Ring the Changes

Have you forgotten this?

It’s getting harder to remember just how weird things have become. The virus hasn’t grown exponentially, but the derangement has.

A “covid-safe” concert in Ireland

And who can forget the medical dance troupes?

Instructions for “safe” elevator use in the UK - face the corners or you’ll catch the Rona.

Tesco in the UK introduced some bizarre “protective” screening

“Protecting” children in Vietnam

Schools have become an absolute freakshow

I don’t think this is genuine - but it’s funny anyway - and, to be fair, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if it were genuine

The commissioned portrait to recognise years of dedicated service

There are thousands, and thousands, of similar examples across the world. They are all examples of a seismic shift in our attitudes and behaviours in response to a not-so-deadly virus. It’s worth taking a moment or two to reflect on the scale and the speed of these changes - and how normalised they have become.

As profound and damaging as these changes are, there are many others we need to be concerned about too

• lockdowns were introduced to slow things down; the messaging changed to “lockdowns save lives” - a hypothesis I would suggest is now disproven

• the definition of what a vaccine is changed

• the definition of a pandemic was changed (some time before covid arrived, but it was a happy coincidence for the perpetually petrified)

• the scientific consensus on mask-wearing changed almost overnight; all of a sudden they became super-duper magic talismans of protective goodness

• the definition of what constitutes a medical case changed; instead of actually presenting with symptoms one only needed a positive test result to be declared to be a medically-significant case

• the methodology of reporting deaths changed so that deaths, for any reason, within 28 days of a positive test were listed as a covid death

• the reason we get vaccinated changed from being just about protecting oneself to being about protecting others

• the WHO changed their explanation of herd immunity to imply it can only be achieved through vaccination (I believe they changed it back - but still, it’s very indicative isn’t it?)

• we changed our approach to the treatment of sick people - we sent them home until they were really very sick indeed

• doctors in the UK changed their approach to seeing patients - some of them even had notices on their doors requesting sick people not to visit

• we changed our understanding that it is the role of an adult to protect children - the push for their vaccination has primarily been about providing protection for others, not for themselves

• we changed our focus from looking at people who were actually ill to looking at people who were defined as a case. Many of these “cases” were people with no symptoms and who never went on to develop symptoms at all

• we changed our laws so that new laws could be passed without proper parliamentary scrutiny

• we changed what it means to be “anti-vaxx” - previously reserved for those who are against all vaccinations. If you don’t like the covid vaccines - you’re anti-vaxx now, no matter how many other vaccinations you’ve had or support. Even more worryingly online dictionaries are changing the meaning to also include those who are against vaccine mandates as an anti-vaxxer

• the scientific consensus on the significance of asymptomatic transmission for the spread of respiratory viruses is something else that changed almost overnight. Some published work suggested 75% of cases arose through asymptomatic transmission (gotta love that “science” stuff eh?)

• we changed our approach to freedom of speech and freedom of discourse so that only the officially-approved version of the “truth” is allowed on BigTech platforms

• the definition of what it means to be fully-vaccinated (whatever that actually means) has changed; you can now only be fully-vaccinated if you’d had your booster

• we have changed the basis on which we think of people - you are now guilty until proven innocent - you are assumed to be infected unless you can prove otherwise by some test or other spurious “evidence” such as a Vaxxport

• we changed our whole focus to covid - it became the only game in Medical Metropolis. Only deaths from covid were newsworthy, or tragic

There are many others - if you have suggestions for others, please leave a comment and I’ll add them in.

Look at all the things that have changed - I’m sure you all have your own list. The question is whether these changes are justified? Are they proportionate to the threat we faced? Are they still proportionate to the threat we currently face nearly 2 years in?

Now ask yourself about other important health issues. As someone who struggles with male-pattern blobbiness, I am only too well-aware of the health risks associated with more love handles than the six-armed whore of Eroticon VI can cope with. Not that I’m advocating for this at all, but why haven’t governments been as aggressive and totalitarian in promoting personal health if they’re really interested in saving lives?

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