare no expense in getting all Australians vaccinated as soon as possible.