6 thoughts on “Contributions from 18 September, part 5: Simon Elmer’s critique”
“As in so much about the terminology of the Left, the idea of ‘scepticism’ — which has been widely adopted by those on the Left who are opposed to at least some of the regulations and programmes of the UK biosecurity state — undermines the accurate understanding of the ‘present state of things’ that a real movement must abolish. ‘Scepticism’ describes an attitude that may have been advisable — it is one I myself shared — in the first few months of the coronavirus crisis; but it is completely inadequate as an attitude 18 months into this revolution in monopoly capitalism. There is no justification for being sceptical about what has repeatedly been shown to be the vast wall of lies on which the biosecurity state has been built, from medically meaningless health ‘measures’ to unfit-for-purpose testing regimes, to the wildly inaccurate criteria for attributing deaths to COVID-19, to the impact and dangers of lockdowns, to the medical and political consequences of the UK ‘vaccination’ programme. An intelligent child is sceptical when told Father Christmas brings him gifts; only a foolish and gullible adult remains sceptical of the same. Anyone who remains a lockdown ‘sceptic’ 18 months into this revolution has either ignored, or failed to inform themselves with, the vast evidence proving that Father Christmas is a story for children and the Pandemic a creation of those it has placed into positions of immense power. The better comparison, therefore, is with God, for whom the figure of Father Christmas tends to stand in theological debates; for, like COVID-19, the existence of God is a moot point when there is so little evidence of the existence of either. What is not in doubt, however, is the financial, political and ideological power of the COVID-Church that, in the name of this manufactured God, demands absolute obedience from the faithful and absolute damnation for unbelievers. Whether or not one believes in God or the Pandemic, only advocates of authoritarian, absolute and unquestioning rule believe either justifies the power and wealth their high priests exert over the world of believers and unbelievers alike……..
We can and must propose a positive and alternative vision to the nightmare of centralised and authoritarian rule by the biosecurity state. We must, even, employ — as an alternative to the fear of COVID-19 that has been used to build the biosecurity state — the fear of the totalitarian world into which it is forcing us. We must develop and use new languages and new practices of politics that refuse division into Left and Right, and which instead allow as many people as possible to join, speak with and find agency in their opposition to this global threat. And we must replace the pessimism of political defeatism with which the working class has been infected with the optimism born of our desperation. As I have written before, pessimism is an indulgence of the present none of us can afford to pay to the future. The unity of opposition we require, however, will not come from sitting in meetings and raising our hands to approve principles of practice that are never turned into action. Unity forms from the action of opposition alone.
This does not mean that there is not, still, a critique of this revolution in capitalism to be undertaken using the tools of historical materialism, and which I myself have tried to initiate and will continue to offer; but agreement with this critique or the political position from which it is made should not be a requisite for opposing the biosecurity state into which we are being led by this revolution. There is no ideal position, political or ideological, to which the real movement of resistance should have to adjust itself.”
First class analysis, well reasons and scary. I had not thought quite so thoroughly about the topic previously but I’m sure similar suspicions exist in many peoples minds. This clarifies brilliantly.
Thank you Simon for a perceptive analysis of what has happened, the context and thus why.
Your writings have been a chink of light in what are dark days. As indeed have been LLS and the Daily Sceptic (I may not agree with all its postings but it has been a constant source of evidence based challenge)
I personally am very depressed by what the future holds as I don’t know how we can fight back. I know we must but the lies have been so persistent that even people who should know better cannot believe when even the ONS own data shows the harm and ineffectiveness of the vaccines, that everyone shouldn’t be vaccinated.
I know the science as presented doesn’t make sense, I know what the data shows. But trying to explain it touches a raw nerve in so many people – just like challenging a person’s faith. It feels like we’re back at time when simply being an atheist was such a challenge to the status quo that it deserved punishment. Sorry to be negative, but I struggle to find anything good in what has happened and in what the future holds.
