What would you have them done otherwise? Difficult decisions had to be made, and locking everyone down is impossible. Like it or not there are essential workers. They should have gotten major hazard pay imo. There’s no one else to make that call but government. Sure it can be abused, but that’s true of anything always.

Are you reading conspiracy theories? https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-covid-lockdown-masks-tsa-445214096334

Everyone should abide by the rules in place, especially those that vote for the restricts. I agree with you 100%

You are conflating a lot of things with your last point. The early lockdowns were in late March and April, and the gatherings were protests in the Summer. The initial lock downs were during a time of limited to no knowledge on what we were dealing with. Wearing masks and staying inside are pretty much standard pandemic response. By the summer we had much more information indicating that spread was mostly done indoors. I don’t know what events you’re talking about during lockdowns but I can only imagine your talking about the George Floyd protests, and those are different. They did however seem to suggest that outdoor transmission wasn’t happening as there were never any major links found.

The kind of governmental abuse you are worried about can literally happen for any reason anytime. Health emergency restrictions weren’t new for Covid 19. I think you’re falling victim to online conspiracy theories and propaganda given the link I posted above.