What’s worse than being in coronavirus lockdown for two months? Being in lockdown and deluded at the same time.
The case for the prosecution presents the assorted characters who turned up in Hyde Park, Glasgow Green and other spots to shout about the “fake pandemic” and demanding freedom from tyranny.
Personally, I was disappointed at the lack of tinfoil hats (stops “them” from reading your mind) but on the plus side there weren’t any assault rifles being brandished around like their American cousins.
We all know lockdown has knocked our world view. We’ve all had that feeling it’s surreal and dreamlike.
Experts say that’s understandable.
When faced with an anxious situation we think “how did I deal with this before?” Except there isn’t a “before” so a sense of unreality kicks in. Unless your “before” is that time the aliens kidnapped you, or the Deep State was intercepting your brainwaves via the microwave and “everyone knows” vaccinations are just to make the population docile.
https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/opinion/scottbegbie/scott-begbie-face-covering-and-crisps-just-dont/
That’s when you need to get together with like-minded people and big up the stable genius who is David Icke, point out evil Bill Gates is trying to usher in a New World Order and that coronavirus is being spread by the roll out of 5G. The 5G one is such a whacky conspiracy theory it makes the fake Apollo moon landing and Paul McCartney having died in 1966 seem plausible.
To be honest, I thought the protests were just a bit sad. That poor bloke who went viral with his “I am a free, I am not man, a number” sign. When you are excited about getting out the house, it’s easy to be a bit slapdash with your quote from The Prisoner.
I got the feeling for some of the folk who rolled up it was just to make a change from shouting at pigeons and trying to pick a fight with their reflection in a shop window.
https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/opinion/scottbegbie/scott-begbie-too-much-time-on-our-hands-and-money/
More to be pitied (and helped) than scolded (or oxtered off) by the cops. But there is a cautionary note to be sounded here. Some politicians have speculated these protests were being pushed by far right groups, the sort that look to exploit fear and uncertainty.
As always, the best response to extremism is to be level-headed and reasonable. Look at the facts around what you are being told, consider who is telling you. Don’t buy into the lies and conspiracies.
Right now, things are frustrating. But we will get our lives back, we will eventually return to normality and we will do it by being patient, sensible and calm – and not letting anyone tell us otherwise.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.