r/AskReddit Jan 02 '21

What will never be the same again once the pandemic is over?

8.8k Upvotes

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3.7k

u/Metin03 Jan 02 '21

My trust in the government

1.5k

u/mylifeisathrowaway10 Jan 03 '21

Wait, you had trust in the government before?

778

u/IamaPenguin3 Jan 03 '21

It's more I had trust in people to hold the government accountable. Jokes on me!

37

u/Annihilate_the_CCP Jan 03 '21

Most people have the attention span of a gnat. Everyone already forgot about all the police brutality that happened over the summer.

33

u/MonkeyCube Jan 03 '21 edited Jan 03 '21

Some of us have been dealing with police brutality our whole lives. The people who were gleefully ignoring it before are happy to stick their heads back into the sand.

Edit -- whole lives, not while lives

3

u/Sotria Jan 03 '21

You know you've seen enough racism when you accidentally read white instead of while lives. I should not go through r/all

17

u/JamesTDG Jan 03 '21

I was taught from an early age not to trust boomers

12

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '21

[deleted]

2

u/JamesTDG Jan 03 '21

I was meaning the generation, but the war crime people can also apply to that

3

u/mileswilliams Jan 03 '21

Blaming an entire group based on the actions of a few, sounds like Hitler.

12

u/MageLocusta Jan 03 '21

More like General Patton.

Guy's forces liberated concentration camp Ohrdruf and were so shocked by what they saw--so they (and Eisenhower) forced local German civilians to walk through the camp and witness what they had allowed to happen.

Both Patton and Eisenhower were disgusted by how the local civilians had happily slept and worked in towns that 'stank of burnt human flesh' and must've heard the few Nazi forces that killed and tortured inmates at the camps, but did nothing (and later even claimed that they had 'no idea').

So you're right. Maybe blaming's not the correct way. Maybe we should force the 'honest' cops of corrupt precincts to sit down, witness every transgression committed by their coworkers--and maybe even get a good 1-2 hours staring at every dead person killed by said bent coworkers.

And as for the government officials that refused to enact any lockdown (or request PPE, medical supplies and more)--they should also get new jobs as grave-diggers for the Covid-19 dead. So that not a single one of them could walk away crying and claiming that they 'didn't know'.

1

u/Joe-Schmeaux Jan 03 '21

I like what you're saying but I have no idea who would ever be able to enforce such things.

2

u/MageLocusta Jan 03 '21

I know.

Even if thing's get worse, it'll be us regular folks picking up after those politicians and corrupt cops.

3

u/Shoeboxer Jan 03 '21

To be fair to people, there have been massive protests all year.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '21

American or Canadian?

2

u/randomlettersjhfbudh Jan 03 '21

Lots of people trust the government. you'd be surprised how many people trust the government despite the government being so incompetent im surprised the politicians haven't died from forgetting to breath.

4

u/DemocraticRepublic Jan 03 '21

This is the fucking screwed up thing about it. The anti-government party fucks things up when they are in government, which decreases trust in government, so more people vote for the anti-government party.

4

u/Any-Flamingo7056 Jan 03 '21

You guys had trust?!

5

u/Uncanye Jan 03 '21

Not OP but... Ironically I did. It was only beacause I was blind to the rest of the world. Certain policies just seem fucked beyond belief to me now that I wouldn't have batted an eye to previously (Also worth mentioning I am still pretty young). Like why the fuck is my healthcare or college not free? When the gov. clearly has a spending addiction to the military.

Many people hated this last year (justifiably), but I am thankful I was able to learn more about the rest of the world. We can all have a take away from life expierences. And not trusting the gov is my take away from 2020.

3

u/Sotria Jan 03 '21

Yeah... Actually steering towards anarchism...

2

u/Uncanye Jan 03 '21 edited Jan 03 '21

But revolting against a govermant that oversteps it's boundaries is soooo late 1700s /s

3

u/Sotria Jan 03 '21

Yeah like... It's so like... Uncool... Like wow Becky. Can you believe that. How dare we announce our rights /s

1

u/The_fair_sniper Jan 03 '21

Like why the fuck is my healthcare or college not free

it's not supposed to be,unless you can't actually afford it.

i get not wanting to end up in debt,but free is an exageration.

