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“Governments and their corporate media mouthpieces are telling us that ‘objection to their authority’ will no longer be tolerated, nor will dissent from their official narratives”
One of the hallmarks of totalitarian systems is the criminalization of dissent. Not just the stigmatization of dissent or the demonization of dissent, but the formal criminalization of dissent, and any other type of opposition to the official ideology of the totalitarian system. Global capitalism has been inching its way toward this step for quite some time, and now, apparently, it is ready to take it.
Germany has been leading the way. For over a year, anyone questioning or protesting the âCovid emergency measuresâ or the official Covid-19 narrative has been demonized by the government and the media, and, sadly, but not completely unexpectedly, the majority of the German public. And now such dissent is officially âextremism.â
Yes, thatâs right, in âNew Normalâ Germany, if you dissent from the official state ideology, you are now officially a dangerous âextremist.â The German Intelligence agency (the âBfVâ) has even invented a new category of âextremistsâ in order to allow themselves to legally monitor anyone suspected of being âanti-democratic and/or delegitimizing the state in a way that endangers security,â like âŠÂ you know, non-violently protesting, or speaking out against, or criticizing, or satirizing, the so-called âNew Normal.â
Naturally, Iâm a little worried, as I have engaged in most of these âextremistâ activities. My thoughtcrimes are just sitting there on the Internet waiting to be scrutinized by the BfV. Theyâre probably Google-translating this column right now, compiling a list of all the people reading it, and their Facebook friends and Twitter followers, and professional associates, and family members, and anyone any of the aforementioned people have potentially met with, or casually mentioned, who might have engaged in similar thoughtcrimes.
You probably think Iâm joking, donât you? Iâm not joking. Not even slightly. The Federal Office for Protection of the Constitution (âBundesamt fĂŒr Verfassungsschutzâ) is actively monitoring anyone questioning or challenging the official âNew Normalâ ideology ⊠the âCovid Deniers,â the âconspiracy theorists,â the âanti-vaxxers,â the dreaded âQuerdenkersâ (i.e., people who âthink outside the boxâ), and anyone else they feel like monitoring who has refused to join the Covidian Cult. Weâre now official enemies of the state, no different than any other âterroristsâ ⊠or, OK, technically, a little different.
As The New York Times reported last week (German Intelligence Puts Coronavirus Deniers Under Surveillance), âthe danger from coronavirus deniers and conspiracy theorists does not fit the mold posed by the usual politically driven groups, including those on the far left and right, or by Islamic extremists.â Still, according to the German Interior Ministry, we diabolical âCovid deniers,â âconspiracy theorists,â and âanti-vaxxersâ have âtargeted the state itself, its leaders, businesses, the press, and globalism,â and have âattacked police officersâ and âdefied civil authorities.â
Moreover, back in August of 2020, in a dress rehearsal for the âStorming of the Capitol,â âCovid-denyingâ insurrectionists âscaled the steps of Parliamentâ (i.e., the Reichstag). Naturally, The Times neglects to mention that this so-called âStorming of the Reichstagâ was performed by a small sub-group of protesters to whom the German authorities had granted a permit to assemble (apart from the main demonstration, which was massive and completely peaceful) on the steps of the Reichstag, which the German police had, for some reason, left totally unguarded. In light of the background of the person the German authorities issued this âSteps-of-the-Reichstagâ protest permit to â a known former-NPD functionary, in other words, a neo-Nazi â well, the whole thing seemed a bit questionable to me ⊠but what do I know? Iâm just a âconspiracy theorist.â
According to Al Jazeera, the German Interior Ministry explained that these querdenking âextremists encourage supporters to ignore official orders and challenge the state monopoly on the use of force.â Seriously, can you imagine anything more dangerous? Mindlessly following orders and complying with the stateâs monopoly on the use of force are the very cornerstones of modern democracy ⊠or some sort of political system, anyway.
