ALICE IN WONDERLAND: When I posted concerns on the situation, I was chucked straight into the mire and cast as the devil in disguise
Alice Jones, News Uncut columnist, reveals more of her experiences living in our bizarre ‘new normal’
“CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER”
AT THE start of this crisis, I was as bewildered and anxious as the next person. Pictures fed from Wuhan of people collapsing in the street and being bundled into the back of vans by medics in Hazmat suits felt like the start of a horror movie.
It was somewhat surreal and it moved very fast. Boris Johnson’s war-like announcement on BBC news – “STAY AT HOME, PROTECT THE NHS, SAVE LIVES” will remain etched in all of our minds, I’m sure of it.
I’m a mother, daughter, aunt, a regular human being. I washed down my groceries before bringing them into the house and sat in wait for the next news update, just like we all did.
I can’t remember when something started to feel a little… off. I’ve asked myself this often, as in honesty, I believe it would be far less stressful to simply ‘follow the rules’ – no questions asked.
I spoke tentatively with friends in the early days. Was it just me thinking that, as the situation progressed and the rules and restrictions continued apace, certain things made little sense? The answer was always, “agree, seems a little odd but this is a dangerous virus, we need to trust the experts and do what we’re told to protect the NHS and each other”.
The latter was, of course, to become an all-powerful battering ram for social coercion. Who wanted to be the one not protecting our precious health service or our neighbours? Not me. I shut up and kept pondering, while quietly questioning my own sanity.
The demonising of ‘conspiracy theorists’, the ‘tin-foil-hat brigade’ and all the poor misguided souls falling down rabbit holes, quickly entered the mix. Sadly, the very initial comments from die-hard conspiracy theorists were often outlandish and extreme, easy material to mock, even easier to ignore.
I believe that this stopped much of the usual social media chatter. To my own detriment, early in 2021, I posted some of my concerns about the ongoing situation on my social media feed and was shocked at the vitriol which flew my way.
No debate. I was chucked straight into the mire and cast out as the devil in disguise for possibly making people think a little.
I’m an old-school journalist, trained in the 1990’s. In the same way that doctors sign their Hippocratic Oath, my training involved an unspoken pledge to bring people the truth.
It’s not complicated but often challenging. We all have opinions. In my day, it was paramount that these opinions remained firmly under the cosh. I had a duty to cover all sides of every story and allow the public to reach their own conclusions.
When it came to light early in 2020 that You Tube and Facebook etc would actively censor anything they saw to be ‘misinformation’ my instinctive journalist hackles shot up like antlers on a stag. I saw red.
I made an effort to connect with people globally, those on my social media pages who were being brave enough to question the narrative. I was steered towards alternative social media platforms and websites – all there for the taking, all valid, but this involved time and a lot of research.
Sure enough, my hunger for the other side of the story was satisfied. Eminent scientists, professors, educators, doctors, lawyers, all speaking up and voicing their concerns. All silenced and promptly removed from any main stream media. Why?
The public were swallowing fear in large gulps
My frustration grew whilst watching endless BBC press conferences where no journalists questioned decisions being made. If anything, they pandered to them and asked why restrictions might not be more severe?
The public were swallowing the fear in large gulps. Any chance of debate over whether lockdowns might do more harm than good, death rates from Covid might be skewed, vaccine injuries/deaths may be a concern or vaccine mandates/passports is a sensible way forward were a no-go. The Government and media had it all tied up – 100 per cent slam dunk over on the masses. Their way or the highway. No questions asked.
I write from the heart and from a position of feeling utterly constrained as a professional who always worked with a sense of moral duty to the public. I despair at the ‘trust the science’, ‘trust the experts’, ‘follow the rules’ spiel which is repeatedly spouted by so many who fail to realise that they are only being fed one side of the story. The irony of it.
I trust the experts too, but there are many of them and I like to hear ALL the opinions. This was the first major global pandemic in 100 years, surely the more heads together the better in co-ordinating an effective response? Like it or not, we’ve been utterly blind-sided – as to why, that’s for another day...
I’ll leave you with some comments from others who, like me, have come to the painful realisation that their gut sense of something being a little… off, was probably right. I’ve chosen to keep their names confidential and thank them for taking time to respond:
“I was miles behind! I bought into it all for so long! Even when so many of the crazy nonsensical rules directly affected my business and my ability to earn I just took it on the chin and believed that mistakes were being made in the handling of it but they were genuine mistakes. I only woke up when they started to move down the ages for vaccines (March 2021) and I dared to mention to family and friends that I wasn’t sure if I would take it. The reaction and backlash from my family (two of whom work for big pharma) absolutely floored me and I realised then something wasn’t right.”
“For me it was the moment I realised the harm occurring during lock downs... here in Australia I realised after the start of our second they were being used as first line of defense with a total disregard for the fall out.”
“I feel my strongest gut instinct that this was insane was the closing of the gyms and limiting us to outdoor walks and for a limited amount of time, when obesity was one of the main health dangers and no statistics to prove that gyms were highly infected. It didn’t seem right at all!”
“For me it started before we went into lockdown. I thought this isn’t right and then we were sent home to work and I watched the news and thought, ‘oh maybe I’m wrong, maybe this is really bad’… and then ‘eat out to help out’ happened and that’s when I knew this was definitely all wrong.”
“I thought the reaction was totally disproportionate to the fact they were saying 99.7 per cent of people would be fine. I questioned it in a group of friends of which two are NHS and was labelled a "Trump lover" and worse. We are no longer friends now as every time I spoke about lockdowns I was told "you people have to do as you're told".
“I started questioning it when they wouldn't shout about the fact that we should all be on higher levels of Vitamin D and weren't promoting health. My aunt mentioned at the start of this we hadn't had a war for a long time, this was the war they were fuelling. People against the people. She was right, sadly."
“I began to question as soon as I noticed the stats were all one sided and out of context. It was always ‘how many people died today’ they never said how many people recovered. Always ‘how many people are in hospital’ never how many people didn’t need to go to hospital.”
“The realisation that I had been lied to and living in fear for a year was a really tough process to go through. I was raging! I spent months devouring every article I could find to inform and empower myself.”
“By May 2020 I’d done enough intensive research to figure out what was happening. I wasn’t wrong. The wheels were put in motion in 2019 but the plan was out there hiding in plain sight for anyone who wanted to find out way before. Two years down the line not one person who ridiculed me, argued with me or cut me off has conceded I was right, far less apologised. Being right brings no satisfaction. Only sadness and disappointment. I now fully appreciate the meaning of ‘ignorance is bliss’.”
“I have a background in pharmaceuticals and had completed two years of post grad research on Ivermectin in my 20s. I have continued to push for the evidence that backs up the disproportionate response across the board and none of it stacks up. For me it is impossible not to reach the conclusion that there is a bigger agenda at play.”
Alice this was so helpful to know I am not alone. We still have compulsory mask mandates and vaccine passports in Scotland and our government is trying to make permanent the emergency legislation they enacted in 2020. This would enable them to lock down again. So we need to stay alert to it not being over. Leaving the mainstream media behind was not something I thought I would ever do. What bemuses me is that it seems to be a progressive liberal agenda at play which feels counter- intuitive to me. It seems incongruous to me that GB News and Nigel Farage are speaking for me LOL! It feels there is a lot still at play.