Almost as soon as I had put out my recent blawg about the origins of the fight about pandemic management policy, I felt a need to follow up on it. That one is still up here and not going anywhere.
That is in variance with other media posts on this topic, and in particular twitter posts, which seem to disappear as fast as they appear. Lately this seems especially true of anyone commenting on the vaccine passes and mandates issue. This has blown up recently within the circles I have been following on the net, creating a confusing and frustrating situation.
All this has caused me to rewrite this piece several times. Some people I have been following have changed their minds about it, or revealed their real feelings. I have had to reflect on the related topics in this as I try to write this.
My perspective is basically on the left ‘side’ of things, as is anyone with any real understanding. Why that is, is a subject for a blog or two in itself. However, this does not mean I am pleased with some of the nonsense which some nominally ‘left’ people, whom I had thought I understood, have surprised me with.
Greenwalded
A couple of bloggers I follow began expressing frustration and feelings of harassment, that people are insisting they get on one “side” or another of some debate related to Covid. I have no use for this basically Liberal idea that there are multiple truths and ‘sides’ to things. Sides are for dead meat, or team sports.
But the nonsense really kicked off with an article by a formerly ‘left’ journalist put out lately condemning public health measures in pandemic. He recited the right wing, “cost/benefit” argument against such measures. Find the article here. I will not refute it in detail, someone else has done a much better job on World Socialist Web Site.
I will just note that he compares the “let it run” versus “eternal lockdown” false dichotomy to the arguments about cars and planes. No cars or planes mean we return to an earlier age when most people were tied to where they lived. He cannot consider efficient public transportation.
From there, he goes on that it is either open everything up regardless of consequences or continue the bad effects of the lockdowns on poor people. Effective public health measures cannot be thought of, or income supports. As the WSWS article noted, the pandemic could be ended in two months for all classes of society, if these were just done right.
It is a little hard to believe that someone so supposedly left progressive, and well informed and intelligent, as this author presents to be, would not be aware of this. It leads me to conclude that, as with so many nominally ‘progressive’ writers, he is not what he says he is.
He has made a great show of being pushed out of more conservative media. But a long standing aim of the finance oligarchy is that it seeks to control both sides of all discussion. It seeks to manage mainstream left debate, but also keeps trying to get into the mind of more “middle of the road” thinkers, as well. It will often back contradictory ’sides’ to a discussion.
Chelseaed
Chelsea Manning, the noted whistleblower who spend seven years in a military prison for providing information to Julian Assange, fiercely denounced her old ally Greenwald over this article. She has already become critical of Assange as well. She is clearly wishing she had learned a basic lesson much earlier about involvement with apparently left individuals and networks.
That is, that they are quite often not what they seem to be. Sometimes they are deliberately deceptive. Sometimes they simply have not thought out their own beliefs well enough. For example, Julian Assange has a cult following of ‘left’ people looking to spring him from jail, but an examination of his beliefs reveals a right wing libertarian.
As further examples, I cite a couple of women bloggers I have followed. One is Australian and writes profusely, seeking to ‘hack capitalism’ and end our illusions. One is from New Zealand. She is living in Russia due to harassment by some sort of political cause stalking network in New Zealand.
The kiwi Lady has been building a replacement for twitter which I find very interesting. At this point it is more important to be able to evade the pro oligarchy censoring by the proprietary social media, than it is to shut down the blather and disinformation from all ‘sides’. She and her team have been crowdfunding for resources to get it going and they seem competent to complete this project.
Lately my two internet ladies had been upset about being pressured to take ‘sides’ in the vaxx/novaxx debate. I repeat that I have no patience with the idea that Truth is some kind of contest. Truth is what it is.
Now they have come down on the wrong side. One feels she has to stand up for Greenwald, which will put a lot of people off. I am concerned that it will divert her from her project and cause it to lose the funding it needs.
The other has become highly indignant about pandemic measures in Australia right when they are all being removed there with disastrous results to the public. She wrote an article about it and was indignant that no one responded to it. I will respond briefly to it further in this article. She should read it.
The Choicest Side
My two subequatorial blogging and new web platform building ladies seem to see themselves as ‘left’ people. What they really are is Liberals. That is, the ‘free speech, free exchange of ideas’ ideology.
This is the third side to most conflicts between left and right. This includes this argument about sound health measures versus warped ideas of civil liberties.
Liberalism is sometimes called the most dangerous ideology and the worst form of fanaticism. This is also worth a discussion in itself, with its own blog article. But to keep it really simple here, I recite the old truth that whoever refuses to choose sides in an ethical question, chooses the wrong side by default.
To proclaim the old falsism; “I disagree with what you say but fight for your right to say it” is to side with the worst form of fanaticism. If you claim to disagree with something but still want it to be said, you do not really disagree with it; you really have no ideas.
So here are the two halves into which to slice this carcass. On one side is pragmatism and regard for the Truth. I oppose multiple truths, multiple realities. I oppose ideologically based truth. I am on the side of The Truth, derived from facts.
