Anti-lockdown protests are the ravings of a tiny fringe – and thankfully, no one’s listening

Popular protests these are not. In fact, writes James Moore, their organisers have been far more successful at convincing the media that this is a news story than they have at inducing people to join them

Protesters drive by the Ohio State House in Columbus, Ohio (AFP/Getty)

“Give me liberty or give me death,” they cried. If the virus had a collective intelligence like something out of Star Trek I imagine it would say: “If that’s what you want, buddy.”

The Colorado healthcare workers who stood in front of the cars of those defending their freedom to be assholes played the role of the sane and sensible Captain Picard. Facing down bullies with assault rifles before facing down microscopic murderers, they risked their lives twice in a day. The phrase “we’re not worthy” comes to mind.

Hope seems desperately hard to find at the moment. All the same, it’s just possible to find some in America’s lockdown protests, and I’m not just talking about the astonishing bravery of those healthcare workers. The protestors live in a fetid swamp of disinformation, outright lies and abject contempt for their fellow Americans and the rest of the world. Slithering out of the muck to serve as its leader: Donald Trump, a diseased president who described those wilfully putting their countrymen at risk of contact with a deadly pathogen as “great people”. Lining up behind: Fox News, and a host of lesser predators and scavengers. But these Burmese pythons have been far less successful with their attempts to throttle democracy than those that have been out throttling the life out of Florida’s Everglades. Despite the dyspeptic outpourings of the besuited rabble standing behind them, albeit at a safe distance (most of the yahoos aren’t as stupid as InfoWars founder Alex Jones, who fronted a protest in Texas), the numbers of demonstrators have been small, in some cases pitifully so. Popular protests, then, these are not. Their organisers have been far more successful at convincing the media that this is a news story than they have at inducing people to join them.

Meanwhile, Trump’s approval rating has started to hit the skids, per FiveThirtyEight, the treasure-trove of numbers which has been tracking it.

Trump, Fox, the Republican Party – all rely on an elderly demographic, the same Covid-19 most often takes as its victim. Yet the polling suggests that the public is no longer keen on what Trump, his party and media cheerleaders are selling. The tide, it seems, it turning against a president who appears far more concerned with his popularity ratings than with keeping citizens safe. Who knew? Polls also suggest that most Americans are worried about lockdowns being lifted. Their behaviour bears that out.

The economic cost of the pandemic is huge. But the price in terms of loss of life is greater still. The vast majority of Americans have proved capable of solving the equation. If this is a sign of overreach on the part of America’s Trumpist movement, then it would serve as a silver lining to the cloud we’re all living under.

That’s not to say we have cause for complacency. Lockdowns in democracies require popular consent, to which the president’s cabin fever poses a risk. Yet so far, lockdowns have been holding where they’ve been imposed, while the people breaking them have elicited contempt. So, yes, a sliver of hope.