offguardian--2020-06-25--Cash4Covid – How hospitals are making money off the coronavirus

We ’ ve known for weeks that hospitals get payments for diagnosing Covid19 , and even using ventilators .
That should worry everyone .
Hospitals in the US are getting money for diagnosing Covid19 .
They get more money if those patients are then put on ventilators .
It ’ s time we really started thinking about what that means .
Early on in the launch of the Sars-Cov-2/Covid19 “ pandemic ” , it was revealed by Dr Scott Jensen that hospitals in the US were getting paid bonuses for diagnosing Covid19 in their patients , and then larger bonuses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ventilators .
We ’ re not fact-checking that .
We don ’ t need to .
It ’ s already been done .
As soon as his words were aired , the “ independent fact checkers ” descended upon them in an effort to prove him wrong .
They could not .
Resorting instead to weasel words and obfuscations .
Snopes found his assertions “ plausible ” , Politifact called it “ half true ” , and FactCheck said it was true , writing : Which is funny because , to that point @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jensen himself went out of his way to say he didn ’ t think there was any fraud , but there was an “ avenue ” for it .
Obviously the “ fact checkers ” agreed , because they all felt the need to add very similar qualifications .
The very fact they rushed to pre-emptively defend the practice illustrates how potentially corrupt it is .
The key fact here , established and unchallenged , is that the CARES act does direct a 20 % bonus Medicaid payment to hospitals for every diagnosis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ again for the use of a ventilator .
As I said , we ’ re not fact-checking that .
And we can ’ t fact-check whether or not there is “ fraudulent reporting ” , but there ’ s no denying that these payouts potentially incentivise artificially inflating case numbers .
How big an incentive are we talking about ?
The CARES act channelled $ 175bn dollars into the “ fight ” against coronavirus , including $ 15 billion purely for treating COVID patients without insurance .
You couldn ’ t blame a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a little for his struggling , under-funded clinic .
For labelling some unknown respiratory illness “ Covid19 ” , or re-ordering a test known to create false-positives until he gets the result which may pay a nurse ’ s salary , or re-stock a pharmacy .
If a few thousand doctors do that a few hundred times each , you ’ ve created a “ pandemic ” out of nowhere , with a comparatively small outlay and 99 % of those involved believing they ’ re doing the right thing .
The American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Has been for decades , and Dr Jensen ’ s revelations received a comparatively large amount of coverage which people in the UK and Europe largely filed away as “ just American healthcare doing American healthcare things ” .
What received markedly less coverage is the fact the UK ’ s NHS has its own Covid money problem .
We don ’ t know if they operate a similar “ money for diagnosis ” system , and when we contacted the NHS to clarify this we were passed around various NHS offices @ @ @ @ @ @ @ received no answer to the question at all .
We do know that the NHS has received over £14 billion in extra funds since the crisis erupted .
Which doesn ’ t include all the money saved from running the NHS at well under capacity for over three months .
On March 17th Sir Simon Stevens , Chief Executive of the NHS , sent out this letter to the chairs of every NHS trust , as well as GP surgeries and other NHS providers that explains how that money will be spent .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to keep beds empty .
Which means that the more a hospital “ responds ” to the “ emergency ” – ie .
the more tests they run , the more non-Covid patients they discharge to make room for the “ surge ” , and the more operations they cancel – the more money they get .
Though couched throughout in the subtly deceptive language of the British bureaucrat , there ’ s no denying the implications of some of the content .
There ’ s more than enough hints here suggesting huge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hands .
But that ’ s not the worst of it .
Wasting millions of pounds “ bulk buying ” bed space in private hospitals and contracting emergency “ Nightingale ” hospitals to do nothing but stand empty – as well as a host of “ estimated expenditures ” and other “ reimbursements ” – well , that starts to reak of corruption , perhaps even embezzling .
Obviously morally bankrupt , but corruption is expected in a capitalist system .
Breakage .
The cost of doing business .
What ’ s worse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is around the questions of ventilators .
The Stevens letter says this on the subject of mechanical ventilation : Invasive mechanical ventilators are not a first-choice treatment for patients with respiratory viruses , so channelling fund to manufacturers is , at best , wasted money .
However , I can ’ t find any direct evidence that NHS hospitals have a financial incentive to use ventilators .
But there is absolutely no denying that American hospitals do .
Ventilators are known to likely make respiratory conditions much worse by damaging the lungs .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a ventilator is a death sentence .
We ’ ve been told that by several whistleblowers , not to mention medical experts .
Put those two bits of information together .
Hospitals in the US – and perhaps other countries – are therefore employing treatments they know may kill their patients , in order to secure money .
There is a hard reality here we ’ ve all been slowly becoming aware of for a while now .
It ’ s time we looked it square in the face .
Look at this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which cause false positives , and the coroner guidelines being changed .
Consider the nursing home deaths , the enforced illegal use of DNRs and how at odds all of that is with the actual threat of the virus .
It ’ s all coming together to form a very disturbing picture .

We’ve known for weeks that hospitals get payments for diagnosing Covid19, and even using ventilators. That should worry everyone.
Kit Knightly
Hospitals in the US are getting money for diagnosing Covid19. They get more money if those patients are then put on ventilators. It’s time we really started thinking about what that means.
Early on in the launch of the Sars-Cov-2/Covid19 “pandemic”, it was revealed by Dr Scott Jensen that hospitals in the US were getting paid bonuses for diagnosing Covid19 in their patients, and then larger bonuses again if those patients were put on ventilators.
We’re not fact-checking that. We don’t need to. It’s already been done.
As soon as his words were aired, the “independent fact checkers” descended upon them in an effort to prove him wrong. They could not. Resorting instead to weasel words and obfuscations.