On the other side is fanatical, dogmatic thinking not only from left and right but also the centre. Now, let me butcher the fanaticism swirling around the great pandemic, into these three sections.
Start with the Right side.
The best approach to this would be to just run down the rota of arguments against vaccine mandates. Most of them come from a paranoid, libertarian type of mentality. In other words, no real argument at all.
Obviously, people who do not want to show proof of vaccination cannot be employed in any occupation involving dealing with the public. It must also be a requirement where people are working in close quarters, the prime example being a meat processing plant.
It is like this; if you do not want to get vaccinated and show proof of vaccination, you are free to not go where these are required. It is in the same way that you are free to not drive a car if you do not wish to qualify for a driver’s license, or do not wish to follow the rules of the road.
Some of the right wing arguments are ridiculous from the get-go. Some are understandable, but understandable does not mean excusable. They still show a lack of sense and judgement. They include;
•Vaccination cards can violate privacy and promote data theft.
Yet you do not think twice about using a cell phone or a credit card, much greater threats to your anonymity and data security. Lobby for better public control over the internet, and better oversight of police and government agencies.
•People may have medical reasons why they cannot be vaccinated.
Medical reasons not to vaccinate are usually also medical reasons to stay away from places where you can catch viruses. Only a very small number of people are allergic to vaccine adjuvants. They can get a doctor’s letter.
•People may have religious objections to vaccination.
Okay, Reverend. You are too holy to be vaccinated, you are too holy to be where vaccination cards are required.
•The government cannot force upon me….
Go fuck a donkey.
•I want to wait and see…
This is a manifestation of government hesitance and ineptitude. If vaccines and other measures had simply been mandated, the public would overwhelmingly have complied. There would have been little sympathy for those criminally charged for counselling obstruction of public health measures.
•These vaccines were rushed. They may not be safe.
Again, this is a problem of weak government with bad communication strategies. But it is also a problem of a lack of good sense among so many people. Nothing is totally safe. The risks of getting the vaccines must be weighed against those of not getting them.
•Who knows what is in these vaccines. Women may be made infertile.
This is actually one of the more valid objections but still shows a lack of judgement. Misuse of vaccines in many instances in many parts of the world have created public health problems. There have indeed been instances where selected groups of people have been deliberately poisoned or sterilized by vaccines.
However, the history of these attempt shows that unless they have near total control of information, those attempting this will get caught out. Alas, they have been able to get out of the country before they get caught.
In the case of covid, everyone is getting the same vaccines. The logistics of slipping nefarious agents into only the doses consigned to the people of a specific area or social category, would be logistically impossible.
•People may not be able to get to a vaccination clinic, or get time off work.
In such cases, it is the responsibility of government to get the vaccine to where the people are. As well, anyone working for an employer so unreasonable that they will not give paid time off to get vaccinated, or better yet transport them to where the vaccines are, or even better, arrange to bring the vaccine to the workplace, needs to find a better job.
•People may simply be misinformed…
People have a basic responsibility to get themselves rightly informed. I am disturbed by the general unwillingness to make any effort at this.
Now from the Left
The scariest thing about Left fanatics when it comes to covid is the way they want to treat the anti-vaxxers. Actually strapping people down and forcibly vaccinating them is of course not something I would countenance. The idea that people who have refused vaccination should be denied medical treatment, or treated differently in the hospital, is also abhorrent.
With hard core anti vaxxers, their ideology is part of their justification for their mental problems and sociopathic behaviour. They have declared war on reality and humanity and are generally beyond hope. They deserve no sympathy.
But soft anti vaxxers, the vaccine hesitant, are people confused and manipulated by propaganda and more hard core people. They are usually reachable if approached in the right way. Unfortunately hard leftists see only a monolithic mass they have no response to other than to attack hysterically and in futility.
The antivaxx movement is being created and used by a political machine for its purposes. It is those organizing the antivaxx campaign who need to be identified and taken on, their machine dismantled. That seems to be too much for most ‘left’ people and groupings.
There is another ugly thing about ‘left’ super vaxxers. A lot of them have got this idea that the pandemic is over for you as soon as you are vaccinated. Continuing with mask mandates and keeping schools and some other institutions closed, means you are rejecting vaccinations. They do not acknowledge that there are still “breakthrough” infections.
This is the extent of my differences with even the most hot headed left view of covid measures.
As a big fan of socialism, I like governments. When run with even a mild competence and integrity, they deliver civilization. I want government to have the information it needs to plan and govern, and to police real anti-social elements in society.
I am an admirer of the Chinese Communist Party’s handling of the pandemic. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is my sweetheart. I hear the heads of countless ardent civil libertarians exploding as I type this.
Now from the Centre
Some people have noticed an apparent congruence between civil liberties idealists of the far left and far right. There is supposed to be a split in the left among pro and anti lockdown and vaccine card people. I do not think this difference really exists.
