- metadata: - source: https://michaelpsenger.substack.com/p/the-mainstream-begins-to-see-lockdowns?r=9vihr&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=direct - people: [[Michael P Senger]] --- # The Mainstream Begins to See Lockdowns were a Catastrophe > ## Excerpt > According to a recent study by the World Bank, published today in the journal Nature, lockdowns and the response to Covid-19 have pushed an additional 75 million people into extreme poverty, living on less than US $1.90 a day. In the typical Walter Duranty style that has become a kind of twisted journalistic norm since March 2020, the World Bank and Nature of course blame this on “the pandemic” rather than lockdowns. I remain baffled as to how such seemingly well-meaning people are able to sleep at night repeating such nonsense—are they somehow blind to the role of --- According to a recent study by the World Bank, [published today in the journal Nature](https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-022-01647-6/index.html), lockdowns and the response to Covid-19 have pushed an additional 75 million people into extreme poverty, living on less than US $1.90 a day. [](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F57e02e89-a8e0-461a-970b-5c7613160468_1321x767.png) In the typical Walter Duranty style that’s become a kind of twisted journalistic norm since March 2020, the World Bank and Nature of course blame this on “the pandemic” rather than lockdowns. I remain baffled as to how seemingly well-meaning people are able to sleep at night repeating such nonsense—are they somehow blind to the role of [their own sycophancy](https://michaelpsenger.substack.com/p/covid-19-and-the-will-to-power) in perpetuating these policies? Nonetheless, there are signs that the political mainstream is starting to realize lockdowns were a disaster. Today, the Wall Street Journal published an excellent piece titled [The Revenge of the Locked-Down Voters](https://www.wsj.com/articles/lockdowns-voters-biden-2022-2024-republicans-approval-ratings-airlines-business-unemployment-pandemic-election-11655925711), noting the growing political backlash against lockdown politicians from voters at the lower end of the income scale. [](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0870a20f-3b39-42f7-b8f0-5a4a0191033a_770x246.png) This comes shortly after the New York Times [quietly acknowledged a study](https://michaelpsenger.substack.com/p/lockdowns-killed-over-170000-americans) showing that Covid lockdowns and mandates led to over 170,000 excess deaths among young Americans. [](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F67e26a92-2646-44d7-a9ca-7a7970f61df0_491x153.png) Likewise, today the Daily Telegraph, the UK’s centre-right newspaper of record, published an excellent piece titled [Basket-case Britain is the definitive proof lockdown was an epic mistake](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/06/22/basket-case-britain-definitive-proof-lockdown-epic-mistake/). [](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3b711677-62fc-4bff-8947-cdef4758145d_894x276.png) And, as in America, this comes shortly after the London Times, the UK’s centre-left newspaper of record, [published a cautiously-introspective piece](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/i-totally-backed-the-lockdown-and-quite-enjoyed-it-but-was-i-just-a-mug-03nhzbqnq) on its support for lockdowns. [](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F02865f94-d895-4d66-98b4-f13b291907a0_999x572.png) These are promising indications that the political mainstream, especially on the right, is coming around to the fact that lockdowns were a policy catastrophe more quickly than some might have worried. [](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe16a6c4f-9e7c-49d0-ab0d-f73d91465e4f_3797x1305.png) Still, there’s much more to be done. Currently, the mainstream left and right are starting to realize lockdowns were a big mistake, while many career bureaucrats are still stuck pretending lockdowns were the greatest medical breakthrough since penicillin. There really needs to be a bipartisan consensus that lockdowns were an unprecedented policy catastrophe before we can start to see justice and have undue foreign and financial influence taken seriously. _Michael P Senger is an attorney and author of Snake Oil: How Xi Jinping Shut Down the World. Want to support my work? [Get the book](https://www.amazon.com/Snake-Oil-Jinping-Shut-World-ebook/dp/B09KPJQZWW/). Already got the book? 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