Saturday, August 21st, I followed Anti-Vax and Anti-Lockdown signs into the Brisbane Botanic Gardens. Immersing yourself in an opposing viewpoint is often the best way to understand it. I was ready to listen, and the message wasn’t one I was expecting.
The movement isn’t about being against the vaccine. It isn’t about wanting to go on vacation. It is a battle for personal freedom and equality. This is class warfare.
Here is my experience, the opinions I heard, and what I learned.
Australia has had a peculiar COVID journey. Shut borders, travel bans, contact tracing, and strictly enforced lockdowns have kept case counts down and death tolls relatively low for the past eighteen months. But will the recent surge in Delta unravel everything?
People across the country are frustrated. You can only keep a population confined for so long without civil unrest. Sure enough, protests are popping up across the country. A recent one in Melbourne even turned violent with tear gas and rubber bullets. The new four-phase plan lays out a frame work for “returning to normal.” But the path from now to totally open borders is like standing at the base of Mt. Everest looking up.
While cases are surging with a new high of 891 cases on August 21st , the vaccine rollout has ramped up. (Click HERE for the story of how I got mine.) 51.8% of the population has had their 1st dose and 29..6% of the population is fully vaccinated. (See the details below from health.gov.au.)
It’s a race between Delta and the vaccine rollout.
While the vaccine’s trajectory looks promising, it takes two to Tango, and there’s cohort of anti-vaxers who don’t want to dance.
When I saw people waving anti-vax, anti-lockdown posters headed towards the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, I followed. I was ready to understand the other side.
The mix of people included all ages and plenty of different ethnicities (although predominately white). Kids were playing and adults were mingling. The atmosphere was more akin to a Saturday family-friendly music festival than a protest, but the t-shirts and posters were a reminder of what the mission was.
There were people wearing red “Make Australia Great Again” hats standing next to young people with dreadlocks and bellbottoms. It was as if a Pro-Trump rally met up with a Vietnam War protest; a mix I’d never thought I’d see in my life.
The Speakers
A two-minute didgeridoo performance was followed by a minute of silence before a speaker took the stage. I was ready to be slapped with some solid knowledge about the dangers of the vaccine and the predatory actions of the elite! Tell me why I need to join in this protest! Make me feel angry and passionate!
If you want to be heard, you need to listen. And I was all ears.
Her speech was centered around class disparities and fighting the man. She warned the audience of the dangers of politicians, the elite, and the corrupted news media. “These people have never struggled, they’ve never had to turn around and whip up flour and water for their breakfast and lunch for their families. These people haven’t been silver spoon fed, but diamond spoon fed!”
She continued, “They are parasites, sucking the blood from all of our children. Our people. You’re here to pull that out, we’re here to expose the institutions that claim to be representing us….This fire we’ve ignited isn’t going to stop… justice is coming!”
No mention of the vaccine was made.
The crowd’s energy started to fade as the next speaker took the stage.
The man is a popular leader of the movement, but his speech seemed scattered and unplanned. Like the woman, his focus was on class disparities and he didn’t mention the vaccine once. Here were the takeaways I extrapolated from the piece-meal delivery:
- The government is tracking everything. Don’t use QR codes and don’t use keycards.
- We are entering a state that’s worse than Nazi Germany. This isn’t just about COVID, this is about fighting a Communist takeover.
- Quarantine camps are being built now, but what will they be used for later?
- We need tact; read in between the lines of what I say.
- Police are peaceful today, but maybe not tomorrow.
- The movement is non-violent. If anyone tries to start something, they will be immediately removed.
- Be sure to sign up for the movement to get information about protests.
- Fight for privacy now so that our children can be free later.
- Watch out for moles and spies. (Jeremy and I shared a glance over this one, knowing we didn’t belong.)
- Support small business
- A long story about the cops trying to unjustly arrest him.
