Anti-lockdown protesters - selfish, ignorant, deluded and dangerous

Anti-lockdown protesters - selfish, ignorant, deluded and dangerous

By Ranting Panda, 25 July 2021

As Covid cases surge to record levels, thousands of people marched in cities across Australia to protest lockdowns, vaccinations, social distancing, and mask wearing. Some of the protests became violent, allegedly attacking police and a police horse. The protesters claimed that they were defending human rights and freedom of choice. You know, the choice to become infected by a deadly disease ... the choice to infect others with a deadly disease that threatens the entire world. These protesters have never before believed in freedom of choice. For instance, most of them oppose women having the freedom to chose what to do with their own bodies. Most of the protesters have not cared at all about the human rights and freedom of refugees and asylum seekers who have been locked down for more than eight years when they haven't committed any crimes. None of the anti-lockdown protesters have called for the release of these innocent people. None of the anti-lockdown protesters have protested against deaths in custody of Australia's indigenous population. They clearly don't care for the lives, freedoms or human rights of indigenous people. 

The protesters claim that the lockdowns and forced mask wearing are violations of their human rights. However, they've never concerned themselves when other people's human rights have been infringed. Typical of the selfishness of many conservatives, it isn't a problem until it affects them. Freedom of movement is a fundamental human right in Australia, but it has been legally restricted by lockdowns. This is one of the human rights that the protesters are upset about. However, the right to life is also a fundamental human right. At the moment, Covid is a danger that poses a direct threat to the health and wellbeing of all Australians. Therefore, the freedom of movement can be legally curbed in order to protect human life. The Queensland Human Rights Commission has published a fact sheet about the limitation of rights during Covid. Among other things, it states, 'Human rights can only be restricted to achieve an important and legitimate purpose. Protecting the lives and health of people during the COVID-19 pandemic is such a purpose'.  

In years gone by, many of these protesters argued that human rights were just political correctness gone mad. Conservative shock jocks stoked the bigotry and fear behind these claims. They declared human rights to be part of a neo-Marxist agenda to introduce socialism by stealth. After years of abusing humanitarians, these anti-lockdown nutters are suddenly portraying themselves as humanitarians, as defenders of the greater good. They reek of hypocrisy. In years past, they've accused human rights defenders of being do-gooder woke snowflakes. Yet who's a little snowflake? The anti-lockdown protesters have folded after only a few weeks of lockdowns, while asylum seekers have had to put up with being locked down or imprisoned for more than eight years. The anti-lockdown protesters are weak. 

The anti-lockdown protesters are only interested in themselves, not in the rights, health or safety of others. They are exceptionally selfish. They are deluded. In fact, they are anti-intellectual, opposing the advice of scientists and other experts in the fields of medicine, law, and human rights. They believe they are saving society through their anti-intellectual delusions, when they are the ones who are the biggest threat to it. 

They claim they have a right to their opinions. This they are correct about. Human rights includes freedom of belief and freedom of expression. However, it's one thing to have an opinion, it's entirely something else to believe those opinions are the same as scientific facts. They will claim that they are being criticised for questioning the science. This isn't true. They are being criticised for their lack of critical thinking. If they followed up their questioning by finding reliable sources of information on which they could then make informed decisions, then it would be acceptable. That would be critical thinking. However, their anti-intellectualism means that they eschew academic research and knowledge in favour of the lies, distortions, hyperbole and conspiracy theories of other anti-intellectuals. 

These protesters sincerely believe that they know more than the epidemiologists, virologists and other scientists. One of their particularly ridiculous beliefs is that Covid vaccines kill more people than the Covid virus. That's if they even believe the virus exists. Many treat it like it's a glorified cold. There is no convincing these people that they are wrong. They have been presented with scientific, peer-reviewed evidence, yet they'll believe the rubbish that spews forth from the mouths of conservative shock jocks and YouTubers. They believe memes over science. Their idea of critical thinking is actually just confirmation bias. They will hunt down some obscure, fringe-dweller who believes the same absurd nonsense as them and then claim that said nonsense is proven fact which cannot be disputed by science. They are exceptionally gullible.

Sir Isaac Newton stated, 'I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people'. Newton may as well have been talking about the anti-lockdown, anti-vaxxer, anti-intellectual, 'freedom fighting' fools.

Predictably, some of the protesters are conservative Christians who believe that vaccinations are tantamount to taking the 'mark of the beast', as articulated in the Bible. It would be funny if it weren't so serious. While there are political and religious leaders who align themselves with these fringe beliefs, there will be the easily-led who follow them to death and destruction. It isn't just a matter of these protesters having their opinions. These opinions are dangerous and will cost lives. We saw what happened in the United States when a 'leader', namely former President Donald Trump, treated the virus as a joke. His ignorance cost more than 400,000 lives because his followers lacked the critical thinking skills to challenge his clearly deranged opinions, even though scientists across the world warned of the danger of taking his statements seriously. The same people who defended Trump and accepted or denied the deaths of 400,000 people, now claim they're concerned with human rights ... so they can perpetuate the same actions that led to those deaths. 

It isn't helped by Australia's own prime minister who has not taken the virus seriously either, resulting in hundreds of people dying in aged care homes that he is responsible for. His failure to create dedicated quarantine facilities has caused the virus to spread because he demanded the state governments use hotels to quarantine international travellers. Hotels are not built to contain a pandemic. This has all been exacerbated by Morrison's failure to adequately manage the roll-out of vaccinations, while declaring 'it's not a race'.

The irony of these anti-lockdown protests, is that they are going to cause the lockdowns to continue because they have amplified the risk of the virus spreading. Additionally, refusing to be vaccinated or to wear masks will continue to expose the community to elevated threats of Covid. 

Many of these protesters claim they are pro-life and value human rights, but they only care for themselves and have no concern for the lives of others.