This situation report from England was first published on The Stirrer blog
Yet again, I’m going to attempt to summarise where we are in an increasingly weird and dystopian situation. Yet again, I realise that what I’m now writing could in weeks…days even…be overtaken by events. I’m persisting in producing these situation reports because they help me to marshal my thoughts in a bid to try and understand what’s happening. Understanding what’s happening is key to trying to formulate a strategy and the tactics to deal with the situation and eventually, gain some kind of a victory. It’s in this spirit that I present this situation report…
When you look at countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany – even the other ‘home nations’ such as Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales – by comparison, here in England we’re getting off lightly when it comes to the imposition of Covid restrictions and the roll out of vaccine passports. While this is welcome as it gives us time to properly prepare our approach to ensuring this never, ever happens again, we cannot afford to become complacent because all it would take is a change of leadership at the top and we could be in very serious trouble. Those countries who are really pushing on with implementing vaccine passports and using draconian restrictions on the unvaccinated as a form of coercion, must have noted England’s relative freedom. As the Covid crisis is being leveraged to hasten the roll out of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), you have to wonder what the view of England’s position is and what pressures are being applied behind the scenes. At some point, there’s going to be a crunch as England is put under ever increasing pressure to basically ‘toe the line or face the consequences’. How that will manifest itself and how it will play out are at the time of writing, two massive unknowns.
The immediate crisis is one brought about by the consequences of over-testing for Covid using tests which are basically, unreliable. With more people getting tested, more ‘positive’ results are being recorded and more people are putting themselves into self isolation, even though in the vast majority of cases their symptoms may be just those of a mild cold or even non-existent. That is having a knock on effect from an already short staffed NHS being deprived of more staff through public transport operators having to offer restricted services and onto glitches in the supply chain. Fine, if you are genuinely ill, get tested and do what you think needs to be done to aid your recovery. The problems are coming with people who are perfectly well but because of the psyops we’ve been subjected to, have an obsession with getting tested on a regular basis. A term has been found to describe this phenomena – ‘mass formation psychosis’: Who’s Really Suffering from Mass Formation Psychosis? – Jessica Wildfire | Medium.
There are however, sections of the population who are not having it when it comes to taking daily lateral flow tests and also, wearing masks. They are schoolkids in Lancashire: Schoolchildren ‘refusing to wear Covid masks and refusing to take lateral flow tests’ says union boss. Unsurprisingly, the teaching unions are less than happy at this scale of defiance. Understandably, those of us who have been around long enough to remember school strikes back in the 1970s are feeling quite cheerful at this manifestation of youthful rebelliousness:) It’s another sign that the narrative driving all of this is starting to fray at the seams, hence what appears to be an air of growing desperation among those who are actively leveraging the crisis to bring about the 4IR.
What some observers of the situation are noting is how people are becoming more divided over what’s being done to us as the Covid crisis is leveraged to bring about the 4IR – however, there are some caveats… On the one hand, you have those who appear to have fallen prey to the aforementioned ‘mass formation psychosis’ and who test, regularly, mask almost religiously and eagerly await the next jab on offer. On the other hand, there are those who have rejected the narrative from the outset and despite constant vilification and being branded as ‘conspiracy theorists’, refuse to get jabbed and continue to fight against what’s being done to us. That’s pretty much how the media would like to portray it – a black and white battle of stark opposites. The truth is a lot more complicated as anyone who has a semblance of a social life and a willingness to listen without making rash judgements will tell you. There are a lot of grey areas in between those two polarities with a fair degree of shifting of positions as people’s experiences of the situation cause them to pause and reassess. One aspect of this is the number of double and even triple jabbed people who emphatically reject any attempt to impose vaccine passports, particularly digital ones. Also, there’s a growing number of people who have got as far as being triple jabbed and are now saying – ‘that’s it, I’m done, no more!’
The government know that the views of the population tend to be more of a spectrum. The corporations who the government do their bidding for also know this. A compliant and bought media know this. We’re talking about intelligent but flawed, often deeply flawed people who know exactly what’s going on in people’s minds, know that in many cases it runs against their interests, and will resort to any methods to change how people think. This ranges from the nudge units doing what it says on the tin through to upfront divide and rule tactics where the un-jabbed are demonised and disturbingly, are starting to be de-humanised. We all know some people who have fallen for this, hook line and sinker. We also know many who take a nuanced and complex position on the situation. We also know a fair few who are willing to change their position as new evidence emerges. None of this is good news for those pushing this agenda, hence what appears to be an increasing level of desperation and ratcheting up of a toxic agenda of divide and rule.