Snopes found his assertions “plausible”, Politifact called it “half true”, and FactCheck said it was true, writing:
Recent legislation pays hospitals higher Medicare rates for COVID-19 patients and treatment…
Before adding:
…but there is no evidence of fraudulent reporting.”
Which is funny because, to that point, nobody had suggested anything fraudulent. Jensen himself went out of his way to say he didn’t think there was any fraud, but there was an “avenue” for it.
Obviously the “fact checkers” agreed, because they all felt the need to add very similar qualifications.
The very fact they rushed to pre-emptively defend the practice illustrates how potentially corrupt it is.
The key fact here, established and unchallenged, is that the CARES act does direct a 20% bonus Medicaid payment to hospitals for every diagnosis of Covid19, and a greater payment again for the use of a ventilator.
As I said, we’re not fact-checking that. And we can’t fact-check whether or not there is “fraudulent reporting”, but there’s no denying that these payouts potentially incentivise artificially inflating case numbers.
How big an incentive are we talking about?
The CARES act channelled $175bn dollars into the “fight” against coronavirus, including $15 billion purely for treating COVID patients without insurance.
15 BILLION dollars. That’s a lot of extra money.
You couldn’t blame a doctor for gaming the system to get a little for his struggling, under-funded clinic. For labelling some unknown respiratory illness “Covid19”, or re-ordering a test known to create false-positives until he gets the result which may pay a nurse’s salary, or re-stock a pharmacy.
If a few thousand doctors do that a few hundred times each, you’ve created a “pandemic” out of nowhere, with a comparatively small outlay and 99% of those involved believing they’re doing the right thing.
The American medical system is broken, of course. Has been for decades, and Dr Jensen’s revelations received a comparatively large amount of coverage which people in the UK and Europe largely filed away as “just American healthcare doing American healthcare things”.
What received markedly less coverage is the fact the UK’s NHS has its own Covid money problem.
We don’t know if they operate a similar “money for diagnosis” system, and when we contacted the NHS to clarify this we were passed around various NHS offices before eventually being totally ignored. We received no answer to the question at all.
We do know that the NHS has received over £14 billion in extra funds since the crisis erupted. Which doesn’t include all the money saved from running the NHS at well under capacity for over three months.
On March 17th Sir Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of the NHS, sent out this letter to the chairs of every NHS trust, as well as GP surgeries and other NHS providers that explains how that money will be spent. Including:
Nationally we are now in the process of block-buying capacity in independent hospitals.
Which means paying private hospitals to keep beds empty.
And:
Additional funding to cover your extra costs of responding to the coronavirus emergency […] financial constraints must not and will not stand in the way of taking immediate and necessary action
Which means that the more a hospital “responds” to the “emergency” – ie. the more tests they run, the more non-Covid patients they discharge to make room for the “surge”, and the more operations they cancel – the more money they get.
Though couched throughout in the subtly deceptive language of the British bureaucrat, there’s no denying the implications of some of the content.
There’s more than enough hints here suggesting huge potential for transferring public money into private hands.
But that’s not the worst of it.
Wasting millions of pounds “bulk buying” bed space in private hospitals and contracting emergency “Nightingale” hospitals to do nothing but stand empty – as well as a host of “estimated expenditures” and other “reimbursements” – well, that starts to reak of corruption, perhaps even embezzling. Obviously morally bankrupt, but corruption is expected in a capitalist system. Breakage. The cost of doing business.
What’s worse – where this gets really shady – is around the questions of ventilators.
The Stevens letter says this on the subject of mechanical ventilation:
National procurement for assisted respiratory support capacity, particularly mechanical ventilation, is also well under way in conjunction with the Department of Health and Social Care. In addition, the Government is working with the manufacturing sector to bring new manufacturers online.
Invasive mechanical ventilators are not a first-choice treatment for patients with respiratory viruses, so channelling fund to manufacturers is, at best, wasted money. However, I can’t find any direct evidence that NHS hospitals have a financial incentive to use ventilators.
But there is absolutely no denying that American hospitals do.
Ventilators are known to likely make respiratory conditions much worse by damaging the lungs. A lot of times putting someone on a ventilator is a death sentence. We’ve been told that by several whistleblowers, not to mention medical experts.
Put those two bits of information together.
Hospitals in the US – and perhaps other countries – are therefore employing treatments they know may kill their patients, in order to secure money.
There is a hard reality here we’ve all been slowly becoming aware of for a while now. It’s time we looked it square in the face.
Look at this in context. Look at the tests which cause false positives, and the coroner guidelines being changed. Consider the nursing home deaths, the enforced illegal use of DNRs and how at odds all of that is with the actual threat of the virus. It’s all coming together to form a very disturbing picture.


offguardian--2020-06-26--The Co-opting of Activism by the State

The Co-opting of Activism by the State

It is well documented that members of the police and intelligence communities have been infiltrating activist groups since the sixties .
With covert spymasters rising in the ranks to hold influential leadership positions , guiding policy and strategy , and in some cases , radicalising those movements from within , in order to damage their reputation and weaken public support .
A judge-led public enquiry in the UK revealed at least 144 undercover police operations had infiltrated and spied on more than 1,000 political groups in long term deployments since 1968 .
These days , rather than using coercion to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of evidence to suggest the state has devised more nefarious methods for countering subversion .
Involving the co-opting of grassroots movements , in its bid to transform the unbridled ideals of activism into genuflections of corporate and political interest .
Indeed , the denaturing of our social movements has engendered a culture of advocacy whereby it is no longer forged in the backyard of community and instead through a series of state sponsored global debates , on authorised issues only , such as climate change .
The environmental movement , not to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to our god-complex , and fantasises that our species holds dominion over nature , that our actions could somehow compromise the planet ’ s homeostasis .
