Deliberate because it works and it has been proven to be a disruption
Just because they created COVID to crash the economy as it was the only way to get rid of Trump worked last time doesn’t mean it will work this time
My own personal observation is that a large majority of people have become skeptical of all the overreaction, and are far less likely to follow unreasonable restrictions, and have lost confidence in government-controlled health and science institutions. This seems to be among people I know who behaved like sheep during Covid; I think they’re learning.