Mr Individual: I seriously don't want to enter in to debate.
But I must comment on the general tone of your post.
It seems rather negative.
I hope I am reading it wrongly.
I really don't see us as failing to be good citizens.
Generally speaking, I find those around me to be forthright and clear thinking.
I cannot conceive of a more estimable group of persons.
I feel safe surrounded by a crowd such as they.
(as long as they are not 'beside the lake, beneath the trees'...)
And we live in a democracy.
So majority opinion counts.
Where the majority goeth, there goeth all?
I think I am seriously fortunate to live at this present time in history.
In what I think is the best country in the world.
So in spite of its sundry 'wrinkles', I would not exchange it for another.
Now let's get on with holding the government to account....

I think its inevitable. Most people would also support it as they all ways do. They will always trade safety for security. Just need some attack justified or not, Look what happened in the US after 9/11, let alone in Australia and each year it gets worse. But as long as people can drive their car, watch football on the TV and buy a pie or Chiko roll, they seem unfortunately content.

One things for sure, we wont be taking up arms if we're ever invaded and doing as Ukrainian citizens have done, nor are we as prepared as the Finns who have been reading their citizens and society since WW11, we turned the other way.

Many rave on about how great a Democracy the West is. How can we claim to be democratic yet have an opposition to Govt ?
It makes sense to some but I doubt if someone who can think without the help of others would think of such a system as workable for all !

Given the loss of freedoms during Covid
ttbn,
The above sentence is an incorrect insinuation. People ruined their freedom to move by moving in an out-of-control willy-nilly manner which caused the uncontrollable mixing of viruses & deceases.
Govts clamped down so the viruses etc. can be gotten under some sort of control as much as humanly possible but the masses of silly, selfish humans think themselves into being discriminated against. The lock-downs were put in place to save humans from the many silly humans. That's all there's to it !
Since our great Western Democracies give tax Dollars to their oppositions to undermine the incumbent Govt then well, don't expect things to improve soon !

I really don't see us as failing to be good citizens.
Foxy, Foxy !

Interesting article which (as evidenced by the range of responses) raises many issues.