An absurdity , when humanity is in fact the fragile child of a fierce , indomitable mother-nature , who can and does kick our proverbial arse , and rightly so , as punishment for romanticising our survival beyond the limit of our expiry date ; a thrashing she has delivered punctually , in accordance with the cycles of her rhythm – renewing herself in the face of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of our ancestors , since the dawn of time .
Welcome to the world .
It should also be noted , the consensual focus on the wrong environmental issues of the day provides some mild analgesic ( or airbrush to sweep under the rug of blissful ignorance ) , the greater human pains , we forget to experience , as a result of complicity in a social order which unleashes devastating inequality , poverty and famine , mostly to non-European habitants ; and political disenfranchisement , stratification , and assault upon individualism , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rebellion campaigns on the politically prescribed bandwagon of the day , dressed as the proletariat , carrying the recycled torch of direct action dissidents from the eighties and nineties , who campaigned fiercely on bonafide issues , such as equality , sovereignty and political inclusion .
Yet , contrary to the ideals of those drowned out voices of civil disobedience , ER is courted by high profile financial donors and is aligned ideologically with multinational energy corporations and billionaire philanthropists .
each vying for a fattened slice of the climate change pie .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ roots .
Another funder of ER is billionaire philanthropist , George Soros , who is , unsurprisingly , a seed investor in Avaaz , often cited as the world ’ s largest and most powerful online activist network .
This paradoxical , head-scratching fiction , that would attempt to align the polarising ideals of activism and billionaires – as if the two would be commuted through mutual interest – is straight out of the pages of an elaborate science fiction novel set in a parallel universe .
The government , in granting rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into Central London , to an assembly of ER , reeks of state-collusion , especially when the right to protest , decimated by the true bastion of civil liberties Tony Blair , was not granted to the hundred thousand students , who as teenagers and kids , protested the exorbitant , threefold increase in university tuition fees back in 2010. Who were instead subjected to brutal , would-be-illegal mistreatment by riot police , through appalling practices such as Kettling .
Meanwhile , the bobbies on the beat at ER appeared cheerful and avuncular @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sips of decaffeinated green tea from the festival flask .
Conveniently , ER ’ s ‘ Circus of Excess ’ takeover of Central London took place on April 12th 2019 , one day after Julian Assange was arrested inside the Ecuadorian Embassy on April 11th , delivering a timely front page airbrush to whitewash the bigger story of Assange ’ s arrest and its grave ramifications to free speech and press freedom at large .
It is no coincidence that another Soros funded activism group Black Lives Matter has diverted the spotlight away @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the fundamental human rights of billions of people , using the reliable methods of divide and rule , to highlight the plight of specific strata ’ s of society , and not all .
It ’ s worth pointing out that BLM ’ s activity spikes every four years .
Always prior to the elections in the US , as African Americans make up an important social segment of Democrat votes .
The same Democrats who play both sides like any smart gambler would .
The Clintons , for example , are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the anti-fascist ANTIFA .
While Hilary Clinton ’ s mentor ( and best friend ) was former KKK leader Robert Byrd .
BLM is a massively hyped , TV-made , politicised event , that panders to the populist and escapist appetite of the people .
Blinding them from their true call to arms in defence of the universal rights of everyone .
Cashing in on the youths pent-up aggression ( or post-lockdown syndrome ) .
And weaponising the tiger locked in a rattled cage for 3-months , and unleashed by puppet masters as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make obvious their insincerity by omitting this crucial focal point on their banner , to a youth , whose precious freedoms have been hijacked more than most throughout the draconian lockdown operation .
The ramifications of which are predicted to impact 135 million people in Africa and other developing countries , who are facing devastating biblical famines , as a humanitarian catastrophe looms , which BLM are not protesting .
As a general rule of thumb , it is safe to assume that if a social movement has the backing of big industry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then its ideals run contrary to citizen empowerment .
Politically correct ‘ activism ’ that falls short of the watershed , has replaced genuine social advocacy , that does not .
Case in point is the unpleasant movement for gender-neutrality , who reject the social constructs of masculine and feminine , and would replace those expletives , with the linguistic root and pronoun , ‘ they , ’ ‘ ze ’ , ‘ zir ’ or ‘ it ’ s , ’ In other words , a pejorative-type rhetoric that sounds remarkably like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ released from a punctured tyre .
The notion that we should transpose the sublime and nuanced qualities that aggregate our humanity , with grammatical pronouns , should be taken outside , trousers pulled down and bottom spanked .
Especially when , advocacy which campaigns for language to avoid distinguishing roles according to gender , is in fact , a reinforcement of those very roles .
Equally ironic is the magnitude of media attention , pumped into amplifying these arbitrary platitudes , like hot air inflating a tyre .
As Jordan B Peterson points @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or so , psychologists have aggregated great numbers of personality trait features , using adjectives , phrases and sentences , throwing virtually every descriptor contained in human language into the mix , in a remarkably a-theoretical manner .
The method ?
Describe people every which way imaginable .
But not the fundamentals of who they actually are , right ?
This white-noising of free speech into politically correct jargon , is like a redundant traffic light system confusing our perception and distorting the value and distinction we would voluntarily place on one another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ humanism to grammatical grid system .
As Peterson also points out – he has studied authoritarianism for a very long time – for 40 years – and they ’ re started by people ’ s attempts to control the ideological and linguistic territory .
The ramifications of politically correct advocacy – that brings transgender into primary school classrooms – on the socialisation of children , is unhealthy and unnecessary to say the least .
When a child ’ s mind – lacking the complexity of an adults – looks out onto the world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ distinctions , and therefore unequipped to take on board and sort through the smorgasbord of gendered stratification , which , even we as adults , fail to comprehend much of the time .
We are all different , granted .
But distinction must be respected for its virtue , rather than celebrated for its glamour .
This is not a popularity contest .
