Discussion: The Morality of Lockdown

faceman

Like many of you, I've noticed an increased open discussion on the comment and criticism of fellow citizen's behaviour during these unprecedented times and which has me thinking a lot about the moral dilemma we have in front of us. I'd love to hear your constructive thoughts on the matter. The below paragraphs contain some hypothetical scenarios and examples for discussion only.


Legal Measures
Taking the legal measures now introduced overnight. While Im very supportive of the lockdown we have in place, I have so many questions about the new laws in place with legislation that hasn't been made publicly available (at the time of writing this post). Despite general compliance from the public, these measures are being introduced withwords like 'discretion' in describing the implementation by the Gardaí. When you lock that some of the scandals that rocked the Garda Siochana in the past, the handling of some events such as Shell to Sea, water protests etc, can we be confident in the new laws, their effectiveness and the long term maintenance of our civil liberties?

Taking discretion as an example. Hypothetical of course. Can a Garda decide that because you visited the shop yesterday that you cant visit it today and fine you? (This might be covered in the law already but I've not seen it mentioned)


"Ratting" out Neighbours
This is something that is being increasingly being discussed in public, when and if we should grass on our neighbours. A friend of mine mentioned that we don't see this type of discussion around reporting speeding drivers, or careless driving on the roads. While not directly comparable, it does highlight that our focus in the current issue is so razor focussed, we risk entering a state where we assume negative intention without assessing wider pictures. In other words, every jogger, dog walker, person that has a guest in their house, is perceived to be blatantly disrespecting the law, potentially. Realistically is every sole cyclist on the country backroads beyond 2km from his/her house really putting anyone at risk of catching Coronavirus? Is the person who visits the shop every day for something to do not more likely to be causing a greater issue? (again not my views, just using as example)


Weighing the Mental Health of the Nation
The toll this is taking on the mental health and well being of the nation is high. (Thankfully the government is aware of this). This toll is only going to increase in the coming months. What measures can be taken to address this? Does someone with severe depression be forgiven for putting a chair in his/her garden and chatting to his/her neighbours? (again asking the question not making it my viewpoint)

What about someone terminally ill who has a short time to live and will likely be isolated for the rest of the life without a chance to see family or friends in the final days/weeks?

CIARAN_BOYLE

faceman wrote: »

Like many of you, I've noticed an increased open discussion on the comment and criticism of fellow citizen's behaviour during these unprecedented times and which has me thinking a lot about the moral dilemma we have in front of us. I'd love to hear your constructive thoughts on the matter. The below paragraphs contain some hypothetical scenarios and examples for discussion only.


Legal Measures
Taking the legal measures now introduced overnight. While Im very supportive of the lockdown we have in place, I have so many questions about the new laws in place with legislation that hasn't been made publicly available (at the time of writing this post). Despite general compliance from the public, these measures are being introduced withwords like 'discretion' in describing the implementation by the Gardaí. When you lock that some of the scandals that rocked the Garda Siochana in the past, the handling of some events such as Shell to Sea, water protests etc, can we be confident in the new laws, their effectiveness and the long term maintenance of our civil liberties?

Taking discretion as an example. Hypothetical of course. Can a Garda decide that because you visited the shop yesterday that you cant visit it today and fine you? (This might be covered in the law already but I've not seen it mentioned)

???

Im trying to figure out if you are trolling or just lacking knowledge.

I'm trying to figure out what non publicly available laws you are talking about.

Both emergency laws passed in March is available on Irishstatutebook.ie. Certain powers were created in those laws but required a statutory instrument signed by an appropriate minister before being activated.

These have been publicly available for weeks now.

Beasty

TBH, even having a thread like this could encourage people not to follow the restrictions for "morality" reasons

One maybe for after the crisis, but we really should be encouraging full compliance by everyone at this time

Thread closed