In years to come, it will likely be as difficult to find people open about their contemporary support for excessive lockdown measures—and even admit to their vulgar attacks on even the most moderate of sceptics—as it is now to find honest supporters of the war in Iraq.
Already, just half a decade on from the imposition of national shutdowns, establishment newspapers and broadcasters are pointing to the terrible damage—a non-definitive list of which can be found here—done by the very policies that at the time their scare stories helped to enforce.
A much wider rewriting of history should be expected, although internet-based and—more reliably—physical newspaper archives do exist for those bothered about consistency.
One of the main takeaways from the lockdown era remains the use by state officials of fear to achieve greater control. Behavioural scientists employed by the UK government, for example, encouraged broadcasters to ‘nudge’ their viewers to support policies that were against their—and their loved ones’—interests.
Author and renowned campaigner against government ‘nudging’ Laura Dodsworth explains that while “in a democracy, the government enacts the will of the people,”
These days, nudging is used by the government and its influencers to change the will of the people from the top-down.
Importantly, this device is not exclusive to the enforcement of lockdown policies.
In fact, you don’t have to imagine it being used elsewhere, such as in relation to climate and the road to net zero, because this is already taking place—and has been for quite some time.
