I can see it from that perspective, I have some friends who think the same way. I wouldn't say it's a minority position, but I think both are true to some extent.
At some point, it becomes to difficult to pretend that all of these things are organic, such as all governments agreeing to shut down their countries and enforce the same 'guidelines' unilaterally. The few leaders who didn't, mysteriously died.
The 'coincidences' only ever trend in the direction of the state. To me, its the same type of gaslighting (from state actors) as suggesting autism has solely gone up because of the way it is diagnosed. 'Experts are baffled. It may be red meat and racism.' type of nonsense.
Pfizer gave their own people shots from a different batch than what was given to everyone else. People aren't heroes, they are just looking out for themselves, and in doing so they remain complicit, knowingly or ignorantly.
"They" - the controllers, bankers, secret societies and elite families have been shaping the landscape forever. It is an incestuous revolving door between organizations, governmental and private, that all work against the people for themselves.
Most are not in on some secret plan, but they are still working within a system that perpetuates the narratives set forth by think-tanks. There is a hierarchy to policy planning and distribution, it can only be top-down. We know the organizations that set and distribute the policies. We know who the members of these things are. They openly brag about infiltrating governments.
Compliance is mandated at all levels in varying ways, but the policies come from those nearest the levers of control.
They react this way to resistance because it threatens them. We must be resisting at all times. It isn't futile, this is a continuous cycle that ebbs and flows throughout history. That is my perspective, of course. I'm not saying it is correct or that you should think the same, fwiw. It just makes sense to me.