It’s a conspiracy

 What makes someone join an anti lockdown rally when all lockdown restrictions have been eased?

This question has been keeping me awake at nights. I know, most things keep me awake at night but I haven’t come to a satisfactory understanding yet.

There was a day, about three years ago when the Long Suffering Husband and I were in London for the day. We walked from Trafalgar Square to the Houses of Parliament, with the intention of coming back up through St James’ Park to have a chat with the pelicans. All the way along Whitehall were groups of people with banners. Their banners all seemed to suggest that the country hadn’t yet voted to leave the EU. There were people further up singing about ‘making plans for Nigel,’ and overall you would have believed that it was just before the Brexit vote. Boris Johnson had been elected Prime Minister and there was a determination in government to get the best deal but that we would leave the EU even without one.

“What do you think this is about?” I asked the LSH, “I mean, they’ve already won. They could go home and put their smug little feet up.”

We concluded that they

1. liked protesting more than they liked the issue.

2. Didn’t understand they’d won

3. Had wanted Brexit out of fear, still felt scared and so were still protesting about their terror.

I think all of these things might be true. 

The same people protesting then could be protesting now. People who just want to be heard and don’t really care if they sound sane. Nigel, Katie, Piers. 

The problem is that a global pandemic has made the fearful even more scared. These are people who don’t really have anything to be scared of. They already have enough, which makes them scared they could lose it all. There must be someone to blame.

Then these huge complex issues arise (Brexit and Covid) and there is so much more that they don’t understand. I’m not being mean, no one understands them. They are unfathomable. 

This isn’t new. It’s how genocides start. Our primal reaction to fear is to look for the tiger and kill it. If there is no actual tiger it won’t stop us looking for one. It could be Bill Gates, 5G, vaccines, government control, masks, immigrants, Jews, Muslims, Lifeboat volunteers, or  hapless Chris Whitty.  It is easier for these things to be the tiger because you can see them. A new invisible virus, Russian cyber bots or  absolutely nothing but your own imagination and general anxiety about death can’t be seen and therefore you can’t remove them with a spear.

Laughing at these protesters will only make it worse. If we don’t listen and ask them to define their fears the hunt for the tiger will get more desperate. Let’s just tell them that we know it’s scary but they are safe and that we will pay them more attention when they are calm. That’s a nice idea isn’t it?

They know it’s about fear but don’t recognise their own.

We won’t, though, because we love the drama and it will get worse and worse until the whole of humanity disappears up it’s own bum in a puff of smoke. You see why I can’t sleep now?we are all going to die anyway. Help! Where’s the tiger?