Trying to legitimise one form of normality over another , validates that which is in focus , and sterilises all else .
Creating even more separation in an already fragmented @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lexicon of new placeholders and regulations to distinguish and protect this fragile territory .
Counter intuitive , when the focus should be on individual freedom of expression ( that is boundless and unbridled ) , rather than collective expression ( that exists within pre-designated coordinates ) , where transgender becomes a box to climb into .
The sense of entitlement or right of way which any new need for legitimacy requires , is indeed worrying .
My own idiosyncrasies , for example , no matter how noble they resonate to me personally , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ something I particularly wish to launder publicly , burden my neighbours with , attempt to mobilise a movement for , or challenge the status quo to transform public perception in defence of .
Why would anyone trading on their own distinctiveness want to be anything but a unique personification of themselves anyway ?
Rather than just another member of another club , in another normalised strata , of a normalised society .
When the emphasis should be placed on individual rights , gender-neutralists do not present tangible arguments for preserving individual liberty and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pseudo social value of even more separation and stratification .
Overall , could this perversion of our traditional touchstones be part of a broader agenda to disassemble our societal values , through a series of transformations that replace our nuanced ideals with state sponsored orthodoxies , our family values with social hierarchies , and our human identity with its symbol and pronoun ?
Advertising brands have long understood the power of advocacy .
For example , support for NHS workers , by corporate brands like LEON , involves the same marketing strategy exemplified @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The rainbow is almost copy/paste .
The unscrupulous machinations of advertising executives have long understood the power of promoting products directly to children , with many corporations employing professional psychologists to sufficiently get into a child ’ s mind , to influence their choices .
The resulting Pester-power extends the consent from child to parent , and creates a chain reaction of peer pressure from one child ’ s parent to the next .
The recruiting of children into activism , that started with Greta , and now playing out in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ homage to the NHS , with rainbow paintings displayed in windows like National flags , is another psychological trick of the state that places insurmountable pressure on parents to assume rank and file within neighbourhood activism , or else face being ostracised .
Likewise , doorstep clapping advocacy for the NHS is another politically motivated flag-waving exercise in civil-obedience , which , like any other form of sincerity , expressed without spontaneity , is by definition , insincere .
Indeed , disguising an immodest show of self publicity as the unrequested , unsent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health workers , is at best a personal assault on one ’ s own virtue , and at worst , an excuse not to participate in real or productive action in support of the noble cause .
In conclusion , it appears there are ongoing moves to button down the dirty shirt collars of civil disobedience , and shift dissidence towards patriotic acts of obedience , such as the recent pot and pan bashing doorstep advocacy for the NHS .
Has this widespread infiltration of activism resulted in the state taking clandestine ownership @ @ @ @ @ @ @ order to transform activism into instruments that can be used to do the unofficial bidding of a global elite ?
Dustin Broadbery is based in London and is interested in social theory and particularly how a mutual society could bring about great advancements in the social fabric .
You can read more of his work at TheCogent.org and contact him through his Twitter .

Dustin Broadbery
It is well documented that members of the police and intelligence communities have been infiltrating activist groups since the sixties. With covert spymasters rising in the ranks to hold influential leadership positions, guiding policy and strategy, and in some cases, radicalising those movements from within, in order to damage their reputation and weaken public support.
A judge-led public enquiry in the UK revealed at least 144 undercover police operations had infiltrated and spied on more than 1,000 political groups in long term deployments since 1968.
These days, rather than using coercion to suppress sedition, there is a body of evidence to suggest the state has devised more nefarious methods for countering subversion. Involving the co-opting of grassroots movements, in its bid to transform the unbridled ideals of activism into genuflections of corporate and political interest.
Indeed, the denaturing of our social movements has engendered a culture of advocacy whereby it is no longer forged in the backyard of community and instead through a series of state sponsored global debates, on authorised issues only, such as climate change.
The environmental movement, not to be confused with the ecological movement, appeals to our god-complex, and fantasises that our species holds dominion over nature, that our actions could somehow compromise the planet’s homeostasis.
An absurdity, when humanity is in fact the fragile child of a fierce, indomitable mother-nature, who can and does kick our proverbial arse, and rightly so, as punishment for romanticising our survival beyond the limit of our expiry date; a thrashing she has delivered punctually, in accordance with the cycles of her rhythm – renewing herself in the face of inevitable extinction – delivered to the ancestors of our ancestors, since the dawn of time. Welcome to the world.
It should also be noted, the consensual focus on the wrong environmental issues of the day provides some mild analgesic (or airbrush to sweep under the rug of blissful ignorance), the greater human pains, we forget to experience, as a result of complicity in a social order which unleashes devastating inequality, poverty and famine, mostly to non-European habitants; and political disenfranchisement, stratification, and assault upon individualism, to the rest of us.
Extinction Rebellion campaigns on the politically prescribed bandwagon of the day, dressed as the proletariat, carrying the recycled torch of direct action dissidents from the eighties and nineties, who campaigned fiercely on bonafide issues, such as equality, sovereignty and political inclusion.
Yet, contrary to the ideals of those drowned out voices of civil disobedience, ER is courted by high profile financial donors and is aligned ideologically with multinational energy corporations and billionaire philanthropists. each vying for a fattened slice of the climate change pie. Making this motley crew anything but grass roots.
Another funder of ER is billionaire philanthropist, George Soros, who is, unsurprisingly, a seed investor in Avaaz, often cited as the world’s largest and most powerful online activist network. This paradoxical, head-scratching fiction, that would attempt to align the polarising ideals of activism and billionaires – as if the two would be commuted through mutual interest – is straight out of the pages of an elaborate science fiction novel set in a parallel universe.
