I'm very concerned with the public largely ignoring Covid despite a growing shift to get kids to replace workers who are lost to Covid deaths or disability after convincing us that everything's back to normal. If it's no longer an emergency, then governments no longer have to do anything, or - more importantly - pay for anything. And they're no longer on the hook for any potential lawsuits. So now a few places, like the CDC, are finally acknowledging the mess we're in, now that there won't be repercussions to the reveal. It's very disconcerting that we're so much on our own to deal with this ongoing pandemic. That didn't work very well in the past.
A comment onling from x3r0gxx,
"It's worth noting here how a lack of government response to pandemic deaths and financial devastation in 1918-onward directly emboldened the Nazi party, and the left failed to organize in response long-term. It's no coincidence that fascist organizing ramped up dramatically in 2020."
Another paper argued that,
"A desire for conformity and obedience as a result of Covid-19 could boost authoritarianism in the wake of the pandemic. According to psychologists, in addition to our physiological immune system we also have a behavioural one: an unconscious code of conduct that helps us stay disease-free, including a fear and avoidance of unfamiliar - and so possibly infected - people. When infection risk is high, this 'parasite stress' behavior increases, potentially manifesting as attitudes and even voting patterns that champion conformity and reject 'foreign outgroups' - core traits of authoritarian politics. . . . The most authoritarian US states had rates of infectious diseases around four times higher than the least authoritarian states
However, that correlation doesn't necessarily indicate directionality. Did the level of infection create the climate for authoritarian views, or did far right views permit more infection by being avoidant to state measures to control disease? However, the fact that Covid can cause brain disfunction (neurological sequelae) might contribute to further avoidance to protective measures and allowance of discriminatory policies.
This lines from Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine keeps rattling around in my head. It's Milton Friedman in his scheme to privatize, deregulate, and bust unions worldwide:
"Only a crisis, actual or perceived, produces real change."
This pandemic is a gold mine for privatization efforts. Fascist is too strong a word for this centralized autocracy, so far, but we can't ignore the far right neo-liberal takeover of our province. Are they opportunistic or heinous? There are the things that might seem minor, like the public losing access to Ontario Place, a public asset. And then there are the things that are truly frightening, like paramedics not available as needed and hospital emergency departments closing, some say that's because of,
"Ford's constant attacks on public health care and those who work there. Look no further than Bill 124 and Bill 60, Ford's own crown jewel in his privatization plans, which make things inherently worse by pulling more nurses out of public hospitals."
Linda McQuaig explains how privatizing makes health care wildly more expensive:
"Surgeries at private clinics consistently cost the government more, often more than twice as much. And a CBC report last week revealed that our public hospitals, increasingly forced to rely on nurses supplied by private agencies, are paying those agencies up to eight times the going rate. . . . Most of this excess pay ends up in the hands of the private agencies, which, as middlemen, are scooping up tens of millions of dollars of public money. . . . He doesn't seem to understand that, as premier, his job is to protect the public, which includes shielding our valued public programs from pillaging by private businesses, whose only concern is making a buck."
Of course he understands it, but doesn't care. He got in by scamming the public so he could amass wealth for himself and select friends. But the media is in collusion, so the public doesn't hear about it in this light. Now we have another neoliberal elected with a majority in Alberta.
Earlier McQuaig pointed out Fords new rules that shield private clinics from public scrutiny, a form of deregulation.
"If the purpose of opening a slew of new private clinics is to reduce Ontario's surgical backlog, why does the enabling legislation do so many other things--things that will dramatically reduce public accountability and leave our precious public health care system vulnerable to corruption? . . . Of course, what makes. his whole privatization project so dubious is that, as a number of doctors have noted, we could deal with the surgical backlog simply through better use of existing hospital operating rooms . . . if operating room hours were extended by even just two hours a day"
But it's not about finding the best solution - or else we'd all be in masks until all public buildings completed a full implementation of effective clean air strategies (not just HEPAs on site in a storage room somewhere).
A recent article about Dr. Jonathan Howard's We Want Them Infected explains that the push to get rid of mitigations was mainly spearheaded by just three people:
"Howard reserves his deepest scorn for the promoters of the 'Great Barrington Declaration,' a manifesto for herd immunity published in October 2020 and signed initially by epidemiologists Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford; Martin Kulldorff, then of Harvard; and Sunetra Gupta of Oxford. The core of the declaration was opposition to lockdowns. Its solution was what its drafters called 'focused protection,' which meant allowing 'those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk.' . . . As Howard documents, the declaration was little more than a libertarian fantasy. That may not have been surprising, because one of its organizers was an arch-libertarian named Jeffrey Tucker. . . . What the declaration really promoted was complacency."
More links describe the problem with privatization of health care, how privatization extends wait times, costs more money, and how providing free medication produces overall health care savings. Notice that they're all alternative media outlets. We can look to Australia, who is just ahead of us of moving from public to private health care to see how badly it works. Paying more doesn't mean it's better, and by three years from now, we might all need insurance to see a family doctor!! Take seven minutes to watch this entire video explaining that almost a decade ago:
It doesn't matter that it doesn't work for Ontario or costs the government more money when it brings in more money for Ford and his friends. And he can't be stopped for another three years!! And then, if we're anything like Alberta, we might just give him another term! We have just three years to somehow educate the public about the dangers of privatization, a public that is growing increasingly distraught and hostile and might be highly unlikely to read McQuaig's excellent book The Sport and Prey of Capitalists, which explains it all so clearly.
Almost exactly a year ago I posted an article explaining the scam,
"So why is Ford doing this??? There is no advantage to the tax payer--there are huge disadvantages--the only conclusion anyone can come to is, He is doing it for the kick backs and that appears to be how he operates. Ford has opened the door for these American companies coming into Canada, acquiring non-profit status here and making huge amounts from taxpayer's money."
But my blog and social media accounts have a limited exposure. Even Brittlestar explained it, but people still didn't listen. Tiktoks for the win?? If you find good ones, please share them widely. It might be all we've got. Check out Crutches&Spice, iampoliticsgirl, lisab0923, and rubin_allergy.
Something at some point will click with people, right??? And then a turning point of people will finally get it and stop voting against their own interests, and maybe we'll bring back all the public assets Harper and Ford sold off and maybe finally implement some basic income so people everywhere can afford to pay rent and buy food.
A girl can dream.
ETA: Reminder to keep an eye on McKinsey & Co, and check out this one minute video from OPSEU depicting the nightmare:
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