There are certain politicians and speakers who have opinions I don’t agree with. But when I hear that person speak, a lightbulb goes off as the audience eats out of the palm of his/her hand. Charismatic and passionate public speakers can make people believe anything. These public speakers fell short.
I felt confused and frustrated. They weren’t convincing or informative. Yet, the crowd was totally onboard.
I looked around me to learn more. Here is a breakdown of the arguments that were being made:
1. My Body, My Choice: Hippie Edition
A man with a guitar came up to me, “You look like you’re healthy! Hi, I’m Rylie!” I told myself I wouldn’t get into any debates. I was choosing to insert myself into someone else’s protest, and I felt it necessary to allow them the free speech they deserve. But I couldn’t resist a big of digging….
His stance was that we need to fight the system and stop putting chemicals into our bodies. Eat from the land! No prescription drugs! No vaccine! I asked how we would feed the world’s population year round without preservatives. He didn’t have an answer.
This anti-vax opinion is the one I can understand. If you grow and raise your own food and have made the choice to opt for traditional healing and herbal medicine, I get it.
2. My Body My Choice: Personal Freedom Edition
I am a strong proponent of allowing people to be in control of their own bodies. People should be able to dress how they want, eat what they want, marry who they want, drink what they want, and take on the lifestyle they see fit. For this argument to be consistent, it also means we should legalize all drugs, prostitution, and the organ market. It’s my body, and it’s my choice to do drugs, sell a kidney, or become a sex worker.
There one condition: My choices can’t impair your ability to make a choice.
If your decision to remain unvaccinated results in spreading COVID to people who haven’t had the opportunity to get vaccinated yet, you’re infringing on their bodies.
Perhaps you disagree, which leads me to a somber fact: freedom doesn’t exist.
In July 2020, I explored the idea in Life, Liberty, and the Freedom to Not Wear a Mask?
A truly free society would mean no laws, police, or regulations. All citizens would be “free” to steal from grocery stores, coerce people to do things at gun point, drive like a maniac, pay no attention to health code, so on and so forth. It would be nice to believe that individuals would do the “right” thing to create the most aggregate good, but alas, you and I both know that would never happen; a Utopian society simply cannot exist, and “right” and “wrong” are relative.
We do not actually want freedom, rather, we want to be the key master to our own shackles and chains.
As a result, we have agreed to a social contract where the government provides national security, regulates currency, mitigates externalities (air pollution, programs to alleviate hunger, etc), and protects our asserted natural rights of life, liberty and property via laws and a functioning justice system. In exchange, we pay taxes and abide by those rules. If the government fails us, we can vote out our representatives and sign petitions for change. If we fail the government, we get punished through fines and prison
3. COVID Is a Lie!!
Australian news and media has done a particularly bad job on COVID reporting. People distrust the information as a result. However, COVID-19 does exist. Plain and simple
4. Vaccine Dangers, “I Am Not a Lab Rat!”
According to the CDC, there have been 6,789 reported death due to COVID vaccines. Which is a death rate of .0019%.
Every piece of research I’ve read has shown that the vaccine risks are incredibly low compared to the risks of contracting COVID. Here are just a few! I’d encourage clicking on the links and looking at the actual studies.
- HERE are FAQS from the World Health Organization.
- HERE are FAQS from the Mayo Clinic.
- HERE are FAQS from the CDC.
- HERE is information on vaccine safety monitoring in Australia.
- HERE is a wonderful breakdown of 5 vaccines by Jaimie Meyer of Yale Medicine.
- THIS article breaks down precautions used to ensure vaccine safety.
- THIS article by Jennifer Falk at Mercer University does an awesome job answering 5 vaccinate hesitancy questions.
- THIS article from Axia Women’s Health busts myths and reveals vaccines with a focus on women.
Do you still believe that vaccines have been created by greedy elite?
Demographically, vaccine hesitancy in Western countries is more common in low-income and underserved communities where people statistically have less money, less education, and less opportunities. This demographic is more likely to distrust the government, the elite, and news, which translates to distrusting the vaccine’s safety.
