Throughout the modern era’s magic bullet conspiracy, aka the dubious public health emergency named COVID-19, we have seen…a mysterious commune between the polarising ideals of left and right. As the puzzling voice of trade unions scuppers the early easing of lockdown, a strange chorus from friends and allies on the left begs to be spared the perils of rebooting the economy one moment too soon, and otherworldly communist ovations for political leaders.
Equally uncanny are the socialist programs running in stealth mode in conservative and republican strongholds. As authoritarians take over the means of production (orprohibit it entirely), migrate from a free market economy to a planned economy, aNew Deal has been unveiled, and importantly, Western democracies are following China’s lead.
Same as it ever was – the customary global hegemony calls the shots and nation states fall in line. World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations (UN) and World Bank. Vanguards of Capitalism, right?
Wrong. Those organisations were founded by socialists on socialist principles. As we shall explore. The same socialism that would ringfence our fast disappearing freedoms under the stockade of totalitarianism. That’s the general trade-off for state ownership of the means of production.
As a threadbare minority forcibly ruling over a majority, politicians are fully aware of their tenuous position. Especially the potential for insurgency amongst non-confirming social groups. Because if those citizens ever got round to lifting their blinkers, they would soon enough realise the gravity of their situation, and take it upon themselves to violently transform society, in a manner unfavourable to the state. That would resolutely bring about the end of the political-age as we know it. Accordingly, politicians’ resort to arcane methods of manipulation, counterinsurgency and divide and rule, in order to eliminate the power of the people. Do not be under any false assumptions, politicians are not looking to dilute their market share, they are looking for full market capitalisation. Otherwise known as collectivism.
Which leads us to…the enduring state of emergency – the modern era’s political weapon which armours the state’s tenuous position and robs the people of their power. From 9/11, through climate change to the pandemic, the harvest of each event suspends democracy and compounds collectivism. The rise of totalitarianism in Nazi Germany, for example, happened once the people surrendered their rights for protections against a common threat. As in the case of the burning down of the Reichstag. A practice that has been refined over 70-years, culminating in COVID-19, the most politicized disease in history.
We must also acknowledge – the state has always been a predator. Whether marauding despot, kings or thieves unashamedly plundering, or legitimate authoritarian hiding behind the law. Not much has changed throughout history, with the exception of the methods used by the state to stalk more power.
These have indeed become more sophisticated. Because with legitimacy, power becomes authority, skulking behind the virtues of democracy. Which in times of emergencies (or universal deceit), can be used to advance society towards collectivism. As in the case of the Russian Revolution – that transferred power from the illegitimacy of the Tsar, to the legitimacy of the Bolsheviks. Comparable to our current predicament, where the British government has forcibly enlisted each and every one of us. Thus, organising a cult around their centralised power structure, in the Bolshevik tradition, that means giving up our ill-conceived freedoms for protection against the pandemic.
This collectivism is achieved through the public’s inherent desire for a reputedly fairer and safer society and it is based on science. Or more precisely, the political establishment’s obsession with studying human nature as a specimen in a glass jar. Weaponizing the best research in sociology, psychology and behaviourism, from the likes of Freud. That makes government masters at operating our levers, especially those that drive us towards fear and groupthink, using the shock doctrine of emergency, that paints a pretty picture of salvation, waiting in the collectivist wings, once our consent is granted.
This is the gradualist approach to manipulating society: from the closure of non-essential shops, to the lockdown, to mandatory facemasks on public transport, to mandatory facemasks in all public spaces, to whatever hideous new regulation lurks behind the previous one. Until the cannon smoke settles on the battlefield and we can clearly see Fabian devilry at work, as the public is taken through the labyrinth of monumental change, by a ‘body of experts. In this instance, SAGE, Imperial College and the WHO. As we shall explore in Part II.
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