The government, in granting rights of passage across key public access routes into Central London, to an assembly of ER, reeks of state-collusion, especially when the right to protest, decimated by the true bastion of civil liberties Tony Blair, was not granted to the hundred thousand students, who as teenagers and kids, protested the exorbitant, threefold increase in university tuition fees back in 2010. Who were instead subjected to brutal, would-be-illegal mistreatment by riot police, through appalling practices such as Kettling.
Meanwhile, the bobbies on the beat at ER appeared cheerful and avuncular, almost sitting down ceremoniously to share sips of decaffeinated green tea from the festival flask.
Conveniently, ER’s ‘Circus of Excess’ takeover of Central London took place on April 12th 2019, one day after Julian Assange was arrested inside the Ecuadorian Embassy on April 11th, delivering a timely front page airbrush to whitewash the bigger story of Assange’s arrest and its grave ramifications to free speech and press freedom at large.
It is no coincidence that another Soros funded activism group Black Lives Matter has diverted the spotlight away from the lockdown’s broader impact on the fundamental human rights of billions of people, using the reliable methods of divide and rule, to highlight the plight of specific strata’s of society, and not all.
It’s worth pointing out that BLM’s activity spikes every four years. Always prior to the elections in the US, as African Americans make up an important social segment of Democrat votes. The same Democrats who play both sides like any smart gambler would. The Clintons, for example, are investors into BLM”s partner, the anti-fascist ANTIFA. While Hilary Clinton’s mentor (and best friend) was former KKK leader Robert Byrd.
BLM is a massively hyped, TV-made, politicised event, that panders to the populist and escapist appetite of the people. Blinding them from their true call to arms in defence of the universal rights of everyone. Cashing in on the youths pent-up aggression (or post-lockdown syndrome). And weaponising the tiger locked in a rattled cage for 3-months, and unleashed by puppet masters as the mob.
The organisers of BLM make obvious their insincerity by omitting this crucial focal point on their banner, to a youth, whose precious freedoms have been hijacked more than most throughout the draconian lockdown operation. The ramifications of which are predicted to impact 135 million people in Africa and other developing countries, who are facing devastating biblical famines, as a humanitarian catastrophe looms, which BLM are not protesting.
As a general rule of thumb, it is safe to assume that if a social movement has the backing of big industry, big philanthropy or big politics, then its ideals run contrary to citizen empowerment.
The Movement for Gender Neutrality
Politically correct ‘activism’ that falls short of the watershed, has replaced genuine social advocacy, that does not. Case in point is the unpleasant movement for gender-neutrality, who reject the social constructs of masculine and feminine, and would replace those expletives, with the linguistic root and pronoun, ‘they,’ ‘ze’ ,‘zir’ or ‘it’s,’ In other words, a pejorative-type rhetoric that sounds remarkably like the long hiss of air being slowly released from a punctured tyre.
The notion that we should transpose the sublime and nuanced qualities that aggregate our humanity, with grammatical pronouns, should be taken outside, trousers pulled down and bottom spanked. Especially when, advocacy which campaigns for language to avoid distinguishing roles according to gender, is in fact, a reinforcement of those very roles. Equally ironic is the magnitude of media attention, pumped into amplifying these arbitrary platitudes, like hot air inflating a tyre.
As Jordan B Peterson points out, over the last five decades or so, psychologists have aggregated great numbers of personality trait features, using adjectives, phrases and sentences, throwing virtually every descriptor contained in human language into the mix, in a remarkably a-theoretical manner. The method? Describe people every which way imaginable. But not the fundamentals of who they actually are, right?
This white-noising of free speech into politically correct jargon, is like a redundant traffic light system confusing our perception and distorting the value and distinction we would voluntarily place on one another. Taking us on a journey from humanism to grammatical grid system. As Peterson also points out – he has studied authoritarianism for a very long time – for 40 years – and they’re started by people’s attempts to control the ideological and linguistic territory.
The ramifications of politically correct advocacy – that brings transgender into primary school classrooms – on the socialisation of children, is unhealthy and unnecessary to say the least. When a child’s mind – lacking the complexity of an adults – looks out onto the world with innocent myopic, it is without distinctions, and therefore unequipped to take on board and sort through the smorgasbord of gendered stratification, which, even we as adults, fail to comprehend much of the time.
We are all different, granted. But distinction must be respected for its virtue, rather than celebrated for its glamour. This is not a popularity contest. Trying to legitimise one form of normality over another, validates that which is in focus, and sterilises all else. Creating even more separation in an already fragmented world, which in turn requires a lexicon of new placeholders and regulations to distinguish and protect this fragile territory. Counter intuitive, when the focus should be on individual freedom of expression (that is boundless and unbridled), rather than collective expression (that exists within pre-designated coordinates), where transgender becomes a box to climb into.
The sense of entitlement or right of way which any new need for legitimacy requires, is indeed worrying. My own idiosyncrasies, for example, no matter how noble they resonate to me personally, are my own private affairs and not something I particularly wish to launder publicly, burden my neighbours with, attempt to mobilise a movement for, or challenge the status quo to transform public perception in defence of.
Why would anyone trading on their own distinctiveness want to be anything but a unique personification of themselves anyway? Rather than just another member of another club, in another normalised strata, of a normalised society. When the emphasis should be placed on individual rights, gender-neutralists do not present tangible arguments for preserving individual liberty and expression, and instead focus on the pseudo social value of even more separation and stratification.
Overall, could this perversion of our traditional touchstones be part of a broader agenda to disassemble our societal values, through a series of transformations that replace our nuanced ideals with state sponsored orthodoxies, our family values with social hierarchies, and our human identity with its symbol and pronoun?
NHS Advocacy
Advertising brands have long understood the power of advocacy. For example, support for NHS workers, by corporate brands like LEON, involves the same marketing strategy exemplified in their corporate takeover of Gay Pride. The rainbow is almost copy/paste.