Meanwhile, people with a higher income and more education are getting vaccinated. I agree that the big guys up top often use and abuse the people below them. But if the vaccine is unsafe and dangerous, why were these “greedy elite” the first in line to snag a jab?
The logic just doesn’t add up.
Click HERE for information on vaccine hesitancy in Australia.
Click HERE for information on vaccine hesitancy in the UK.
Click HERE for information on vaccine hesitancy across the globe.
.Click HERE and HERE for information on vaccine hesitancy in the US.
5. Save Our Children
The “Save Our Children” angle was extremely popular, and one that was new to me.
In regards to fighting closing schools, I get it. Learning from home, being in and out of the classroom, and missing out on social interactions will likely have severe effects on growth and development. Children can’t vote and they don’t have representation in politics, meaning they can’t stand up for themselves.
In regards to fighting lockdowns, I get it. Big wage gaps and income inequality create a divided society, and this gap is being cranked open with lockdowns. The rich can still work. In fact, some are making more money now than ever. Meanwhile, the lower and middle classes are having their lives completely flipped upside down. Leveling out the playing field so all children have the same opportunities is a worthy cause for a brighter future.
In regards to the vaccine, the threat of climate change to future generations is far more terrifying.
6. The Jesus Justification
There were a handful of signs, like the one above, indicating religious reasons to not get the vaccine. While some religious followers believe vaccines are a way of defying their respective god, the general message from religious leaders is that vaccines are crucial for helping humanity.
I headed to Google to find out more.
Many religious leaders, including the Pope and the Dalai Lama, have publicly received their vaccines and are encouraging everyone to do the same. The vaccine doesn’t contain porcine ingredients, bovine gelatin, or fetal cell lines, which means it’s respectively okay by guidelines set in Islam, Hindu, and certain Christian sects. (Click HERE for a great break down COVID vaccines and religion. Click HERE for a great discussion of general vaccines and religion.)
Here are some sources to learn more:
- What Does Faith Have to Say About the COVID-19 Vaccine?: A fascinating conversation between four religious leaders.
- Catholic Moral Teaching and Tradition on COVID-19 Vaccines
- As a Muslim Doctor, I Don’t Say Vaccination is Permissible, I say It Is Obligatory
- Should Christians Get Vaccinated?
7. The Root of the Movement: Anti-Government, Anti-Elite, Anti-Lockdowns
Lockdowns send high wage earners to their home office while sending the working class and small business owners into financial upheaval. Government support money isn’t always enough to foot the bills. People feel repressed, trapped, fed up, and lied to as freedoms and privacy have been taken away.
My Two Cents…..
I walked into this protest expecting it to be centered around the vaccine. But the anti-vax opinions are a mere biproduct of the bigger battle: government repression, privacy infringements, and inequality.
There have been 981 deaths in Australia as of August 23rd 2021, and the life-threatening nature of COVID is two steps removed. The worldwide COVID death toll is 4,443,801 people (also as of August 23rd), but reading about lives lost is different than experiencing it. As a result, some people see lockdowns, contact tracing, mask mandates, and border closures as shackles and chains rather than life saving measures.
There is a solution for Australians to get their freedoms back and for the government to save lives:
the vaccine.
The fight against COVID has become a war against misinformation. It’s time to search for the truth, spread the truth, and come together to beat this thing once for a better future.
8 thoughts on “Anti-Lockdowns, Anti-Vax, Anti-Elitism: The Root Causes of the Australian Protests, Revealed”
hey Katie. I dont seem to be getting email notifications when you post anymore. Probably for a few weeks now that I think about sorry for just realising it. I think one thing that comes from the distrust that has festered is that people just DONT BELIEVE anything they here. like I know there are people that still believe there is no such thing as Covid. It seems ridiculous. people would sooner believe some dude on Twitter than anything read in the paper written by a journalist because journalists can be ‘got at’. People have said this to me. I dont know where to start or how to counter someone who is brainwashed who tells me pre-emptively that I am brainwashed instead. I question. I research. i read multiple sources. but its like a cult Katie. And obviously this goes way beyond those who choose to protest. the protests bring out the real right wing Trumpists of society. anyways I get great 5G now that I’m vaccinated and the government is the bestest ever.