But, see, there I go, again âbeing anti-democraticâ and âdelegitimizing the state,â not to mention ârelativizing the Holocaustâ (also a criminal offense in Germany) by comparing one totalitarian system to another, as I have done repeatedly on social media, and in a column I published in November of 2020, when the parliament passed the âInfection Protection Act,â which bears no comparison whatsoever to the âEnabling Act of 1933.â
This isnât just a German story, of course. As I reported in a column in February, The âNew Normalâ War on Domestic Terror is a global war, and itâs just getting started. According to a Department of Homeland Security âNational Terrorism Advisory System Bulletinâ (and the âliberalâ corporate-media propaganda machine), âdemocracyâ remains under imminent threat from these âideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authorityâ and other such âgrievances fueled by false narrativesâ including âanger over Covid-19 restrictions.â
These Covid-denying âviolent extremistsâ have apparently joined forces with the âwhite-supremacist, Russia-backed, Trump-loving âPutin-Nazisâ that terrorized âdemocracyâ for the past four years, and almost overthrew the US government by sauntering around inside the US Capitol Building without permission, scuffling with police, attacking furniture, and generally acting rude and unruly. No, they didnât actually kill anyone, as the corporate media all reported they did, but trespassing in a government building and putting your feet up on politiciansâ desks is pretty much exactly the same as âterrorism.â
Or whatever. Itâs not like the truth actually matters, not when you are whipping up mass hysteria over imaginary âRussian assets,â âwhite-supremacist militias,â âCovid-denying extremists,â âanti-vax terrorists’,â and âapocalyptic plagues.â When youâre rolling out a new official ideology â a pathologized-totalitarian ideology â and criminalizing all dissent, the point is not to appear to be factual. The point is just to terrorize the shit out of people.
As Hermann Goering famously explained regarding how to lead a country to war (and the principle holds true for any big transition, like the one we are experiencing currently):
â[T]he people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.â
Go back and read those quotes from the German Interior Ministry and the DHS again slowly. The message they are sending is unmistakably clear. It might not seem all that new, but it is. Yes, they have been telling us âwe are being attackedâ and denouncing critics, protesters, and dissidents for twenty years (i.e., since the War on Terror was launched in 2001, and for the last four years in their War on Populism), but this is a whole new level of it ⊠a fusion of official narratives and their respective official enemies into a singular, aggregate official narrative in which dissent will no longer be permitted.
Instead, it will be criminalized, or it will be pathologized.
Seriously, go back and read those quotes again. Global capitalist governments and their corporate media mouthpieces are telling us, in no uncertain terms, that âobjection to their authorityâ will no longer be tolerated, nor will dissent from their official narratives. Such dissent will be deemed âdangerousâ and above all âfalse.â It will not be engaged with or rationally debated. It will be erased from public view. There will be an inviolable, official âreality.â Any deviation from official ârealityâ or defiance of the âcivil authoritiesâ will be labelled âextremism,â and dealt with accordingly.
This is the essence of totalitarianism, the establishment of an inviolable official ideology and the criminalization of dissent. And that is what is happening, right now. A new official ideology is being established. Not a state ideology. A global ideology. The âNew Normalâ is that official ideology. Technically, it is an official post-ideology, an official âreality,â an axiomatic âfact,â which only âcriminalsâ and âpsychopathsâ would deny or challenge.
Iâll be digging deeper into âNew Normalâ ideology and âpathologized totalitarianismâ in my future columns, and ⊠sorry, they probably wonât be very funny. For now Iâll leave you with two more quotes. The emphasis is mine, as ever.
Hereâs California State Senator Richard Pan, author of an op-ed in the Washington Post: âAnti-vax extremism is akin to domestic terrorism,â quoted in the Los Angeles Times:
âThese extremists have not yet been held accountable, so they continue to escalate violence against the body public âŠÂ We must now summon the political will to demand that domestic terrorists face consequences for their words and actions. Our democracy and our lives depend on it ⊠Theyâve been building alliances with white supremacists, conspiracy theorists and [others] on the far right âŠâ
And hereâs Peter Hotez in Nature magazine:
âThe United Nations and the highest levels of governments must take direct, even confrontational, approaches with Russia, and move to dismantle anti-vaccine groups in the United States. Efforts must expand into the realm of cyber security, law enforcement, public education and international relations. A high-level inter-agency task force reporting to the UN secretary-general could assess the full impact of anti-vaccine aggression, and propose tough, balanced measures. The task force should include experts who have tackled complex global threats such as terrorism, cyber attacks and nuclear armament, because anti-science is now approaching similar levels of peril. It is becoming increasingly clear that advancing immunization requires a counter-offensive.â
Weâll be hearing a lot more rhetoric like this as this new, more totalitarian structure of global capitalism gradually develops. Probably a good idea to listen carefully, and assume they mean exactly what they say.
Source:Â Consent Factory