The unscrupulous machinations of advertising executives have long understood the power of promoting products directly to children, with many corporations employing professional psychologists to sufficiently get into a child’s mind, to influence their choices. The resulting Pester-power extends the consent from child to parent, and creates a chain reaction of peer pressure from one child’s parent to the next.
The recruiting of children into activism, that started with Greta, and now playing out in the UK’s national art project paying homage to the NHS, with rainbow paintings displayed in windows like National flags, is another psychological trick of the state that places insurmountable pressure on parents to assume rank and file within neighbourhood activism, or else face being ostracised.
Likewise, doorstep clapping advocacy for the NHS is another politically motivated flag-waving exercise in civil-obedience, which, like any other form of sincerity, expressed without spontaneity, is by definition, insincere.
Indeed, disguising an immodest show of self publicity as the unrequested, unsent and unreceived mark of respect to public health workers, is at best a personal assault on one’s own virtue, and at worst, an excuse not to participate in real or productive action in support of the noble cause.
*
In conclusion, it appears there are ongoing moves to button down the dirty shirt collars of civil disobedience, and shift dissidence towards patriotic acts of obedience, such as the recent pot and pan bashing doorstep advocacy for the NHS.
Has this widespread infiltration of activism resulted in the state taking clandestine ownership of the most visible movements, in order to transform activism into instruments that can be used to do the unofficial bidding of a global elite?
Dustin Broadbery is based in London and is interested in social theory and particularly how a mutual society could bring about great advancements in the social fabric. You can read more of his work at TheCogent.org and contact him through his Twitter.


offguardian--2020-06-27--White Privilege and the Racism Debate: A British East European point of view

In this country [ 1 ] I am regarded as White and therefore , privileged – it seems .
People in the streets and on television say that Whites should kneel and apologise .
How come I find myself in this bizarre situation ?
How did I get here ?
How did a refugee from war-torn socialist Yugoslavia turned fisherman in the South Pacific become a privileged White male ?
Is it something I did ?
No , it ’ s not something I did or said .
It has nothing to do with me .
Except that… it has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is no-one to speak out for me !
So , there you go now , hear my voice .
I was born in Yugoslavia , the most multicultural country in Europe .
Through the non-aligned movement , it had many links with third-world countries and we used to call Africans : braća crnci , Black Brothers .
I grew up in Belgrade listening to African American blues musicians such as BB King , Jimi Hendrix , John Lee Hooker and Blind Lemon Jefferson , playing basketball to better the likes of Michael Jordan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the late 90s that I noticed that the footballer Edson Arantes do Nascimento better known as Pele was black !
And I remember watching him play for the first time in Sweden 1970 !
It took me thirty years or perhaps , ten years of living in an English-speaking country to think of the great football magician in terms of race .
In the early nineties , many of my countrymen ( and women ) fled the war .
I too found myself in a new setting , in Nelson , New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ operated a fleet of fishing boats .
I learnt the trade and a couple of years later , upon graduation , I could tell ALL the commercial fish species in the South Pacific .
Filling the many forms of the New Zealand immigration service and later of the government , I identified as a Pakeha , the Maori term for white people and , apparently , also for a pig .
Pakeha or Caucasian , that was the choice I had .
At the same time , for most the Yugoslav immigrants in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I was just one of us , ex-Yugoslavs and we all spoke naški – our language .
We never bothered ( very wisely ) to call it Serbian , Croatian , Bosnian or… Locals struggled to tell us apart , the same as we struggled to tell the English from the Dutch or the Maoris from the Pacific Islanders ( NB .
the great rugby player , Jonah Lomu was of Tongan origin , an Islander – not a Maori ) .
While in Nelson , down very South , a good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ farmer , woodturner and artist taught me an important lesson .
We were barbequing some meat near the Tahunanui beach when Max said that as an Irish-born immigrant , Kit wasn ’ t a real Kiwi .
The already well-aged and proud son of Joyce , Beckett , Heaney and a very long line of Celtic storytelling alchemists stood up from his chair with a drink in his mighty rugged hand and roared : You were born in this country , Max , but I chose to come here out my own free @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a New Zealander than you will ever be !
Thus , spoke Kit Carson , Down Under Below , raising his glass to a thunderous – slaintè !
On the day the New York twin towers fell , I left Aotearoa [ 2 ] and moved to Britain ( this country ? )
.
I now live in Cambridge , a multi-cultural city with a peculiar town and gown historical ( class , racial ? )
divide .
For the immigration service and the government here , I am White , the other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government web page lists those options : One of the home nations or Irish ( Kit Carson ! )
Gypsy or Irish Traveller ( Tyson Fury , the boxer ) or any other White background .
You can also belong to mixed ethnicities or declare yourself to be Jewish , Indian , Pakistani , Bangladeshi , Chinese or of any other Asian background .
You can be African , Caribbean or of any other Black background .
You could be Arab too ( Dr Ali Meghji ) !
So , all Europeans are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the prominent and outspoken British politician , does not complain about his French , Italian or German and not even Greek neighbours .
He just does not recommend living next door to a bunch of Romanians !
At the same time , ‘ Go home Poles ’ graffiti compete with Banksy ’ s excellent artwork , anti-Russian hyper-hysteria ( you don ’ t really want me to give you any links for this one ) and the already metastatic anti-Serbian bias ( uh , where shall I start with links… ) that I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years .
Nine in ten of my conversations that started with where are you from originally ?
and continued with me saying I am from Serbia , ended right there – in embarrassment and silence .
A sure sign that my interlocutors were educated on the topic by alphabet soup corporations ( CNN , BBC… ESPN , CIA ? )
rather than history or any other books .