honestly living with people who ignore facts because someone one twitter said something that made sense to them for whatever reason and now its a movement… its actually really affecting me to be honest. Its really tough we are in lockdown I would say for at least another month in Melbourne. and i cant escape these views…
Hey Andy! I recently have given the website a facelift and migrated from wordpress.com to wordpress.org… but I’m admitedly having a tough time figuring out the kinks….
I agree with you! I think there are so many parallels seen in the US and Australia. The root of it is education, and learning how to research and examine sources. That’s why I love blogging… it s a chance to give people links to credible sources that hopefully will translate to learning something! Ignorance can be fought with knowledge, although the battle isn’t always easy…
Speaking as a non-Australian I am disappointed to see that so many in your country seem to want to associate themselves with the Trump-type followers that the ex-President of the USA attracted there. If any Nazism is around, it is with them, the violence, the attempt to destroy other people’s safety, the stupidity of believing shamans who have their own agenda and their extremely idiotic slogans. I am particularly incensed with their attempts to co-opt the slogans of the life-denying anti-abortionists in the USA as their own, the My Body My Life ones. I used to love going to Australia. I will be some time before I will forget the visions of hatred I’ve seen on my TV in recent days. A sad day for a lovely land.
It’s quite interesting because I’m not Australia, but I’ve been here for just about a year. I have been so surprised by how the current anti-vax and anti-lockdown movement is mirroring what is happening in the US. The two government and two countries are extremely different, and the copy and paste approach leads me to believe that people aren’t forming these opinions on their own. Critical thinking and education are essential for fighting misinformation, and I hope to continue sharing meaningful research to help get down to the truth!
Hi there… interesting take on the fight for freedom. I am just confused as to your solution of getting vaccinated as the only way to get our freedoms back… I am from the UK and have fled to South America as (although not as bad a aus) England had the same totalitarian way of “flattening the curve”. By locking everyone up until they are vaccinated… even thought the vaccine doesn’t stop you from getting it or transmitting it. And a worrying amount of people reporting severe side effects (not just death) with the manufacturers of these vaccines swerving liability from the harm they cause. I truly believe that everyone has the right to do whatever they want. Vaccine or no vaccine your body your choice. If you had the vaccine surely you would be protected, right? Then why on Earth would someone that has not had it, be of risk to someone that has? Does this make sense to you? Because it sure as hell doesn’t make sense to me.
Hey Sasha, thanks for sharing your thoughts! Please send any research my way about the negative side effects! I didn’t find anything that proved the risks outweigh the benefits, but I certainly would love to read anything that proves otherwise.
I think the issue arises in the fact that the virus will have the potential to continue morphing into new variants the longer it continues. So my question for you is how do we end this? Herd immunity? Allow people to get sick? Better medications to lessen the severity of the symptoms? It seems to me like the vaccine is the fastest, most effective way to stop COVID.
Good morning Katie
Thank you for taking the time to read my reply and responding to it in an open way. I want to say I think it’s really important at the moment to have these discussions, asking questions about scary situations such as we find ourselves in is healthy… and natural!
These drugs are still being rolled out under emergency use which means we do not yet understand how it will effect our bodies in the long term. I was part of a Facebook group with over 150,000 members reporting severe side effects such as heart attacks, strokes, limb weakness (some so severe they are now on ventilators, or in wheelchairs) which was just deleted one day. As well as a group with around 20,000 women reporting adverse menstrual problems bleeding so heavily, some post menopausal, which was also removed. Along with the censoring of some really important information that shows both sides of the vaccine/ non vaccine argument. Children have more chance of being struck by lightening than dying from covid so why on Earth are we pushing to vaccinate 12-16 year olds in the coming month? Due to this heavy censorship a lot of the videos and articles I previously have had saved are no longer available. The information from the government websites and even google have been carefully selected of what we can actually research. I do agree with you there are a lot of very loud, worrying voices out there that are spreading misinformation. But some of these questions are genuine, valid concerns that have every right to be asked.
