Did We Lock Ourselves Down ???

Here is an interesting report which appears to prove most people locked themselves down prior to the issuance of government rules to do so:

https://quillette.com/2020/05/08/enough-with-the-phoney-lockdown-debate/

In a way this makes sense, since most people are aware of world events AND have an instinct for self preservation.

I have a few observations about this report and the general subject matter:

a. Clearly, we are being intensively monitored both by governments AND private corporations and organizations. Why then the hysteria over "contact tracing"? We mostly slept while this surveillance state was constructed without our consent, so we've got no one to blame except ourselves.

b. Have you noticed how many of these surveillance-related applications have been developed and/or implemented by Israelis? What's up with that?

c. Research appears to confirm the commonsense belief that closing borders is an effective strategy for combating a pandemic. Too bad the US doesn't think so:

https://summit.news/2020/05/08/scientific-research-finds-that-closing-borders-is-most-effective-way-of-combatting-coronavirus/

d. The main difference between outcomes in Sweden and the US may be that US residents are unwilling to follow simple, effective rules which would slow or stop spread of the virus:

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/05/08/mark-cuban-says-hired-secret-shoppers-see-how-dallas-businesses-reopening/

e. Many think the US government has failed us:

https://news.trust.org/item/20200507135750-21gxq

I tend to agree, but this is a complex issue. For the last few decades we have "elected" government leaders who stood by while important social safety nets were dismantled and replaced with a "you're on your own, so get a job if you can" way of life. They also facilitated the transfer of just about ALL wealth from the poor and middle classes to a few extremely rich people. Considering that, just what did we expect to happen when the shit hit the fan? The US government didn't "fail us", it aided its true and only constituents - oligarchs, bank gangsters, corporate CEOs, and their collaborators in the one percent.

In effect, the rest of us have no government at all.