2022 is going to be a crunch year in this crisis. At some point, when those leveraging the Covid crisis to push the 4IR agenda realise that as well as a growing weariness with the whole situation, non-compliance and opposition are growing, things are going to get pretty nasty. As mentioned earlier, how that will manifest itself and how it will play out are difficult to predict. A number of factors may well coincide to spark off a rapid change in the situation that could catch many people off guard. We have to be as prepared as we can to face off and deal with whatever that may be – materially, physically and arguably most important of all, mentally. As things stand at the moment, we have enough slack to allow us to prepare but, as mentioned earlier, we cannot afford to be complacent in any way. What us refusniks have to carry on doing is building those networks of mutual aid and solidarity that will get us through what’s coming.
We’ve had almost two years of this. The impact on people’s mental health is incalculable. On the one hand, there are those who have been taken in by the narrative and who live in a morbid state of fear over catching Covid. They are the ones obsessively testing, wearing masks all the time and in a fair few cases lashing out at anyone not complying or who are questioning the narrative. A caveat – yes we realise that those with underlying health conditions and the elderly are at greater risk of contacting Covid. The seemingly relentless diet of fear, doom and gloom across pretty much all of the mainstream media is on the one hand feeding this climate of fear and on the other, for those of us more sceptical about the narrative, simply dragging us down. Away from this, people are wearying of seeing the goalposts constantly being moved and not being able to make any long term plans for their future. There’s the separation and isolation that was a consequence of the lockdowns and the restrictions – the long term consequences of which will be debilitating for some. Towards the other end of the spectrum away from those who have uncritically accepted the narrative, there are those of us who have been fighting it, some for the best part of two years at some personal cost.
Friends have fallen out with each other over this. Families have been split by this. Relationships have ended over this. Political relationships have ended over this. Movements already riven with splits have suffered further fragmentation. People’s level of trust in each other has inevitably suffered. There’s more fear, division and atomisation than there was two years ago. That’s exactly what the government and the corporations they serve want – a fearful, atomised population is one that is easier to manipulate and ultimately control. What each and every one of us has to do is to avoid handing that on a plate to the bastards by getting sucked into their toxic agenda of divide and rule. That’s not easy given the cost some of us have paid but if we want a future worth living in, then we have no choice.
As mentioned earlier, it’s difficult to predict how events will pan out, how people will respond to them and what the consequences will be. All that can be said is that if we let the bastards win and the 4IR is steamrollered over us, life is going to be pretty grim for a lot of us. We have no option but to fight to win. Victory of necessity entails the absolute destruction of the bastards imposing this agenda upon us and all of the power structures that support them. Power absolutely has to come right down to the grassroots where we’re accountable to each other. Needless to say, there’s no easy route to achieving this. A lot of struggle and sacrifice will be involved before we can loosen their grip on power and bring them down. What those thinking they can impose their agenda upon us regardless may not realise is that there are a growing number of people who feel they have nothing more to lose and are prepared to go down all guns blazing – metaphorically and quite possibly, literally as well. When this is over, no person or group of individuals should ever again be in a position where they can dominate and exploit the majority with impunity.
It would be tempting to say let’s leave the healing of the divisions all of this has caused until it’s all over and we’ve won or achieved what we think is a victory. It would be utterly wrong to do so. At a human level it would be wrong because all consuming hatred ends up corroding the soul and what would be the point of ‘winning’ if we’re diminished as human beings. At a strategic and tactical level, it would also be wrong. Earlier in this piece, I talked about the grey area between the two extremes the media would like to pen us into. I talked about the way a fair few people are starting to shift their position on what’s being done to us on the basis of their experience and starting to find the truth of what’s going on. We need all the allies we can get in this fight. It doesn’t matter if they’re only coming over now, we should be welcoming them with open arms.
Is there a shift in people’s positions on the situation taking place? From my own anecdotal experience there is. Okay, it’s not switching from one end of the spectrum to the other but in the grey areas in between, based on my anecdotal experience, there are shifts occurring and by and large, they’re heading in the right direction. The face to face talking, the blog posts, the posters and stickers, the roadside placard actions, the town centre outreach actions, even some of the street protests – all of these are playing a part in starting to change people’s perceptions and prompt them to rethink their position. In and of themselves, these actions may seem to be little more than mere pinpricks – cumulatively as something greater than the sum of their parts, they’re making a difference. Things are tough and will get tougher but, slowly but surely, we’re starting to make some headway…