I also read your blog in which you described your experience of getting the vaccine, I am so pleased you felt liberated and safe afterwards. Good for you, I love that. But what worries me is there was no mention of the possible side effects that you may incur. They asked you about pregnancy and any allergies but did they give you the risks? They monitored you for 15 minutes after but did they give you the information about the yellow card scheme in which people can report the side effects they may experience? This is vital information in which we can learn about how these vaccines effect us and their effectiveness on preventing the virus.
One more point to add… the most effective ways to safeguard your health is with good diet, exercise and mindfulness. Where is the advise from public health to look after yourself properly? In my experience those that had been hit hardest by this virus are those that are in bad shape. Where are the subsidies on fruits and veg? Guidance of meditation? Streamed exercise classes? Encouragement of fresh air. Your immune system works just like your cardiovascular system with proper exercise and exposure to the outside world and germs it functions well by creating the defence systems in order to fight these nasties, naturally. People that are obese think they have done their bit by receiving a shot and continue to lecture us about what we put into our bodies (just as an example). The protecting other people card doesn’t wash with me because the argument just doesn’t make sense.
So I’m still confused about the variant dilemma… I’m sure that pharmaceutical companies will be able to develop ongoing treatments as we learn more about this virus. As they so rapidly did with the current vaccines on the market. So my question to you still stands: if you are vaccinated and protected and I am not what risk do I then pose to you if you are protected?
Hey Sasha,
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I agree that it’s important to have such open conversations. Everyone wants the same thing: the population to be happy and healthy. It’s a matter of listening, researching, and discussing rather than blindly yelling from across the aisle to figure out how to get there.
The root of our disagreement comes from our own personal research. I’ve been reading studies and reports from countries across the world, and the message is the same: the vaccine is safer than COVID. I have no doubt that some information is missing and there are flaws, but the fact that so many different countries have reached the same conclusion shouldn’t be ignored. (Here is a link with a great chart on the fatality rates of COVID from Johns Hopkins: https://ourworldindata.org/mortality-risk-covid. While the fatality rates are declining, 1%-5% is significantly higher than the .0019% fatality rate of the vaccine.)
As a professional dancer, I am very conscious about what I choose to put into my body, and I 100% agree with you that we need question every pill, drug, genetically modified food, and shot a doctor may prescribe. I refuse to take any prescribed opiates and the money-hungry nature of big-pharma is ruining so many lives (Perhaps I’ll save that discussion for another post…) I couldn’t agree with you more that the message of a balanced diet and exercise is essential. However, people refuse the vaccine, get hospitalized, then end up putting far more substances into their bodies anyways. Of course this isn’t everybody, but an important point.
With that being said, I thoroughly explored the potential risks of getting my jab, weighed it up to my risks of getting COVID, and concluded that it was the right choice for me. (During my jab the nurses did give me some information, but I won’t lie and say it was thorough.)
In regards to your final question, the rising number of breakthrough cases certainly can’t be ignored. The current percentage rate is very low, and the odds of getting seriously ill are even lower. But it’s the fact that the trend is going up which is worrisome. However, I think the real problem lies in the overrun hospitals and ICU beds, which is a problem many countries are facing. Not only does it put extreme stresses on the respective medical systems, but it also means that people with non-COVID related illnesses and conditions aren’t able to get the medical treatment they need.
The internet makes confirmation incredibly easy. I am pro-vax, you are anti-vax, and we both will subconsciously find information that agrees with our respective opinions via news, groups, social media, etc. And that’s why it’s so great to have these conversations to help understand the other side to get closer to the shared goal: let’s all be healthy!