At my last job before I went full freelance, it really became an abusive relationship. The first project for the nonprofit for which I was working was almost killed the day that we were supposed to go into production and it was only saved because the money had already been spent. After my first supervisor was fired, everything went even further downhill. A colleague and friend came up with a brilliant idea for a series of videos about criminal justice reform that I spent months developing from the bottom up. I was told by the people holding the purse stings that they loved the idea--but, just do these interviews first--just do these infographics first. Basically, I was strung along for a year with the false assurance that I would get to work on something meaningful.
That's what the entire country is experiencing with the lockdowns.
With any relationship--romantic, business, or government--there have to be parameters. There has to be a line drawn in the sand that, if crossed, tells you that you're being fucked.
Even if you think that the lockdowns were entirely good, necessary, and practical, you should still be on the side of demanding a criteria for ending those restrictions lest the government kick the can down the road forever.
If, at the beginning of the pandemic, starting with fifteen days to flatten the curve, which became a month, which became three months, which became a year, which became even if you're vaccinated you still haven't earned your liberty back isn't a sign that we're lemmings, I don't get you.
If we started with, "We're locking down until every person with an IFR over 4% is vaccinated." which is a mark we've already surpassed--I'm vaccinated and my IFR is under 1%--and the state were to continue the lockdowns after that point, we'd know that it's time to storm the Capitol and start slitting throats because the intentions would have become abundantly clear. Namely, the restrictions were never about our safety; they were always about control over the people.
If we, as a civilization, are ever going to agree to something like this in the future, at the very least we need to demand that a line be drawn. If we reach that line and the state won't relinquish its power, we'll know that it's time for a revolution.