Made the mistake of going to Tesco this afternoon. Normally I go early in the morning, and certaonly will stick with that from now on. It's not so much the shop, though it is busier which means they have a doorman enforcing a social distancing queue. Something that's promptly ignored by everyone when they step inside.
It was passing through the village to get to the shop that did my head in. It's a nice afternoon so, naturally, everybody wants to be outside. And so they are. Them and their kids, all over the fields, and the play areas which were closed off. The plastic tape has been torn down from around the climbing frames and the swings and replaces with the children of people that clearly think they know better.
The tragedy of it is that these people are probably fine, but that isn't how this works. The majority of us will be ok and safe to interact with; it's just that no one knows for sure. You have to act as if everyone has the virus. We aren't testing people (still) so maintaining social distancing shouldn't be an imposition. In fact the only imposition is that I'm the muppet stepping aside for everyone. Some people say thanks, appreciated. But there's no give and take. Whole families are abroad, people are using the local sport amenities and, as I say, the play areas are wide open. People are picnicking, meeting and greeting. All the things one is meant to do on a nice Spring afternoon.
It's just we can't. This isn't about who tells us we shouldn't. In fact the people that ought to be aren't. That's why things have now, in my opinion, collapsed. Lockdown will be unenforceable now. This has an inertia of its own. No Jack is going to happily be put back in his box. Or, to put it another way, Johnson has well and truly fucked it.
This is a crisis wherein the government has been exposed for mendacity that will likely be obscure in the fog of aftermath thanks to a willing media. Heroes will quickly turn to enemies as the nurses and doctors, should respite occur, will be painted as stalinists or trots. The papers will attempt to shame them, much as it is currently doing with the teaching profession. Even the uncharacteristically measure (ie cautious) language of the moment isn't enough to disguise the fact. They will become agitators or "fallen heroes". People we may quickly find we cannot afford when the new austerity begins to bite.
By then Brexit will have resolved (sort of, not really). We will, as per the wishes of Johnson and his perfidious loonspud advisers, have crashed out. No deal, no deals. Our economy will suffer further hardship and brexit divisions will exacerbate the class struggle.
This is our future. The only ones that can change it are the working class. We know Johnson is an oafish bully that, along with Rees Mogg (who now currently seems to be straining to get out of his box again), look to profit from this. They have no plan but will sell us plastic populism and union jacks to wave ourselves off a cliff. Making hay while the poison sun shines.
We know they're shit. They know we knew they're shit. But nobody in the media will stand up and be counted. We're facing two enemies and weapons called facts these days don't seem to be sufficient.
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