While I do not expect people to have read all the novels by the Nobel laureate Ivo Andrić or seen the films of multiple Palme @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to have ever found themselves trapped in one of the Marina Abramović arty installations , to have understood the principles of Nikola Tesla ’ s coil and wireless transmission of electricity or even watched Novak Đoković play tennis , it would be nice if they could make a small mental effort to move beyond the “ murderous Serbs ” stereotype .
So , the western political correctness pill may pretend to be covering Muslims , Blacks and Jews but it does not cover the others , with special reference to Eastern Europeans .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that there is no such thing as an “ East European accent ” .
Same as there is no such a thing as a Western European accent [ 3 ] .
The geographical Eastern Europe features languages that belong to different groups : Finno-Ugric , Greek , Romance , Slavic and Albanian among others .
Native speakers of these languages do not and can not possibly have the same English accents .
Again , is there such a thing as a Jewish , African or Muslim accent ?
• Talking to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Oh , is that a Muslim accent that I hear , darling ?
• Talking to Shaquille O ’ Neal during a pick-up basketball game you say : Where does your accent come from ?
West Africa , perhaps ?
• Talking to a rabbi who happen to be dressed as a rabbi : Interesting accent that you have – Semitic isn ’ t it ?
[ NB : do NOT try any of these techniques at home ] East European is not an ethnicity .
East Europeans as a compact group @ @ @ @ @ @ @ religiously .
They are no different from Western Europeans in that respect .
East European is a prejudiced political , cold war denomination for marginalised ( other ) white people .
My ancestors fought the Ottoman Turks for centuries not to be enslaved or taken away by the Janissaries .
As my name is not Muhammed and I am a Christian , grandad seems to have done well .
Now both the descendants and victims of the British Empire slave traders tell me I should apologise .
Uh , let me see… Is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here , in English , not a construct of Western European maritime imperial nations , of genocide , slave trade and slavery ?
Where I come from we learnt about these sinister exploits at school .
We were told about what happened to the American Indians , the Aborigines , the Mayas and the Incas , the Africans abducted from their ancestral homes , enslaved and shipped to the new brave world .
We knew about the East India Company , the British concentration camps in South Africa , Churchill ’ s racism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ visited upon the civilian populations of Hiroshima , Nagasaki and Dresden .
This was all common knowledge among people outside the Anglo-Saxon imperial reach .
The British Empire is racist , you now tell me ?
No kidding .
The American fathers of the exceptional nation were slave owners ?
Say no more .
The Empire committed atrocities with the ‘ excuse ’ that their victims were not really human .
If they now , suddenly accepted the humanity of the colonised , exploited and murdered peoples , their minds would blow and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ethical , religious principles and civilised posturing .
But let ’ s go back to our topic , my Eastern European predicament .
I am White .
Other White but still – sort of , White !
To be better represented , I might join forces with the other Asians and the other Africans perhaps ?
So much for an identity crisis of the Others ( capitalised by now , mind you ) !
I don ’ t think I am or ever was privileged in this society or , for that , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I support human rights and equality wholeheartedly .
One day , when I return to the Balkans I may lay down and die of shame for what we allowed to happen to my generation and my country in those mountains .
I have learnt to deal with my own and with our collective past .
It ’ s a process that brings pain and , I hope , also clarity and hope for a more harmonious future .
So , East Europeans are other Whites .
We are not privileged and we often @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prejudice and intolerance .
Do not paint us thus , with the old , stained , black & white brush .
There are too many dirty brushes lying around already… and so many wonderful colours .
Nebojša Radić is a lecturer in world languages at the University of Cambridge .
He has published fiction in the English , Italian and Serbian languages and holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the UEA in Norwich .

Nebojša Radić
In this country[1] I am regarded as White and therefore, privileged – it seems. People in the streets and on television say that Whites should kneel and apologise.
Really?
How come I find myself in this bizarre situation?
How did I get here?
How did a refugee from war-torn socialist Yugoslavia turned fisherman in the South Pacific become a privileged White male?
Did I miss anything?
Is it something I did?
Something I said?
No, it’s not something I did or said. It has nothing to do with me.
Except that… it has everything to do with me and there is no-one to speak out for me!
So, there you go now, hear my voice.
I was born in Yugoslavia, the most multicultural country in Europe. Through the non-aligned movement, it had many links with third-world countries and we used to call Africans: braća crnci, Black Brothers. I grew up in Belgrade listening to African American blues musicians such as BB King, Jimi Hendrix, John Lee Hooker and Blind Lemon Jefferson, playing basketball to better the likes of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson!
It was only in the late 90s that I noticed that the footballer Edson Arantes do Nascimento better known as Pele was black! And I remember watching him play for the first time in Sweden 1970! It took me thirty years or perhaps, ten years of living in an English-speaking country to think of the great football magician in terms of race.
In the early nineties, many of my countrymen (and women) fled the war. I too found myself in a new setting, in Nelson, New Zealand where a friend of a friend operated a fleet of fishing boats. I learnt the trade and a couple of years later, upon graduation, I could tell ALL the commercial fish species in the South Pacific.
Filling the many forms of the New Zealand immigration service and later of the government, I identified as a Pakeha, the Maori term for white people and, apparently, also for a pig. Pakeha or Caucasian, that was the choice I had. At the same time, for most the Yugoslav immigrants in Aotearoa, I was naš – ours. I was just one of us, ex-Yugoslavs and we all spoke naški – our language. We never bothered (very wisely) to call it Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian or…
Locals struggled to tell us apart, the same as we struggled to tell the English from the Dutch or the Maoris from the Pacific Islanders (NB. the great rugby player, Jonah Lomu was of Tongan origin, an Islander – not a Maori).
