The 3-step, COVID-propaganda detox plan
For 16 months, the British people have been pounded with a multi-faceted Government communication campaign to imprint on our minds the dominant COVID-19 narrative and gain our compliance with the associated restrictions. The operation has been hugely successful. The majority of the general population believe that an extremely dangerous virus has been unleashed upon the world and that total carnage has only been averted by lockdowns and other unprecedented infringements of our basic human rights. Despite the current danger posed by the SARS-COV-2 virus being low, all the high-risk groups having been offered vaccination, and the accumulating evidence that lockdowns and masks do more harm than good, many continue to lead restricted, fear-laden lives. How can we enable more people to break free from their emotional shackles and return to normality? My hope is that the 3-step COVID-propaganda detox plan described in this blogpost may be of help to some people.
It will not be an easy task. Following the expert guidance of behavioural scientists and psychologists on the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (SPI-B), a subgroup of SAGE, the Government’s communications strategy has deployed fear inflation, shaming and scapegoating to win minds and maximise compliance. Ably assisted by all the mainstream media outlets, since the start of 2020 the Government’s communication campaign has been relentless. Every day the TV, radio, social media and newspapers – with their news reports, advertisements and public information announcements – deliver scary statistics and images. Meanwhile, experts offering alternative, more balanced narratives, are largely excluded. Unsurprisingly, this relentless Government propaganda has resulted in many people grossly overestimating the risk to life posed by the SARS-COV-2 virus. Even now, as we approach Step 4 of the ‘roadmap’ to re-open the country, the majority of the population remain anxious about ending the requirements for social distancing rules and mandatory masks.
As things stand, we all continue to lead restricted lives, imprisoned by a joy-killing combination of fear, shame, and the threat of disapproval from peers. Clearly, there are some who appear intent, or resigned, to live this ‘new normal’, dutifully following the state’s diktats regarding what you can or can’t do. However, many of us will – to various degrees – feel unhappy, or ambivalent, about these ongoing impositions and will wish to regain human connection and the quality of life they experienced prior to the pandemic. It is this latter group who may wish to consider the following plan.
