It appeared that there had even been demonstrations to thank Big Brother for raising the chocolate ration to twenty grammes a week. And only yesterday, he reflected, it had been announced that the ration was to be REDUCED to twenty grammes a week. Was it possible that they could swallow that, after only twenty-four hours?… Was he, then, ALONE in the possession of a memory?
Some of are us may be old enough to remember, all those long years ago, when the official line was the following:
Bill’s Opinion
If 2020 has no other positive consequences than a massive realisation that the government isn’t your Mum or Dad, perhaps that’s enough.
“I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
I wish they’d respected us from the start by saying:
“Yes they work, but let’s save proper medical masks for frontliners who are exposed to higher doses. Make and wear your own cloth ones if you like. It won’t protect you much, but it is likely to stop you easily infecting others if you’re an asymptomatic carrier. Once production steps up, we’ll try to get proper masks for everyone and require them in crowded spaces. If you have symptoms, forget the mask – stay home.”
That would have been the truth, but they didn’t think we could be trusted with it. Perhaps they thought it was too complex, or that we’d be too selfish to follow the instructions. It looks like another signpost along the way in our transition from high to low trust society.
Precisely.