Dr Kristopher Lovell

Hundreds of thousands losing their jobs. Cinema, pubs, football clubs, night clubs, music venues shutting down. A culture and way of life ebbing away. Millions of people losing out. Art dying. Is it worth it? Is it worth losing so much to save so few, many of whom did not have long left anyway? The oppression of the lockdown is not just the restrictions but the fact that you can’t question them . In private many, many think it’s gone too far but to say that, or even just to ask is it worth it, is to incur wrath and condemnation. People who happily poison the air with diesel fumes from their SUVs or consume, consume, consume any manner of things that kill the planet, shout down on those who wonder if the cure is worse than the disease. They call us callous or uncaring, blind to their own failings and the millions of deaths from other things. The result is we shut up and follow the rules or bend them quietly. We feel sorry for those who die but not those who sanctimoniously refuse to consider there might be other ways of approaching things. If you want to know what people think about the lockdown look not just to those who shout loudly about what must be done, listen to the whispers of a quiet majority who are seething at what is being done to our communities and our futures.