Scary propaganda has proved so successful that most Britons are now too frightened to leave their homes, either with or without a lockdown, an academic has warned.
Sir David Spiegelhalter, a statistician at the University of Cambridge, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme:
Many people are definitely overanxious about their chance of both getting the virus and the harm they might come to if they do get it.
He added that the British governments message for everyone to stay at home unless strictly necessary had been slightly too successful and that perhaps there should now be a campaign to encourage people to get out and start living again.
As Lockdown Sceptics reports, this problem has been confirmed by polling.
[The Government] has whipped up the public into such a frenzy of blanket-clutching fear, aided and abetted by the hysteria of the mainstream media, that a significant percentage may not dare venture outside for non-essentials. According to polling by Ipsos Mori, more than 60 per cent of people would feel uncomfortable going to bars and restaurants or using public transport after the lockdown is over, more than 40% would be reluctant to go shopping or send their children to school and more than 30% are worried about going to work or meeting friends.
Britains lockdown, it is becoming increasingly clear, is now driven more by political calculations than scientific ones. Boris Johnson and his nervous administration, crippled by their fear of opinion polls, lack the confidence to announce an end to the lockdown until they feel the public is ready for it.
This is the availability cascade of which economics professors Donald Siegel and Robert M Sauer warned in March, in one of the first major articles criticising British and U.S. lockdown policy.
Writing in the Jerusalem Post, they described lockdown as amisguided social experiment designed by unelected public health officials and driven by the dangerous interplay between media and policy makers.
The phrase availability cascade was invented by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman to describe the vicious circle whereby public hysteria and craven politicians feed on one another with disastrous results.
According to Siegels and Sauers article:
An availability cascade is a self-sustaining chain of events which may start from media reports of a relatively minor event and lead up to public panic and large-scale government action. On some occasions, a media story about a risk catches the attention of a segment of the public, which becomes aroused and worried. This emotional reaction becomes a story in itself, prompting additional coverage in the media, which in turn produces greater concern and involvement.
The cycle is sometimes sped along deliberately by availability entrepreneurs, individuals or organisations who work to ensure a continuous flow of worrying news. The danger is increasingly exaggerated as the media compete for attention-grabbing headlines.
Scientists and others who try to dampen the increasing fear and revulsion attract little attention, most of it hostile: Anyone who claims that the danger is overstated is suspected of association with a heinous cover-up.
Britains mainstream media cheer-led by demagogues such as Piers Morgan has often appeared worryingly eager to play up the horrors of the pandemic, while doing little to raise concern about the economic and social damage of keeping an entire nation under virtual house arrest for weeks on end.
This is now beginning to change. The mainstream media, mindful of the massive damage being done to the economy and its own balance sheets by the hysteria it has itself generated, is working in coordination with the government to try to shift the public mood.
Here, for example, is the Sunquoting three former Chancellors, all warning that the UK economy may never fully recover from coronavirus crisis.
It begins:
Britains economy might never recover fully from the coronavirus crisis and Britain will not enjoy a V-shaped bounce, three former Chancellors have warned.
LaboursAlistair Darling, who was Chancellor during the last recession, said whether the economy recovers at all will depend on decisions the Government takes in the next three to four weeks.
And:
His predecessor Norman Lamont warned of mass job losses, with companies finding they can operate with fewer people, while some businesses will disappear completely.
One frustrated British businessman, Simon Dolan, is now seeking to challenge the governments measures in a judicial review, which he hopes to support with a crowdfund. It is already almost halfway to reaching its 30,000 target.
Among his reasons for launching the challenge:
Small businesses continue to be badly affected. Businesses have been forced to shut, furlough staff and make cuts just in an attempt to survive.
Lockdown is also taking a huge toll on mental health and family life. Calls to the National Domestic Abuse helpline are up 49%. Referrals for cancer tests have fallen by 76%. It is estimated that 18,000 more people with cancer could die because of the disruption.
