I was one of few people during the lockdowns that strongly opposed them from the very beginning, because I saw them as both an unprecedented violation of fundamental freedoms and a threat to the economy. I said that while Covid-19 was dangerous, the data indicated it was mostly elderly people who were at risk and so it made no sense to shut down the nation as a whole. I also felt that the lockdowns would do more harm than good because of the psychological effect of forcing people to stay in their homes 24/7. I experienced a lot of vitriol for these positions, but gradually people have been coming over to this side. I want to know what others think of the lockdowns now that they are in the past.
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Hindsight is 20/20
Sometimes foresight is as well.
No, you weren’t. I would guess that a large number of people may have been against them but they were forced to keep quiet.
Really? You said that? I recall many people were saying that.
You really are one of a kind.
No you didn’t. You aren’t Joe Rogan.
I think this is a stupid thread and we’ve already beaten this topic to death.
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I said that I hoped we could have a more productive conversation about another topic in the future. It seems your personality makes that impossible. At this point in life, I do not believe people like you are worth conversing with, so I won’t waste my time. Continue biting at the ankles of others.
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We will never know if locking down or not locking down was better or worse for the country. If this situation arises again we can only take what we learned and make educated decisions on how to proceed.
What are you hoping to get out of this thread? All this discussion will do is put opinion against opinion. We don’t have a case we can use to oppose what was done prior.
I was for it as a matter of choice for the people that would need to sequester themselves, like I did.
Wasn’t crazy about the politicization of it at all.
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I was in the same boat as you
lockdowns and working from home bullshit never should have happened
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Exactly my point. We talked about this at the time.
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Try using the search function. We even had posters in other countries posting about it.
We will never know if locking down or not locking down was better or worse for the country.
Just compare death rates from Florida and other states that didn’t go into lockdown to the nearby states that did. The death rates are on par or the non-lockdown states had lower death rates. Look at these two articles.
COVID-19 lockdowns by country - Wikipedia
What are you hoping to get out of this thread?
My hope wasn’t to start a debate, so if that’s where this thread is going then I won’t push it further. I just wanted to see if people’s opinions have changed since the lockdowns ended.
Good.
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I shared the same sentiments in the OP. What Covid really exposed for me was how far from individualism we have moved, favoring strong govt oversight and even direct involvement in elimination of personal decision for “greater good”.
As a principle, I didn’t understand why businesses had to shut down or why people had to socially distance via legal mandate.
If somebody doesn’t want to be exposed to a virus then they can stay home. Problem solved. No need for a misery loves company scenario. If I want to risk it for a beer with buddies that’s my business.
The fact this pov was not the prevailing thought pattern genuinely blew my mind.
Nevermind the forefathers, imagine going back in time 25 years or less and telling someone that one day the govt would disallow them to stand within 6 feet of another in public, would mandate wearing masks, and would force businesses to close regardless of the will of the owner and patrons and everybody would just take it.
It was fucking weird.
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Only issue I saw with this is if low numbers of random at-risk people told their bosses they wanted to stay home, they might’ve just lost their jobs. It becoming the “norm” might’ve given the ones who needed to stay home more leeway to do so, that they may not have had before.
Except for home depot and lowes…but any mom and pop shop was shutdown and fined
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It was a worldview-breaking moment for me as well. I had to rethink everything I assumed about American culture.
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That could vaguely be seen down the road, when even many conservatives declared there needed to be federal intervention in New Orleans when Katrina stuck. I see Katrina as one of the pivot points in the history of America that influenced our value system.
At the beginning of lockdown (day one to be exact), I did some quick research and confirmed that the 6 feet distancing thing was false (studies show it’s 20 or more, and eventually everyone gets it anyway) and suggested it was chosen as part of “security theatre.”
Funny thing was, I lost a couple of thousand Twitter followers and faced the rage of the masses for… doing some elementary research. Recently, the powers that be admitted that 6 feet was arbitrarily chosen with no science backing. Oddly, I didn’t get my Twitter followers back. 
Anyone remember all the little stickers on the floor, the signs, etc. that businesses were required to purchase to enforce the distancing thing? Small example, of course.
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Imagine having a draft. Imagine internment camps for those who aren’t the right Americans. Imagine government surveillance and the Patriot Act. Imagine Iran-Contra and allowing drugs to enter the inner cities. Imagine the wife of a NYC mayor being unable to account for almost a billion dollars the mental health program she was in charge of received in funding, and no one has been held accountable. Imagine sanctuary cities. Imagine US troops protecting poppy fields in Afghanistan.
I don’t think it’s surprising we accepted lockdowns when we’ve taken shit from the government for almost as long as it has existed.
Sounds like a decision for “them” to make, then. I still don’t see removing choice as the option.