While in Nelson, down very South, a good friend of mine Kit Carson, a farmer, woodturner and artist taught me an important lesson. We were barbequing some meat near the Tahunanui beach when Max said that as an Irish-born immigrant, Kit wasn’t a real Kiwi. The already well-aged and proud son of Joyce, Beckett, Heaney and a very long line of Celtic storytelling alchemists stood up from his chair with a drink in his mighty rugged hand and roared: You were born in this country, Max, but I chose to come here out my own free will. I am much more of a New Zealander than you will ever be!
Thus, spoke Kit Carson, Down Under Below, raising his glass to a thunderous – slaintè!
On the day the New York twin towers fell, I left Aotearoa[2] and moved to Britain (this country?). I now live in Cambridge, a multi-cultural city with a peculiar town and gown historical (class, racial?) divide.
For the immigration service and the government here, I am White, the other White, mind you. The official government web page lists those options:
One of the home nations or Irish (Kit Carson!)
Gypsy or Irish Traveller (Tyson Fury, the boxer)
or any other White background.
You can also belong to mixed ethnicities or declare yourself to be Jewish, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese or of any other Asian background. You can be African, Caribbean or of any other Black background. You could be Arab too (Dr Ali Meghji)!
So, all Europeans are other Whites.
Nigel Farage however, the prominent and outspoken British politician, does not complain about his French, Italian or German and not even Greek neighbours. He just does not recommend living next door to a bunch of Romanians!
At the same time, ‘Go home Poles’ graffiti compete with Banksy’s excellent artwork, anti-Russian hyper-hysteria (you don’t really want me to give you any links for this one) and the already metastatic anti-Serbian bias (uh, where shall I start with links…) that I have been exposed to over these 30 years.
Nine in ten of my conversations that started with where are you from originally? and continued with me saying I am from Serbia, ended right there – in embarrassment and silence. A sure sign that my interlocutors were educated on the topic by alphabet soup corporations (CNN, BBC… ESPN, CIA?) rather than history or any other books.
While I do not expect people to have read all the novels by the Nobel laureate Ivo Andrić or seen the films of multiple Palme d’Or winner Emir Kusturica, to have ever found themselves trapped in one of the Marina Abramović arty installations, to have understood the principles of Nikola Tesla’s coil and wireless transmission of electricity or even watched Novak Đoković play tennis, it would be nice if they could make a small mental effort to move beyond the “murderous Serbs” stereotype.
So, the western political correctness pill may pretend to be covering Muslims, Blacks and Jews but it does not cover the others, with special reference to Eastern Europeans.
I can inform you, for instance, that there is no such thing as an “East European accent”. Same as there is no such a thing as a Western European accent[3].
The geographical Eastern Europe features languages that belong to different groups: Finno-Ugric, Greek, Romance, Slavic and Albanian among others. Native speakers of these languages do not and cannot possibly have the same English accents. Again, is there such a thing as a Jewish, African or Muslim accent?
For instance,
Talking to a woman in a burka you ask leisurely: Oh, is that a Muslim accent that I hear, darling?
Talking to Shaquille O’Neal during a pick-up basketball game you say: Where does your accent come from? West Africa, perhaps?
Talking to a rabbi who happen to be dressed as a rabbi: Interesting accent that you have – Semitic isn’t it?
[NB: do NOT try any of these techniques at home]
East European is not an ethnicity. East Europeans as a compact group do not exist linguistically, culturally and religiously. They are no different from Western Europeans in that respect. East European is a prejudiced political, cold war denomination for marginalised (other) white people.
My ancestors fought the Ottoman Turks for centuries not to be enslaved or taken away by the Janissaries. As my name is not Muhammed and I am a Christian, grandad seems to have done well. Now both the descendants and victims of the British Empire slave traders tell me I should apologise. Uh, let me see…
Is racism, as we now know it here, in English, not a construct of Western European maritime imperial nations, of genocide, slave trade and slavery?
Where I come from we learnt about these sinister exploits at school. We were told about what happened to the American Indians, the Aborigines, the Mayas and the Incas, the Africans abducted from their ancestral homes, enslaved and shipped to the new brave world. We knew about the East India Company, the British concentration camps in South Africa, Churchill’s racism and crimes, the utter high-tech barbarism visited upon the civilian populations of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Dresden. This was all common knowledge among people outside the Anglo-Saxon imperial reach.
The British Empire is racist, you now tell me? No kidding.
The American fathers of the exceptional nation were slave owners? Say no more.
The Empire committed atrocities with the ‘excuse’ that their victims were not really human. If they now, suddenly accepted the humanity of the colonised, exploited and murdered peoples, their minds would blow and disintegrate along with all of their cherished ethical, religious principles and civilised posturing.
But let’s go back to our topic, my Eastern European predicament. I am White. Other White but still – sort of, White! To be better represented, I might join forces with the other Asians and the other Africans perhaps? So much for an identity crisis of the Others (capitalised by now, mind you)!
I don’t think I am or ever was privileged in this society or, for that, matter, responsible for racial tensions. I support human rights and equality wholeheartedly. One day, when I return to the Balkans I may lay down and die of shame for what we allowed to happen to my generation and my country in those mountains. I have learnt to deal with my own and with our collective past. It’s a process that brings pain and, I hope, also clarity and hope for a more harmonious future.
So, East Europeans are other Whites. We are not privileged and we often find ourselves at the receiving end of prejudice and intolerance. Do not paint us thus, with the old, stained, black & white brush. There are too many dirty brushes lying around already… and so many wonderful colours.
Originally published on The Saker
[1] No-one ever says in “Britain”, “England”, or “the UK”. [2] New Zealand is officially bilingual and this is the Maori name. Aotearoa translates as The Land of the Long White Cloud. [3] My enunciations have been accused many times over of possessing such a dubious quality.
Nebojša Radić is a lecturer in world languages at the University of Cambridge. He has published fiction in the English, Italian and Serbian languages and holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the UEA in Norwich.