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Government deliberately induced heightened level of anxiety to control us
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Government deliberately induced heightened level of anxiety to control us
Since the start of the pandemic, the UK government has attempted to turn the public’s fear off and on like a tap. It has used extreme and often deceitful tactics to expand risks and quell dissent.
Through visceral campaigns, policymakers have deflected attention from themselves by emphasizing the risks we pose to each other. Not only is this undemocratic, it has damaged society by turning people against each other.
This is by design. For decades, governments have turned to behavioral psychology to manipulate public emotion to achieve their objectives. But this has consequences. Those in power have worn down the population and created a heightened level of anxiety with negative effects that will be long-lasting. We must understand how this happened to ensure it does not happen again.
Government messaging first scaled up its fear tactics at the end of March 2020 when communications shifted from an expressionless Chris Whitty telling us, ‘To help save lives, stay at home’ to a more ‘hard-hitting’ (read: fear-inducing) approach. A video released in April opens with a shot of an ambulance and sirens wailing. Shaky shots of emergency rooms and the sound of panicked medical staff are interspersed with quiet, somber music. Voice actor Mark Strong’s deep, grave voice warns us that the coronavirus is ‘life-threatening for people of all ages’ as a cropped-headed patient is wheeled by.
The anonymity of the patient shown invites viewers to place themselves on the gurney. ‘That could be me,’ we are invited to think. The video ends with images of people on doorsteps clapping for the NHS before cutting back to an air pump and another faceless patient with labored breathing. The message is clear: Regardless of who you are, you are at risk. Stay home, clap for the NHS. Or this could be you.
In a series of posters released weeks later, a yellow and red filtered NHS worker in full PPE looks at audiences with a slightly cocked head and serious eyes. Her surgical mask looks more like a gas mask than a protective covering. This grainy, dystopian aesthetic was beamed out on social media with the message:
‘IF YOU GO OUT,
YOU CAN SPREAD IT.
PEOPLE WILL DIE.’
It is this emphasis on threats to others that became the dominant tactic of the campaign. You are at risk. But more importantly, you are THE risk, you are INFECTED one and it is YOUR fault when people die.
This is a dark and irresponsible message. People, including children, are encouraged to believe that the deaths of loved ones are their fault. Some particularly vulnerable individuals who have caught Covid-19 and were unable to bear the thought of ‘killing’ their loved ones have even taken their own lives.
The damage to the fabric of society done by these campaigns is difficult to overstate. Fear and anxiety are seen by policymakers as so many useful tools to be leveraged at will. But they have consequences. The exhausted population’s attention is deflected from policymakers and onto each other.
Assent is sought by pitting us against each other rather than allowing democratic debate about the best way forward. Most importantly, a level of anxiety is encouraged that cannot simply be switched off. The damage to society and our relationships with each other may be irreparable.
We need to repay this betrayal and crush this parliament, throw out every one of these dystopian loving elitism MP’s and replace them with patriots, we have that power, now use it.
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