“As in so much about the terminology of the Left, the idea of ‘scepticism’ — which has been widely adopted by those on the Left who are opposed to at least some of the regulations and programmes of the UK biosecurity state — undermines the accurate understanding of the ‘present state of things’ that a real movement must abolish. ‘Scepticism’ describes an attitude that may have been advisable — it is one I myself shared — in the first few months of the coronavirus crisis; but it is completely inadequate as an attitude 18 months into this revolution in monopoly capitalism. There is no justification for being sceptical about what has repeatedly been shown to be the vast wall of lies on which the biosecurity state has been built, from medically meaningless health ‘measures’ to unfit-for-purpose testing regimes, to the wildly inaccurate criteria for attributing deaths to COVID-19, to the impact and dangers of lockdowns, to the medical and political consequences of the UK ‘vaccination’ programme. An intelligent child is sceptical when told Father Christmas brings him gifts; only a foolish and gullible adult remains sceptical of the same. Anyone who remains a lockdown ‘sceptic’ 18 months into this revolution has either ignored, or failed to inform themselves with, the vast evidence proving that Father Christmas is a story for children and the Pandemic a creation of those it has placed into positions of immense power. The better comparison, therefore, is with God, for whom the figure of Father Christmas tends to stand in theological debates; for, like COVID-19, the existence of God is a moot point when there is so little evidence of the existence of either. What is not in doubt, however, is the financial, political and ideological power of the COVID-Church that, in the name of this manufactured God, demands absolute obedience from the faithful and absolute damnation for unbelievers. Whether or not one believes in God or the Pandemic, only advocates of authoritarian, absolute and unquestioning rule believe either justifies the power and wealth their high priests exert over the world of believers and unbelievers alike……..
We can and must propose a positive and alternative vision to the nightmare of centralised and authoritarian rule by the biosecurity state. We must, even, employ — as an alternative to the fear of COVID-19 that has been used to build the biosecurity state — the fear of the totalitarian world into which it is forcing us. We must develop and use new languages and new practices of politics that refuse division into Left and Right, and which instead allow as many people as possible to join, speak with and find agency in their opposition to this global threat. And we must replace the pessimism of political defeatism with which the working class has been infected with the optimism born of our desperation. As I have written before, pessimism is an indulgence of the present none of us can afford to pay to the future. The unity of opposition we require, however, will not come from sitting in meetings and raising our hands to approve principles of practice that are never turned into action. Unity forms from the action of opposition alone.
This does not mean that there is not, still, a critique of this revolution in capitalism to be undertaken using the tools of historical materialism, and which I myself have tried to initiate and will continue to offer; but agreement with this critique or the political position from which it is made should not be a requisite for opposing the biosecurity state into which we are being led by this revolution. There is no ideal position, political or ideological, to which the real movement of resistance should have to adjust itself.”
These two passages are spot on!
First class analysis, well reasons and scary. I had not thought quite so thoroughly about the topic previously but I’m sure similar suspicions exist in many peoples minds. This clarifies brilliantly.
Thank you Simon for a perceptive analysis of what has happened, the context and thus why.
Your writings have been a chink of light in what are dark days. As indeed have been LLS and the Daily Sceptic (I may not agree with all its postings but it has been a constant source of evidence based challenge)
I personally am very depressed by what the future holds as I don’t know how we can fight back. I know we must but the lies have been so persistent that even people who should know better cannot believe when even the ONS own data shows the harm and ineffectiveness of the vaccines, that everyone shouldn’t be vaccinated.
I know the science as presented doesn’t make sense, I know what the data shows. But trying to explain it touches a raw nerve in so many people – just like challenging a person’s faith. It feels like we’re back at time when simply being an atheist was such a challenge to the status quo that it deserved punishment. Sorry to be negative, but I struggle to find anything good in what has happened and in what the future holds.
https://www.thejournal.ie/poll-do-you-think-the-country-should-remove-all-restrictions-this-week-5577418-Oct2021/
Really well written. Unity is essential for humanity’s survival- everything else is a debate for another day.
Simon Elmer has been spot on from the start and his analysis of the current left is what many need to hear. They are of no help at all in this.
See also Elena Lange…
https://beefheart.substack.com/p/basic-fucking-common-sense