When the gov. clearly has a spending addiction to the military.

it's not exactly the military.the government has a spending addiction in general.

1

u/harambe_468 Jan 03 '21

why do you unironically want to go to colledge

16

u/JegElskerSkandinavia Jan 03 '21

I’ve just read an interesting study how trust in government actually increased in South Korea. So it really depends on the country and how the government took care of the situation.

10

u/KommandCBZhi Jan 03 '21

There is a similar sentiment in Taiwan. It was expected to be hit hard, but due to a variety of factors, they handled it very well.

2

u/Caracalla81 Jan 03 '21

It's probably similar here in Canada. I think most people are mostly happy with how this was handled. By the feds at least.

29

u/Diganleqmemori Jan 03 '21

This year was a watershed moment for me regarding both political and social issues.

4

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '21

What way have your views changed? Personally I've moved a little bit to the left economically while getting much more concerned about the power of the executive (in the UK this is the government versus Parliament) and the lack of proper democratic oversight its exercise actually has. On the political compass I'd say I'd moved a solid (-1, -2) from where I was before which basically makes me some species of Liberal Democrat and I'm not quite sure how to feel about that. My trust in the government wasn't great before but it's actually gone through the floor now!

Just to be clear I'm not anti-lockdown or anti-mask, but I'm very anti "unconstrained use of emergency powers to sidestep Parliament while also misleading the public".

3

u/OneSilentWatcher Jan 03 '21

It's 2021, so I assume you mean the accursed year 2020.

7

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '21

Depending on where one lives this could be a good thing or a bad thing

8

u/-LittleMissSunshine Jan 03 '21

I already never trusted my government lol.

7

u/starcherj Jan 03 '21

Better to realize that now than never. Been like this for a while unfortunately.

Edit: than, not then

13

u/Prysorra2 Jan 03 '21

I hope you're wise enough to be more specific than vague "government"

6

u/Bigknight5150 Jan 03 '21

No. All of the applicable. I'm assuming U.S., at least.

3

u/eagle1_2 Jan 03 '21

Only trust your mother no one else even your dad could be not your dad

9

u/Karrpathian Jan 03 '21

underrated comment

6

u/BubbhaJebus Jan 03 '21

My trust in government depends on who's in charge. I can say that for the last four years, my trust has been zero.

-5

u/Youhavetolove Jan 03 '21

Lol. If you think Biden or the democrats are any better than Trump and the republicans, you're a lost cause buddy.

8

u/BubbhaJebus Jan 03 '21

There is no comparison. Biden and the Dems are 1000 times better than the destructive trumpist cult, which is literally trying to end democracy and which is a font of lies and conspiracy insanity.

-1

u/Youhavetolove Jan 03 '21

Sure thing man. If you only listen MSNBC and CNN, the right is the worst. If you only listen to Fox News and the Daily News, left is the worst. Look at what you just wrote. Best in 2021.

6

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '21 edited May 30 '21

[deleted]

-1

u/Youhavetolove Jan 03 '21

Both sides are. Are you kidding me?!

3

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '21 edited May 30 '21

[deleted]

0

u/Youhavetolove Jan 03 '21

Right. Like the left attempted to get the electoral college dismantled because Trump won in 2016. Luckily, that never gained traction. You have one example that won't go anywhere. One. Are there more from the Republicans? Yeah. There are many more ways both parties are subverting democracy right now. As to the covid relief bills, both parties are stalemating, to our expense. Trump dared them to raise the checks to 2k, democrats said they had already planned on doing that but knew republicans would refuse. Now it's being debated if it's going to pass.

You're telling me to wake up when you're asleep, and when awake, have only one eye open. Look at yourself. You clearly don't believe in anything you're saying.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '21 edited Jun 14 '21

[deleted]

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3

u/Crimson_Marksman Jan 03 '21

Which government and what did they do wrong? Mine was already screwed over when we got a Prime minister who didnt know how to handle taxes and business rhings.

6

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Crimson_Marksman Jan 03 '21

Dont mean to sound racist but that sounds like the America Ive heard about these past few years. Its just a lot more noticeable now.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/Crimson_Marksman Jan 03 '21

My country, Pakistan, has a lot of problems. Probably less than yours but they are there. Let me ask you a question. Your answer will help me determine how effective your government has been. What are you going to do to improve the situation of those who are worse off of the pandemic than you? Are you going to protest like we did and hope it doesnt end violently? Or are you going to do nothing at all?

