> Can't even protest in a responsible covid-safe manner
Breaking lockdown to protest lockdown kinda misses the point of a lockdown. I understand people's frustration but once you compare the number of covid-related deaths to other countries you can reasonably conclude that the overall effort of fighting the pandemic was successful. Were there some badly implemented measures from the local governments? Possibly. But the idea behind them was to preserve life, which seems to have happened. I don't know of any country that managed to somehow allow people free movement and keep covid-related deaths to a minimum, so it's a trade-off between the two.
> You know nothing about the toll of the world's longest lockdown
Well, I know that in any democratic society citizens have not only rights but also responsibilities. Lockdowns are a way in which the community temporarily sacrifices some freedom in order to protect vulnerable people, and I believe that this must be done in any civilized society. Yes, it will take a toll on people, and it's the right thing to do. We've known it since Socrates. The reason I'm calling it a Kmart riot is because I can see the avalanche of social media comments by your average Joe, radicalised in his own bubble to believe that Australia is creating the fourth Reich because he has to wear a mask. Another very common lockdown complaint is "my kids are bored they want to go out". Yeah, sorry, I can't take this seriously. I'm sure there are some real dramas out there, I have empathy for people who experience hardship, but the majority (totality?) of the complaints I've heard are just laughable.
> Would it please you if more than 250,000 marched though the city like they did in protest of committing Australian troops to the war on terror?
Yes it would, but my minimum standards would be to have a social media response of at least the same magnitude as the one to the lockdowns. That's an easy way to gauge public opinion these days, just count the number of articles, likes and comments on Facebook and YouTube. Bonus points for writing letters to MPs, government and journalists to inquire on the progress of the investigation, if there are enough resources allocated for it and what is being done to protect the witnesses, for example. Edit: I'm not against war, sometimes it's absolutely necessary. Targeting civilians however is simply abominable and it's not clear to me how one can be at peace knowing unconvicted murderers are walking around in the community. If morality isn't an issue, at the very least we have the practical concern of whether they'll murder civilians again. Brushing this off seems not very prudent.