We are depriving children of a proper education and instead teaching them to hide away from uncertainty rather than to confront it.
It is now universally accepted that the lockdown will cause enormous long-term damage to both the economy and the general health of the population. No-one will be untouched by its effects, but the poorest in society will be by far the most affected.
His concerns are echoed by an op-ed in the Daily Telegraph another MSM imprint now trying to dial down the hysteria and inject a note of pragmatism into public debate by Scott Atlas of Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution.
Atlas offers five facts that show lockdown is a mistake. They are:
But articles like this appeal to rationalism and not to the raw emotion now governing large swathes of Britain. The lockdown, it seems likely, still has some way to go.
Continued here:
Delingpole: Most Britons Still Too Scared to Leave Home - Breitbart
- Rationalism | Psychology Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia - December 12th, 2016 [December 12th, 2016]
- rationalism facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com ... - December 22nd, 2016 [December 22nd, 2016]
- Rationalism in Philosophy - January 3rd, 2017 [January 3rd, 2017]
- Rationalism vs. Empiricism Essay - 797 Words - StudyMode - January 5th, 2017 [January 5th, 2017]
- Logic: Rationalism vs. Empiricism - Theology - January 5th, 2017 [January 5th, 2017]
- Rationalism verses Empiricism - dummies.com - January 5th, 2017 [January 5th, 2017]
- Taking Liberties With Workable Liberty - Big Think - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Go for introspection, Left parties told - The Hindu - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Look back in anger, unplugged | Asia Times - Asia Times - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Food by the Book: Philosophy, love, steak - Muskogee Daily Phoenix - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Hypocrisy isn't the problem. Nihilism is - Los Angeles Times - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- The separation of church and state - Helena Independent Record - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Don't become a pawn in the NHL's Olympic Games - Fear the Fin - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Australia's new political divide: 'globalists' versus 'patriots' - The Sydney Morning Herald - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Laura Akin: Overwhelming majority of the Founding Fathers were Christian - Modesto Bee - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Hecker reemerges with more text-based synthesis on two new releases on Editions Mego - Tiny Mix Tapes - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Fragile Lives: A Heart Surgeon's Stories of Life and Death on the ... - The Times (subscription) - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Hanson denies Liberal preference hypocrisy - SBS - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- When religion rules social life - Daily News & Analysis - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Will science go rogue against Donald Trump? - Socialist Worker Online - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Valentine's Day and Romance - Commonweal (blog) - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Barnaby Joyce condemns WA Liberals' preference deal with One Nation - Camden Haven Courier - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Barnaby Joyce condemns WA Liberals' preference deal with One Nation - Warrnambool Standard - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- Barnaby Joyce condemns WA Liberals' preference deal with One Nation - The Northern Daily Leader - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Barnaby Joyce condemns WA Liberals' preference deal with One Nation - Western Advocate - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Canadian architecture firm discusses design in the Midwest - Iowa State Daily - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Why sports industry sides with transgenders - WND.com - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Arrival - slantmagazine - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Americans 'plain dumb' - Hastings Tribune - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- 'Modi combines Savarkar and neoliberalism': Pankaj Mishra on why this is the age of anger - Scroll.in - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- Biography examines political motivations of Montaigne - UChicago News - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Barnaby Joyce condemns WA Liberals' preference deal with One Nation - Daily Advertiser - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Will the Science Community Go Rogue Against Donald Trump? - Truth-Out - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- The Red94 Podcast: On the Boogie Cousins trade - Red94 - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- Refugee resettlement study bill passes North Dakota House, Democrat calls it mean-spirited - Bismarck Tribune - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- Refugee resettlement study bill passes ND House, Democrat calls it ... - Jamestown Sun - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- P. Sridhar - The Hindu - The Hindu - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- The Magical Rationalism of Elon Musk and the Prophets of AI - New York Magazine - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- There is an Is - Patheos (blog) - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Letter to the Editor: Banning Immigrants on the Basis of Faith Has Hudson Valley Roots - Patch.com - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- You Don't Have To Choose Between Alt-Right And Regressive Left - Huffington Post Canada - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Encountering Change: A Chaplain's Perspective - Patheos (blog) - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Freemasonry Catholics' Deadly Foe - Church Militant - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Modernism and Its Rages - City Journal - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- In Scorsese's adaptation of Endo's novel, a stark depiction of statism against religion - National Review - February 25th, 2017 [February 25th, 2017]
- Outcry over Dalai Lama threatens free speech | The Daily Cardinal - The Daily Cardinal - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- When a guitar and Sarangi took over Qalandar's shrine - The Express Tribune - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- Barnaby Joyce condemns WA Liberals' preference deal with One Nation - Whyalla News - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- Review: 'Target in the Night' is punchy, graceful, ambiguous - The Daily Herald - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- Meet the Group of Extreme Rationalists Bent on Cheating Death - Signature Reads - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- Barnaby Joyce condemns WA Liberals' preference deal with One Nation - Eyre Peninsula Tribune - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Architecture's Pritzker Prize lauds Spanish trio for 'a strong sense of place' - The Globe and Mail - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- The ideas election | The Indian Express - The Indian Express - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Serpents, owl men and demon dogs - BBC News - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Why America Can't Afford to Get Into a Trade War with China - The National Interest Online - March 4th, 2017 [March 4th, 2017]
- Reason, Creativity and Freedom: The Communalist Model - Truth-Out - March 4th, 2017 [March 4th, 2017]
- Pankaj Mishra's 'Age Of Anger' Is A Flawed But Fascinating Intellectual History - Swarajya - March 4th, 2017 [March 4th, 2017]
- Thomas Isaac budget: Split between populism and Marxist rationalism - Times of India - March 4th, 2017 [March 4th, 2017]
- Philharmonic program celebrates passion, youth - Albuquerque Journal - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- Interview with Deo Ssekitooleko Representative of Center for Inquiry International Uganda - Conatus News - March 7th, 2017 [March 7th, 2017]
- Is Democracy Dying Before Our Eyes In America? OpEd - Eurasia Review - March 7th, 2017 [March 7th, 2017]
- SBCC Presents 'A Flea in Her Ear' - Santa Barbara Independent - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]
- A French Surrealist's Eclectic Remembrances of His Cohort, Finally in English - Hyperallergic - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]
- Junk restrictive faith-based laws: Mumbai atheists - Daily News & Analysis - March 9th, 2017 [March 9th, 2017]
- How to Use Imagination to Grow Your Business - Business 2 Community - March 9th, 2017 [March 9th, 2017]
- Martyn Lawrence Bullard's Sumptuous Palm Springs Hideaway - Architectural Digest - March 9th, 2017 [March 9th, 2017]
- Saturday (novel) - Wikipedia - March 9th, 2017 [March 9th, 2017]
- Abortion Debate Poisoned By 'Pro-Choice' And 'Pro-Life' Labels - Huffington Post Canada - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Stand on Tradition - The Weekly Standard - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- The bewildered present-day world - The New Indian Express - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- I watched Alex Jones give his viewers health advice. Here's what I ... - Vox - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- How James Ramsey of RAAD Studio, Carlos Arnaiz of CAZA, and BalletCollective turned design into dance - The Architect's Newspaper - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Going overboard with cow protection - Kasmir Monitor - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Anti-Intellectualism Is Just As Revolutionary As Liberalismand Much More Dangerous - Slate Magazine - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Pakistani thought process - Daily Times - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- French president to the resistance: The world believes in you - Shareblue Media - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Sophisticated Man Is Stupid - American Spectator - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- COLUMN: The statistical fallacy - The Auburn Plainsman - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Modi governments greatest trick: Hate the intellectual - DailyO - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- A labyrinth is coming to Washington - Observer-Reporter - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]