"Natural disasters are like weddings, they bring out the best and worst in people."
The coronavirus lockdown of 2020 was an interesting study into how people behave when disaster strikes. Here are a few observations I made during that time.
Women who bragged on Facebook about how "strong and independent" they are suddenly went very quiet.
Many people who previously labelled me a "loser" for not owning my own house and car. Got horribly exposed for not being able to survive more than a couple of weeks without a regular income.
Many people who'd previously advised me to "find a good woman and settle down" found out how compatible with their partners they actually were during hard times.
3 women who previously payed me little attention suddenly popped up on Facebook messenger wanting to chat. I made my excuses and ignored them.
Many friendships are superficial. We met in the pub at weekend and watched football. Take that away and we had few things in common. This inspired me to join meetup and expand my social circle when lockdown ended.
Some people did great things. Such as volunteering to take food to the elderly. Some people did terrible things such as pushing the elderly out the way during the panic buying spree.
Boycotts that never happened. Social media was full of people claiming they were never buying anything made in china again. Shops that wouldn't take cash or vastly inflated prices during panic buying season. When lockdown ended and life went back to normal this got completely forgotten about.
Most people are unprepared for next time. What percentage of people have a months supply of food and toilet paper at home. Answer: Not many.
Lockdown was the perfect opportunity to get fit and cut down on alcohol, many failed. The "I don't have time" excuse wasn't there anymore. I was shocked at the number of people who piled on the pounds and drank endless amounts of alcohol sitting in home. I did the exact opposite.
Protesting doesn't work. No government ever changed it's policy because of people getting angry in the street.
Right wing popularist governments are terrible for dealing with pandemics. USA and Brazil had high death rates (and no I'm not a left winger).
The political divide in society is getting worse. We had the "don't lockdown and let all the old/sick die" at one end of the scale and the "we should keep locking down forever" at the other. With few rational suggestions in-between.
People who couldn't cope with the gym being closed. The internet is full of information on how to get fit and strong at home. Examples include minus the gym on YouTube and the excellent book convict conditioning. Instead a lot of people were constantly complaining on social media instead of dealing with the situation. Ironically many of these people were from the manosphere who brand themselves as "Alpha Males". Some of these people actually believe "the government closed the gyms to make them fat so they could control them". Well it didn't work with me.
Good times create weak men. Western civilization has lived through the easiest time in human history. Free of wars pandemics, national service and 60 hour working weeks down the coal mine. People couldn't cope with even the most minor inconvenience such as wearing a face mask at the supermarket. The "I'll sit back, light a cigar and watch while civilization burns" crowd got exposed for this.
We are not heading towards an authoritian society. Many people who broke lockdown rules got let off with just a warning. Small pathetic fines were often reduced on appeal or not paid at all. Even the police openly admitted they didn't have the resources to enforce the rules. Hardly the behaviour of a "police state" that so many people claim.
Many people turned to coping mechanisms. Endless speculation about if the virus was man made. It makes no difference to most peoples personal lives even if it was true. People have a phycological need to assign blame.
Conspiracy theories. (This deserves an entire website of it's own). All claim to know "the truth" but completely incapable of coming up with a consistent story between them. The virus is a biological weapon but also no worse than the flu. Many posting theories on social media completely contradicting what they were posting 3 months earlier.
Anti-Vaxxers. There's a world of difference between rejecting the vaccine, making your point and accepting the consequences. Then there's the people who are obsessed with it, every single social media post for month after month. When you have posted against the vaccine 20 times, what are you trying to achieve with your 21st post. I ended up unfollowing numerous friends and people who I previously liked on social media. I'm triple vaccinated and have zero regrets.
We are in big trouble if a more serious pandemic hits. A large section of the population will dismiss it as a hoax or claim they can cure it with some random cheap chemical.