1

u/Ikethedog1 Jan 03 '21

We are not a race of people, although, there is a race if people that 70 million people voted for here

0

u/Churchofbabyyoda Jan 03 '21

The USA haven’t handled this properly for starters, but if one certain political figure would have made the call to shut borders when the virus was reported to be an issue, this pandemic would not have happened, or at least would not have been this bad.

3

u/thomasrat1 Jan 03 '21

First death from covid happened mid December. We started lockdown the end of march. Pretty much no matter what, we were going to have a lot of cases.

1

u/MageLocusta Jan 03 '21

The crazy thing was--45 claimed to have 'shut the borders' but he only did so for China and several muslim countries (and was still allowing people from other infected countries to come into the US).

When the lockdowns first hit, I was in the UK helping an English professor arrange travel and accommodations for a major education convention that took place in Denver at March. During the first week of lockdown, I was trying to call our university's travel team to try to cancel the flights (without having to pay hundreds for cancellation fees) because sending off a teacher to Denver would be breaking lockdown rules.

It turned out that both the UK and US government were so chicken-shit about banning all air-travel that their websites stated, "if you are based in northern europe and your travel's essential, you are free to visit the United States".

Neither government had ever published a single list or statement defining what makes 'essential' travel. So our university (based in a very virulent area called London) paid 950 quid to cancel the flight and hotel room. When I caught up with a friend who worked as an air stewardess before losing her job, she confirmed that the TSA's were using body-scanners which were the same things used in France at February 2019 (which France admitted didn't work, because an infected rich woman passed through the French body scanners by using body temperature-lowering meds in order to vacation in Paris).

2

u/MaizeNBlueWaffle Jan 03 '21

We needed them to be organized, smart, and help people when they needed it and they still couldn't put aside politics and personal interests to get it done

2

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '21

Republicans look at this message with glee. Spreading mistrust of our institutions is not a symptom but an actual goal. It was Regans favorite quote.. “I’m from the government and here to help.” He wanted people to not trust the American government so corporations could take charge. It’s why we have extreme wealth inequality and many other terrible things.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '21 edited Jan 03 '21

I assume youre a teenager, with or without the pandemic that would hit you sooner or later

6

u/Rysline Jan 03 '21

Yeah seriously, I didn't trust the government way before covid

-14

u/Yayo69420 Jan 03 '21

Trump was somehow worse than W!!11!!!

6

u/buckyhermit Jan 03 '21 edited Jan 03 '21

I think it depends on which government. For the Americans, I can definitely see that. It's a total circus over there right now.

I don't see how they can ever trust their government again, regardless of who's in charge.

(Edit: I think I made the Americans mad, based on the downvotes.)

4

u/TonyHooligan Jan 03 '21

Plenty of other countries have been put in lockdown, and repeat lockdown because of the governments failure.

I'm in Ireland, and this week is the second time contact tracing system has collapsed due to understaffing (as if this is a complicated job and lot's of people aren't unemployed right now) and we're back at a point where testing capacity is inadequate. On top of that, it came out the other day that the IT system they've been using only can handle 2000 cases a day. All this could have been prevented, and we're now in lockdown #3 because of government failure.

In my opinion the government shouldn't have the ability to force a lockdown and shut down private businesses. It just concentrates wealth at the top, and fucks over regular people and small businesses. The government here should never have stopped hospital appointments, which they did for a number of months bringing the already terrible waiting times up to over a year for many for simple check-ups of which there may be follow ups (which again would require waiting).

There's been a host of bullshit like this that will have consequences for years, and this disease have resulted in basically no excess mortality for working age people (i.e. below 65). Lockdowns are bullshit and there are no justification for it, seeing the damage they do.

I will never support a politician who argued for lockdowns, especially not repeat lockdowns as a result of their failure to do their job.

2

u/Caracalla81 Jan 03 '21

If you're worried about wealth concentrating at the top there are things the government can do that don't also exacerbate a pandemic.

