Trust us

If you want continued compliance then give us some autonomy back. The people who would act recklessly are already doing so. Those of us who have been complying will be likely to continue social distancing even if you lifted some of the legal based restrictions. We understand the risk posed to ourselves and others. So we won’t start rushing on to public transport, gathering for parties.... and will definitely avoid those who haven’t adhered to the rules so far.

Why the contribution is important

I think there’s a real danger though that if you don’t do this those of us complying will feel that we are being governed on a lowest common denominator basis, and will feel inclined to trust or own judgment rather than yours. If this happens then you will end up being completely undermined. Because you didn’t trust us we won’t trust you.

by Julief on May 05, 2020 at 03:25PM

Current Rating

Average rating: 4.6
Based on: 23 votes

Comments

  • Posted by Gamble May 05, 2020 at 15:43

    At some point it is important that people are given trust back and if for any reason it is seen to be not working then we have to have a resumption of lockdown

  • Posted by wtf May 05, 2020 at 15:46

    Totally and utterly agree. Thank you for making such an important point.

  • Posted by AlisonS May 05, 2020 at 15:48

    We can't live like this without any clarity about what is happening and at the start we were told we would be treated as Adults. People are not adhering to the lockdown restrictions but some of us have done this to the letter so not relaxing some of the restriction will make no impact on those who are already flouting the rules and people will start getting fed up.

  • Posted by DMacDonald May 05, 2020 at 16:02

    Couldn't agree more, really well put and great comments above. If the government doesn't offer some sort of easing of lockdown measures people will have no choice but to exercise their own judgement. Much better to treat us like adults and give us a reasonable amount of freedom back than to treat us like children and then have to deal with people breaking the rules.

  • Posted by Iridium242 May 05, 2020 at 17:27

    A sensible point made by a sensible person, but unfortunately, based on my experience during lockdown, not everyone chooses to behave sensibly. So is the challenge not about how to manage those who persistently refuse to respect the rest of society by behaving irresponsibly? How do you propose to manage those who aren't "trustworthy", without turning the country into a vigilante state?

  • Posted by JoeOH May 05, 2020 at 18:43

    Sorry Juliet, you may be worthy of trust in these matters, but there is a large proportion of the population who are only at home because of lockdown, and a large number of employers who can’t wait to get people back in the workplace. If the Govt relax the rules, then greedy businesses who don’t give a damn about anything but profit will be pulling staff into unsafe positions because the rules are no longer there.

  • Posted by Eagleeye1125 May 05, 2020 at 20:39

    I think this is all so true. The MAJORITY in Scotland have been complying with the restrictions very well and understand the reasons why thy are in place. But I too now feel that a degree of common sense and personal judgement must be applied with regard to family/friend visitation and personal movement. Surely if people visit/ meet outdoors and at 2 metre distance whether this is in their garden or other suitable outdoor space for a period of even only an hour without exchanging food/drink this is reasonable and doable. If need be this could be limited to a 'gathering' of 4 persons at a time. The MAJORITY of us are responsible adults who realise that this virus must still be taken seriously and so will be careful but we also need to see friends and family for our and their mental wellbeing.

  • Posted by John1911 May 07, 2020 at 19:48

    I've yet to hear anyone argue successfully against the Swedish approach. One of their eminent epidemiologists suggests that you simply do not need 100% compliance for their trust the people approach to be successful, with 90% compliance being enough.

    So, no lockdown, just solid advice informing the population of distancing, hygiene, group limits, etc), and things can be better for the majority, rather than this indefinite and very slow retraction from an ill-informed, knee-jerk reaction that is our lockdown misery.

    Herd immunity is the only approach I believe can succeed, because from what I've heard from Sweden, 98% of people who have actually had the virus didn't notice or had extremely mild symptoms. That being the case, the track, trace isolate technique is useless, because such a large portion of the population will never go isolate if they have the mildest symptoms, and those asymptomatic people just don't know anyway.

  • Posted by activeandvibrant May 10, 2020 at 12:27

    Agree. If we are to be treated as adults we must be given the freedom to make decisions based on information available. I so envy Denmark and Sweden - their Govs have not created a climate of terror and absolute fear of people of touching anything of travelling anywhere of basically having a life. This is the biggest barrier we will have to overcome if “normal” (NOT New Normal AKA abnormal) is ever to be achieved. At some point we need to stop cowering and understand we have to live with this taking personal responsibility for actions - surely this is what a Democracy is?
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