Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a protest against vaccines?
No.
Out of Lockstep is simply supportive of medical privacy and each individual’s right to informed consent free from coercion, bribery, threats, and stigmatization. We value the process of scientific research and peer review. We have enormous levels of respect for accomplished, educated, thoughtful professionals who have dedicated their lives to observing, collecting and analyzing scientific data.
However, informed consent requires truthful, open access to empirical data about the product being used, including accurate information about both the benefits and the risks. In the absence of that information, many people jump to inaccurate conclusions and respond to the situation with emotions rather than reason, anger rather than understanding.
While some people enthusiastically embraced the vaccines, wanted to be the first in line to receive them, and are still alive today because of the vaccines, others were wary of the risks/side effects and traumatized by how they were treated even by family and close friends as a result of that skepticism. Both of those viewpoints, and everything in between, is someone’s personal lived experience, and we believe is unacceptable to deny or invalidate that.
Out of Lockstep does, however, satirize and critique vaccine passports and some of the social phenomena that surrounded the vaccine rollout because the passports were/are a violation of medical privacy and consent. There was also a lack of scientific evidence to support vaccine passports in regards to entirely stopping disease transmission.
What is your view on the COVID-19 virus itself?
The ideology of Out of Lockstep aligns with epidemiologists such as Dr. Sunetra Gupta who explained in one interview that, “we are not walking bags of germs”.
Out of Lockstep does not deny the existence of COVID-19, the impact the actual virus had on countless individuals who were disabled by it, or the tragedy of each death that occurred because of it. The artistic director of Out of Lockstep personally experienced a prolonged COVID-19 infection late in 2021 into early 2022 and lost a close relative around the same time due to a combination of the disease itself and the despair that relative felt about his personal life situation.
A portion of Out of Lockstep is designed to memorialize and honor the people who were lost to virus, in addition to those lost from deaths of despair or delayed medical treatments during the pandemic.
Forcing people to die alone while their loved ones were denied the closure of being with them was a profound violation of human rights and the social contract. Out of Lockstep’s memorial aims to remember the dead not as statistics used to terrorize, guilt and control the living but as individual people who lead meaningful and unique lives and are missed now.
Is this affiliated with any political party, candidate, or “side” of the “culture war”?
No.
While Out of Lockstep does directly criticize some political leaders who were notable for having a more heavy-handed approach to attempted virus mitigation, we do not endorse or support any candidates or parties, even those who are popularly associated with the anti-lockdown movement.
The criticism of lockdowns and other restrictions goes beyond the left/right political divide and draws together people who would not have been associated with each other under different circumstances.
Notable left wing personalities such as Keith McHenry, the founder of Food Not Bombs, and Dr Naomi Wolf, author and CEO of Daily Clout, are examples of people who have diverged from the mainstream left’s views on COVID-19 restrictions. Other outspoken critics of the lockdowns are predictably associated with the political right wing, such as Tamara Lich, the organizer of the Canadian Freedom Convoy, Candace Owens, talk show host and author of “Blackout”, and British rapper Zuby.
The Great Barrington Declaration, a central document in the anti-lockdown movement, describes the signers as, “Coming from both the left and right, and around the world”.
Many people who were associated with the political left wing before 2020 but criticized lockdowns and other restrictions found themselves ostracized by former friends and allies due to their questions, thoughts, and even intuitions and feelings– which were involuntary– regarding lockdowns and other restrictions. Lockdown skeptics from the left often felt “politically homeless” and struggled socially and emotionally as a result. Reasonable and well-spoken libertarians and conservatives often welcomed those people into their social and political circles. This led to open, non-judgmental dialogue between people who had many differences between each other but saw an urgent need to focus on their similarities and find solidarity with each other.
When Dr Naomi Wolf appeared on The Tucker Carlson Show in February 2021, Tucker Carlson introduced her by saying she was “undoubtedly losing friends” and acknowledging that he was certain they “disagreed on an awful lot” before showcasing her talking points about the vaccine passport controversy. Countless interactions of that sort took place on a less visible scale worldwide, both face-to-face and over the internet.
Anti-lockdown activists are united as advocates of the importance of the universal and inalienable rights of the individual over the alleged “greater good” as defined by authorities. They draw their ideology from backgrounds that range from the free market libertarianism expressed by AIER to the working-class populism in The Bellows. The philosophy behind the anti-lockdown movement is often reminiscent of Classic Liberal writers such as John Locke and Thomas Paine who defined the Enlightenment Era and shaped civilization for over two centuries.
What do the symbols on this page mean?
The logo in the header depicts a phoenix taking flight.
Myths about the phoenix date back to Ancient times, and the stories of the firebird being reborn from ashes represents rebirth or resurrection. For many people, the “new normal” has been a time of death and despair; it felt like the world was ending at times. The phoenix symbolizes hope for the future and the possibility of a new Enlightenment.
The logo in the footer is the ama-gi, which is a Sumerian cuneiform and the oldest symbol for “freedom” in existence.
Rather than representing individualistic ideas of “freedom”, however, it represents the idea that people who are socially connected are free, because they can protect each other from exploitation and enslavement. It also can be translated as “return to home”, which is a perfect metaphor for the desire to reject the “new normal”.