The Covid-19 Pandemic has brought this situation home to us as we see more and more of our freedoms that we once took for granted being steadily eroded. This is particularly the case in my home city of Melbourne, Australia in the state of Victoria, as I’m sure it is also the case in many other locations around the world.
Melbourne has the dubious distinction of being the most locked down city in the world, with businesses and schools being forced to close down, people having their freedom of movement restricted along with their right to gather and express their opinion via street protest, as well as having their whereabouts monitored and tracked via the use of mobile phone scanning of QR codes.
The situation has reached a point whereby Melbourne (and other cities in Australia) is beginning to take on the characteristics of a police state. People can be and are stopped by the police and asked for their identification, their reason for being at such and such a place and if their response is not deemed satisfactory, they can be hit with a substantial fine.
We also have the disturbing development of our police force being increasingly militarized and weaponized. Take for instance the terrible sight of riot police with shields and batons battling with anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination protesters, as well as police employing capsicum spray, firing rubber bullets and using tear gas.
Although the actions of many of the protesters were reprehensible, it was felt by many observers that the actions of the police amounted to an over-reach of their powers. It is not a sight we are familiar with in this country. The question is, why now? Would this have happened had the protest been over a more acceptable “social” issue rather than one that could be seen as constituting a direct challenge to authority?
The state government has given itself emergency powers and citizens find themselves subject to the edicts of politicians, unelected health and other officials, bureaucrats and law enforcement officers. As a consequence, measures such as night-time curfews have been declared without consultation and without being justified on the basis of any factual health rationale.
The state government has given itself emergency powers and citizens find themselves subject to the edicts of politicians, unelected health and other officials, bureaucrats and law enforcement officers. As a consequence, measures such as night-time curfews have been declared without consultation and without being justified on the basis of any factual health rationale.
Is it any wonder that so many feel a sense of powerlessness and that the mental and emotional well-being of large numbers of citizens is being adversely affected? When faced with such a repressive and confining set of circumstances, acts of anger and conflict will often be the result. In the absence of unifying, effective and meaningful leadership, irrationality and opportunistic figures will quickly fill the void.
Our once proud “world’s most livable city” in a country that was the envy of the world for its democratic ideals and values and its tradition of freedom, has been reduced to almost a Stalinist wasteland in which people’s livelihoods and liberties have been stripped away and replaced by the normalization of compulsion and compliance.
The mantra, “No Jab, No Job” now echoes through the empty canyons of the central business district of Mandatory Melbourne.
A particularly disturbing aspect of this pervading sense of compliance and rule by compulsion, is the proposed trial in Victoria of the Orwellian-termed “Vaccinated Economy.” It is simply a euphemism for forcing people to declare their vaccination status in order to participate in social and economic life. Trials are to be conducted in businesses and events across highly vaccinated parts of regional Victoria to, so it is claimed, help the state open progressively as a vaccinated economy when it meets the key double-dose thresholds outlined in the state government's roadmap.
As one radio “journalist” asked the health minister recently about the proposal, “It’s inevitable, isn’t it? It will happen, wont it?” Of course! It is in the nature of trials such as these to be a mere formality – to confirm what is already a fait accompli. Perhaps the journalist should have asked, “Is it desirable?”
And so we are told that eventually we will have a progressively open economy, with greater freedoms for vaccinated people or at least those who are CONFIRMED as being fully vaccinated. And how will they be confirmed? Why, by means of a passport and digital certificate displaying vaccination status. Ah, the wonders of technology – all the better to enslave us further! As if we haven’t already surrendered enough of our personal privacy.
What of those people who are unable or unwilling to provide the required digital tick of approval? Heaven forbid we’ll have a two-tiered system in which discrimination becomes an entrenched feature of the brave new world…...”moving forward!” Well, who cares, they’re only “anti-vaxxers” aren’t they?
One way to dismiss opposition is to apply a derogatory label to them. It saves thinking too much about the issue at hand. I admit, that many of those so labeled are quite barmy in their ideas and it is very unfortunate that many who have actively protested against the government‘s recent measures have conducted themselves in a very stupid and counter-productive manner. Their lack of intelligence has damaged the very cause they claim to be be fighting for and as a consequence any opposition to the government's edicts are seen to be the product of hard right wing, anti-vaxxer and 'nutter' agitation. Certainly there are many dickheads amongst them, but this doesn't explain away an entire opposition group of people.
©Chris Christopoulos 2021
Next post will be about the sci-fi classic film, "2001 A Space Odyssey" (1968)
Our once proud “world’s most livable city” in a country that was the envy of the world for its democratic ideals and values and its tradition of freedom, has been reduced to almost a Stalinist wasteland in which people’s livelihoods and liberties have been stripped away and replaced by the normalization of compulsion and compliance.
The mantra, “No Jab, No Job” now echoes through the empty canyons of the central business district of Mandatory Melbourne.
A particularly disturbing aspect of this pervading sense of compliance and rule by compulsion, is the proposed trial in Victoria of the Orwellian-termed “Vaccinated Economy.” It is simply a euphemism for forcing people to declare their vaccination status in order to participate in social and economic life. Trials are to be conducted in businesses and events across highly vaccinated parts of regional Victoria to, so it is claimed, help the state open progressively as a vaccinated economy when it meets the key double-dose thresholds outlined in the state government's roadmap.
As one radio “journalist” asked the health minister recently about the proposal, “It’s inevitable, isn’t it? It will happen, wont it?” Of course! It is in the nature of trials such as these to be a mere formality – to confirm what is already a fait accompli. Perhaps the journalist should have asked, “Is it desirable?”
What of those people who are unable or unwilling to provide the required digital tick of approval? Heaven forbid we’ll have a two-tiered system in which discrimination becomes an entrenched feature of the brave new world…...”moving forward!” Well, who cares, they’re only “anti-vaxxers” aren’t they?
One way to dismiss opposition is to apply a derogatory label to them. It saves thinking too much about the issue at hand. I admit, that many of those so labeled are quite barmy in their ideas and it is very unfortunate that many who have actively protested against the government‘s recent measures have conducted themselves in a very stupid and counter-productive manner. Their lack of intelligence has damaged the very cause they claim to be be fighting for and as a consequence any opposition to the government's edicts are seen to be the product of hard right wing, anti-vaxxer and 'nutter' agitation. Certainly there are many dickheads amongst them, but this doesn't explain away an entire opposition group of people.
In my own case, it was my choice, MY CHOICE to be fully vaccinated based on reputable information sources and a cost-benefit analysis in terms of my own health, the interests of those closest to me and the community I live in. But I’ll be damned if I’ll download and produce on demand any digital certificate to any individual, law enforcement officer or business enterprise in order to participate in society. Anyone who tries to force me to can just go to hell. It is up to each of us to decide whether or not the world we live in evolves into the kind of dystopian nightmare portrayed by science fiction books and films.
Next post will be about the sci-fi classic film, "2001 A Space Odyssey" (1968)
