The legacy, history, and truths of Covid Hysteria are being decided not by the victims, but by powerful institutions, the same institutions that created and spread the hysteria, defended the draconian policies, and persecuted millions of innocent people. This legacy is being written by an inward-looking, myopic, insulated wealthy group of individuals largely separate from the lives of ordinary people, whom they generally despise. Truth is true, regardless of the party in control of the political seats of power.
Real social change can only come through the freedom to testify, discuss, and acknowledge the personal suffering of millions during 3 years of Covid Hysteria. Regardless of your views on Covid-19, vaccines, or lockdowns, the suffering was real, the experience was real, and the pain was real. This is the truth of Covid-19, the only truth that truly matters.
During Covid Hysteria, the conventional wisdom was that an unhealthy bat caused an infectious disease to spread across the world. Good and honest people, along with trustworthy governments, worked hard to produce a vaccine that returned the world to stability and freedom. There were temporary but necessary suspensions of human rights, but this was for our good, and the only ones who resisted were conspiracy theorists who only care about themselves. Covid itself was the only cause of suffering, both in the death toll, and long Covid.
This fascist interpretation of history is only possible in a vacuum, in silence, where the cries of its victims cannot be heard. For three years, I heard the cries for freedom around the world. Many did. The ruling class, the church, the media, did nothing. They said nothing. They were the cause of it, and many benefited financially. The fascists told us that there were no cries, no sighs, no tears, only tears of joy and applause for the wonder of government.
Most people go to their graves convinced of many things that are completely wrong. Covid Hysteria wasn’t the first and it will not be the last. Many are true believers in this fascist interpretation of history, hoping to move on to the next mass delusion, which they will happily imbibe, relish, chew over, and swallow for the right price. It has long been the case that liberal, representative democracy is sustained by a series of such delusions, held together by hypotheses, conspiracies, vested interests, and propaganda. Nothing has changed in centuries. The ruling class has long held to the belief that freedom should only be for the powerful, while the rest are too stupid to be free.
For all our disgust, anger, bitterness, and frustration regarding the origins, causes, consequences, and horrors of Covid Hysteria, they were products of our finely tuned fascist system of democracy, the tacitly accepted political farce that power resides in the people. True freedom now stands apart from the political project. It was always an unhappy marriage.
In Covid Hysteria we witnessed the revival of true fascism, and we saw most people embrace it, rejoice in it, and celebrate it. Western states ditched democracy like soiled undergarments, and the truth was revealed, which is deep, abiding hatred for freedom.
The late and great John K. Galbraith argued that our society is shaped by conventional wisdoms. A conventional wisdom is a way of interpreting the world through the arrangement of facts in a certain theoretical pattern. On the margins there are other theories that explain the pattern of facts in a different way. The conventional wisdom falls when it can no longer adequately explain the existing pattern of facts, and a new theory emerges to take its place.
If Galbraith is right, then the existence of the heterodox view is one of the great strengths of a liberal system. A robust arena for dissent is critical for the survival of democracy. In authoritarian regimes, prisons are the colleges for future leaders, but in democratic societies we used to have healthy debate, and the acceptance of alternative points of view. Covid Hysteria marks the end of this political tradition. The days for dissent have disappeared. The current blame game and political machinations in the US Congress are more about career protection and advancement than the truth. This is just infighting within a corrupt ruling class.
This counterrevolution is cerebral, intellectual, and esoteric. It lacks a human face, it lacks authenticity, and it is removed from the personal impact of Covid Hysteria. We need to hear the stories of the unvaccinated, the rejected, the marginalised, the expelled, the outcast, and the untouchables. The stories are out there waiting to be told; there are thousands of people, millions of people, whose lives, careers, reputations, and hearts have been ruined by the lies, the evil and wickedness of Covid Hysteria. Every tear, every cry of pain, every sigh of despair, every lost hope, and every sadness needs to be recorded.
Revolutions begin with people, not power. The experiences of people are the real facts of Covid Hysteria, not the latest peer-reviewed article, or the latest death statistic, or the latest speech from another member of the ruling class.
We are told by the fascists that only a tiny minority of people were adversely affected by Covid-19 vaccines, and the majority benefited. We know this to be false, and yet after 3 years, the conventional wisdom remains. We need to hear the stories of the thousands, and hundreds of thousands of people who have been adversely affected by the vaccines, the mandates, the policies, and the brutality. Their stories are just as important, if not more important than whether Covid was due to a bat, a frog, a tanuki, or a flying pig.
Freedom is about people and their lives, not institutions and power. There will be and have always been crooked leaders, crooked businesspeople, and the rot of empire. But the call to freedom and its expression is in the lives of ordinary people, the forgotten people. Their voice is more important because their experiences are strong enough to defend freedom. It is in the ordinary where freedom exists, flourishes, and survives even in the insanity and idiocy of Covid Hysteria.
We need to hear from the victims of Covid Hysteria if we seek real change. If we believe in freedom, we will start listening to those who have cried in the wilderness, walked in the darkness, and suffered in silence. The rest is background noise.
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