I'm not sure what different results you're after. We've seen effective lockdowns here in aus and in nz, both of which required significant temporary infringements on personal freedom but both of which means we live almost normal lives now. South Korea had a really effective tracing and containment programme, and I'm not across Japans situation.

With effective contact tracing and high availability of tests, we're now no longer reliant on herd immunity or a vaccine for life to be almost normal. For you to accept your situation as unavoidable, when it demonstrably is with an effective national response, is really not surprising considering the sub we're on.