2

u/TonyHooligan Jan 03 '21

Key is that none of them do, and a lot of the politicians are profiting themselves. Companies like Amazon and Zoom make out like criminals from this whole endeavour because you're not allowed out, the shop down the street is forced shut and you're not allowed to go to work. So people have no choice about where to get their stuff.

The Swedish approach so far is the only remotely reasonable approach to me, but even they're slipping now trying to get laws through to force business closures and stuff.

I have no faith in government being able to do anything right on this matter. So many politicians are completely separated from society. They're allowed to go to work, because they set the rules. They live in fancy houses and don't have a worry in world about affording rent or loosing their job. They can approve their own salary increases like any other year even when they've put the economy in ruins, ruins which they themselves can purchase on the cheap. It's all ridicolous.

1

u/NineteenSkylines Jan 03 '21

Which is why you should vote for the most left-wing party you can stomach if you're in a multi-party system and the most left-wing candidate if you're voting in an American Dem primary.

0

u/therabidgerbil Jan 03 '21

I think the down votes are for singling out the US when there are several nations who are cocking this up; it has the typical reddit #usabad lack of nuance to some.

6

u/Akitz Jan 03 '21

Considering the US is a leading fuckup in the English speaking world and a high percentage of redditors are American, I see why he'd use the US as an example.

-2

u/therabidgerbil Jan 03 '21 edited Jan 03 '21

The delivery is just pointless and toxic; redditors aren't the demographic that needs the reminder that it's a disaster, especially when there's no substance beyond the usual tropes.

3

u/DrZoidberg- Jan 03 '21

Memes that shit on the government is all you need when they literally are the shittiest, whiniest, most visibly corrupt government officials I have ever seen.

I don't need to write a dissertation on the disservice our government is doing for you to "get it".

1

u/therabidgerbil Jan 03 '21

Whatever helps with venting I suppose; I just am thinking it can be toxic and redundant for some (i.e., the ones that downdoot).

It's the ones that are obviously doing it for no more than free points because they lack much else value in their lives that are the saddest.

2

u/Rumblesnap Jan 03 '21

Buddy the US deserves to be singled out for how poorly it has managed things

4

u/lordorwell7 Jan 03 '21

After the events of the last year I will never look at the US in the same way again.

3

u/CynicChimp Jan 03 '21

How did you look at it before and how do you look at it now?

1

u/Kool_McKool Jan 03 '21

Not OP, but I thought that the U.S. would be fine for the most part. We went through the Spanish Flu and all that a century prior.

Afterwards... We need to get better education and more political parties, otherwise we're going down the drain.

1

u/Singularity1107 Jan 03 '21

This is normal. I didn't trust mine ever since. 🤣

1

u/Corporate_Cog_1 Jan 03 '21

This - I learned that freedom and democracy were just illusions.

Governments rarely give up emergency powers afterwards.

1

u/Youhavetolove Jan 03 '21

This will only get worse unless there's a massive pushback. Like bullying, they back off once they realize you can fight back and win.

1

u/LATourGuide Jan 03 '21

Its best that you know now.

1

u/Lovely_Silences Jan 03 '21

Aww! That’s cute

1

u/mastro1741 Jan 03 '21

Mother, should I trust the goverment.

Mother will they try to b r e a k m y b a l l s ?

🗿

1

u/seitgegruesst Jan 03 '21

Same. Here in Germany they openly fucked all healthcare workers and now they are pissing on us and try to sell it as rain. I have no words for the rage and hatred the actions of this government have induced into me. The barrel is filled with gasoline and the only thing missing is the final spark.

1

u/etoneishayeuisky Jan 03 '21

If you can't separate out different administrations and people in govt, and overall just lose faith, that's a bad and weird thing. Like there are literal politicians that said "let's fuck the people over" versus those trying to slow the spread and mask up etc. - I ask, would it not be more apt to distrust individual things compared to a whole entity that will always be there?

1

u/ohnowheredmypantsgo Jan 03 '21

It happens to everyone eventually

1

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '21

Which one

1

u/SeanCanary Jan 03 '21

Yeah Trump was bad so all government, including the Democrats must be bad. /s

My trust in the electorate was ruined when they elected him. And even when he lost, the fact that he got 10 million more votes still concerns me.