We’ve all seen the insane protests in the US lately about coronavirus lockdown orders. They’ve even gone as far as threatening government officials with guns! It’s mind boggling to me, because who could be so stupid as to complain about governments actually trying to keep people safe in the midst of a global pandemic? My brother called it natural selection, because most of the protesters have been Trump supporters. There may or may not be some validity in that statement, I’ll let you come to your own conclusions about that.
You’ve seen vision of the anti lockdown protest, now ask yourself- Who do you trust with your welfare ..thousands of dedicated, highly trained doctors, nurses, technicians busting their guts to beat coronavirus or the conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers now demonstrating ?!!?
— NickMcCallum7 (@NickMcCallum7) May 10, 2020
But over the weekend, more than 100 people gathered in Melbourne to protest our lockdown restrictions here in Australia. They were going on about how their rights were being infringed upon because coronavirus is actually a hoax and is linked to 5G. What?? And to top it off, all good ol’ Scotty from marketing had to say about it was “it’s a free country”. This seems like a much more lenient response than the one he had about climate protests. When students and environmental activists were protesting the country’s lack of climate action, ScoMo called them “anarchists”. He also said in a statement to parliament that “What we want is more learning in schools and less activism in schools”, effectively shutting down young people’s ability to have a voice in the political arena.
What’s With The Double Standard, ScoMo?
Unlike the climate change protests, the anti #coronavirus lockdown protesters are valued by the PM as they’ll give their 2nd preference to the #LNP after voting for either One Nation, Palmers United, Shooters & Fishers or Katter’s Australia Party. #auspol @triplejHack @AvaniDias
— Danny Usher (@dsurte66) May 11, 2020
This seems like a pretty big double standard to me. On one side, we have people protesting regulations that have been put in place to stop a virus from spreading, and on the other are students and environmental activists pleading with governments to do more to save the planet. Why is one group allowed to “make their protests and make their voices heard”, while the other are labelled anarchists?
The protest in Melbourne hardly made sense, in my opinion. They were trying to say that coronavirus was too many things. It’s simultaneously a hoax, but it also exists because it has been caused by 5G installation, and we should also arrest Bill Gates because it’s his fault, somehow… It also became violent, after a police officer was taken to hospital with a rib injury, while another officer had a bottle thrown at them. These people are allowed to protest and make their voices heard. These people are not anarchists. Is that right, ScoMo?
I was at the climate change protests in Sydney last year and in January of this year. Protesters were asking for the government to take action against climate change, and for the PM to resign because of his failure to draft sufficient climate policies. They weren’t being violent, they were peacefully protesting both in the CBD and at Kirribilli House. Yet they’re the ones who are in the wrong and aren’t allowed to have a say or be involved in climate discussions.
Who Gets To Have A Voice?
What this double standard shows is that protests are allowed, as long as their argument matches the government’s view on the matter. In this case, the PM wants to get the country back up and running. He wants people to go back to work and school, and for the economy to bounce back as soon as possible. That’s what these protesters want too. They want the lockdown restrictions to be lifted so that they can return to normal life. But the students who were calling for the government to take climate change seriously went against the beliefs of the nation’s leaders, and their financial backers, and therefore they must be shut down.
Image Source: Facebook (Scott Morrison), Unsplash (Kate Ausburn)