The left anti-vaxxers are the phoney left, who should really be classified with the centre or liberal fanatics. Right wing fanatics classify anyone not them as ‘left’ and ‘communist’. Real Left fanatics also have trouble seeing the ‘Liberal’ area of the fanaticism spectrum.
Ideological Liberals/progressives have a tendency to see themselves as ‘left’, or to want to portray themselves as left. They tend to make out as being deeply hurt and offended when they get their hypocritical ideas thrown back at them. They then start talking in that most liberal of tropes, the idea of “free speech”.
The other big Liberal idea is Civil Liberties. This is what tends to link them to The Right. Civil Liberties is the dogma of the barrack room lawyer. It has nothing to do with real freedom, a subject I will get to further on.
To return to my Australian lady internet friend; she has proven to be a typical civil libertarian in being unable to square people’s right to exist and be safe with the obligation to follow some basic rules which enable that. Especially, she cannot reconcile vaccine “passports” with ending lockdowns. One requires the other.
Yes, lockdowns have been poorly managed in most places. If public health was funded and organized properly before an emergency developed, and if qualified people were able to run it without being shoved aside by jackass politicians, the lockdowns would have been run a lot better.
My subject’s thinking has now deteriorated to the point where she is reciting the nonsense; “it was proved that zero covid is unattainable”. Close to Australia are two countries which easily attained and maintained covid zero. One is Australia’s main export market. The other shares a language and heritage.
She is concerned that Australia has no bill of rights. In Canada, we have had our Charter of Rights since 1982. It does us little good. If you have a few hundred thousand dollars, you can pay lawyers to debate for a few years about whether something “Offends The Charter”.
She seems to think a bill of rights would impair her government from doing those things to protect public health which civil libertarians do not like. In Canada the federal government has very clear powers under the Emergency Measures Act but refuses to use them. Many local governments are setting up their own vaccine pass systems, bypassing some of the more “covidiot” provincial governments.
Her Aussieness is annoyed that her fellow Aussies are a “very collectivist-minded population”, a strange thing for a self described socialist to say in that context. They have generally supported government pandemic measures.
However, it seems some civil disorders are starting against pandemic measures in Australia. Such things could be predicted by the intense right wing propaganda against normal pandemic measures. They will get more intense if they are not suppressed.
What they do not seem to have seen yet “Down Under” is antivaxx fanatics besieging hospitals and clinics, harassing and menacing patients and hospital workers. Up Over, we are getting very impatient with this sort of behaviour, and the failure of police to crack down on it. Increasing numbers of people, including me, support jailing these people.
That supposed ‘left’ activists are starting to come out against public health too, on some specious ‘civil liberties’ grounds, is disturbing but instructive.
The Side I am On.
The ‘left, right, and centre’ division has its uses in political analysis, but there is a more important divide. That is, the divide between ideological and pragmatic thinking. I am able to work with the pragmatic right, left, or centre. Increasingly, I have no use for ideological thinkers no matter where they are coming from.
I believe that pragmatic people generally have a realistic understanding of what real freedom is and is not about. It is not about waving a bill of rights around whenever inconvenienced by government actions. It is definitely not about being able to thumb one’s nose at common sense and the common good.
I will not here get into a detailed discussion of what real freedom is about. I will briefly state that its essence is in insuring to everyone the means to live a secure, dignified, and healthy existence. This can only be provided by a well organized government focussed on the public good.
It has been said many times that when good government is lacking, life becomes “nasty, brutish, and short” for most people. What the pandemic has shown is that government is inadequate in most places and if this is not corrected, life is going to start getting nastier, shorter, more brutish for many people.
Right now, covid seems set up to become a long term plague, fading away and flaring up again, creating havoc in society. It will go on until there is government in place which can govern. One blogger I follow has done a pretty good essay on this from an American perspective.
This requires getting people into power who have a regard for The Truth. It also entails silencing all the “free speech” type idiots, privileging only those who can speak intelligently, responsibly, and with regard for the Truth. Of course, what I mean is socialist revolutions.
The problem with this is that the real left is in so much disarray at present. However, more people are coming around to it. More people are rejecting ideological thinking and working at becoming more ‘fact based’.
A good start to that is becoming ‘fact based’ about covid. There are plenty of good information sources to counter the anti mask, anti lockdown, anti vaccine, anti everything that makes sense propaganda. People have to find them.
One of the best is “Hello Pandemic” newsletter from the “Nerdy Girls”, who like facts.
The twitter accounts to subscribe to are the ones from qualified people who are on the front lines of the pandemic; the doctors and scientists. Check out Billius27, AntibioticDoc, imgrund, and Bogochisaac These people are true heroes. They face hysterical attacks from the antivaxxers because they are the best counters to their propaganda.
I think I finally have this thing written and done. But I will be following up on the themes I have touched on. I have spent a lot of time on this, it contains ideas more people need to become familiar with, and it deserves to be referred far and wide.