offguardian--2020-10-28--The Last Days of the Trumpian Reich

The Last Days of the Trumpian Reich

So , according to the corporate media , this is it for Russian-backed Hitler .
Game over .
The walls are closing in .
It ’ s the last days of the Trumpian Reich .
Get those vuvuzelas ready !
Yes , apparently , the American people , who were all a bunch of Putin-worshipping , white-supremacist neo-Nazis when they elected Trump in 2016 , have come to their senses and are going to deliver a landslide victory to “ Slappy ” Joe Biden and bring down the curtain on this “ Age of Darkness , ” or save the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ bottomless pit of facsism , ” or whatever .
White supremacy will be defeated and globalization will rise from the ashes !
Decency will be restored !
Love will trump hate !
Black lives will matter !
Slappy and Kamala will immediately fly down and liberate the concentration camps .
Trump will face some sort of Nuremberg trial , where he will have to answer for mass-murdering six million people with the Coronavirus by taking off his mask on the White House balcony .
Hillary Clinton will be appointed … something @ @ @ @ @ @ @ streets , chanting unintelligible slogans through their designer masks and plastic head bubbles .
OK , sure , the global economy will be ruined , and millions of people will be unemployed , and homeless , or will have needlessly died , so that GloboCap could simulate an apocalyptic global plague , and foment racialized civil unrest , and just generally create an atmosphere of confusion , depression , and paranoia , but the War on Populism will finally be over … and GloboCap will start to “ Build Back Better !
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ better ” right away .
As our friends at the World Economic Forum note : So , all right , maybe not quite the end of the War on Populism , but at least a new stage of it .
A chaotic , destructive , violent stage of it , which will require a lot of “ emergency measures ” and will end up radically transforming the planet into one big pathologized-totalitarian marketplace .
We conspiracy theorists are calling it The Great Reset … but don ’ t take it from us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which just happens to be owned by a guy named Marc Benioff , a World Economic Forum Board of Trustees member , whose net worth is approximately $ 7.8 billion , and who is deeply concerned about the environment , and inclusivity , and economic fairness , as is everyone at the WEF these days .
Fortunately , just by sheer coincidence , this apocalyptic global plague has provided Marc and his billionaire buddies ( who own the majority of the corporate media , and who meet once a year in a remote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our future with major government leaders ) with an opportunity to “ reset ” capitalism and save the planet from … well , themselves .
That ’ s not how they see it , naturally .
No , the way they see it , they ’ re not the problem .
The problem is … well , the problem is people .
Not rich and powerful people like themselves , or the people they need to continue working , consuming , and servicing the interest on their loans , but … you know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , un-woke , working-class people .
Gun-toting , fanatically religious people .
Racist , conspiracy-theorizing people .
Deplorable people .
“ Populist ” people .
People they don ’ t need anymore .
These people have been a problem recently .
Not only are they a drag on the system , they have been actively interfering with it , voting for Brexit , electing Donald Trump , refusing to abandon their traditional values and outmoded ideas ( e.g.
, national sovereignty , freedom of speech , and mammalian biology ) and get on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been otherwise being a real pain in the ass .
It was one thing when these problem people were mostly black- and brown-skinned people with “ extremist ” beliefs in faraway countries that most Western consumers couldn ’ t care less about , because GloboCap could just bomb the crap out of them , but they can ’ t really do that here in the West .
Hence , the War on Populism that we have been experiencing for the last four years … and whatever new , dystopian stage of it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
2020 has been a preview of it .
The lockdowns , the masks , the “ social distancing , ” and other so-called “ emergency measures , ” the Orwellian propaganda , the censorship of dissent , the banning of political protests , the corporate media finally transforming into a full-blown Goebbelsian keyboard instrument , the goon squads raiding people ’ s homes , the cult-like , totalitarian conformity … it ’ s just a taste of what ’ s to come .
This was always in the cards , of course @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time until we got here .
The folks at GloboCap are no fools .
They know they can ’ t remake the world into one big happy neo-feudal marketplace without breaking a few proverbial eggs … and not just in those “ terrorist ” countries , but everywhere , throughout the global capitalist empire .
And that is exactly what they intend to do .
So , they needed a new official narrative to justify all the broken eggs .
They haven ’ t settled on an official slogan yet .
“ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Reset , ” “ The Green New Deal ” … they ’ re all just trial balloons at this point .
It doesn ’ t really matter what they call it .
It amounts to a new type of totalitarianism .
As I noted in my previous column , “ [ i ] t isn ’ t national totalitarianism , because we ’ re living in a global capitalist empire , which isn ’ t ruled by nation-states , but rather , by supranational entities and the global capitalist system itself.
” But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t hiding it .
They ’ re spelling it out , not in spittle-flecked Hitlerian speeches , but , clearly , unmistakably , in corporate-speak .
Here is Klaus Schwab , Chairman of the WEF : I added emphasis for those new to corp-speak .
And , for those interested in reading more about Klaus Schwab , Winter Oak has published this disturbing profile , which you can also read on Cory Morningstar ’ s blog ( along with a lot of other censored content ) .
Sorry … I was supposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Trumpian Reich , and I got all sidetracked with this GloboCap business .
I hope you ’ ll forgive me for not being able to get all fired up about the election next week .
Given everything else that is happening , and everything that has happened over the last four years , I ’ m just having a little trouble believing that there is any realistic scenario wherein GloboCap lets Trump serve a second term , regardless of who actually wins .
So , that kind of takes all the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t worry , though , I ’ ll get back on the horse when the post-election rioting begins , and Donald Trump finally goes full-Hitler , declares himself Führer , dissolves the Congress , and orders his legions of Russia-loving white supremacists to start rounding up the Jews , as the corporate media , the fake “ left ” media , the Intelligence Community , the Democratic Party , fascism experts , Hollywood celebrities , and every hysterical liberal in existence have been promising he would since 2016 .
Seriously , if he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and start rounding up and mass-murdering somebody , or else order the nuking of the United States and then blow his brains out in his underground bunker , some people are going to have some explaining to do .
CJ Hopkins is an award-winning American playwright , novelist and political satirist based in Berlin .
His plays are published by Bloomsbury Publishing and Broadway Play Publishing , Inc. His dystopian novel , Zone 23 , is published by Snoggsworthy , Swaine & Cormorant .
Volume I of his Consent Factory Essays is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wholly-owned subsidiary of Amalgamated Content , Inc .
He can be reached at cjhopkins.com or consentfactory.org .

CJ Hopkins
So, according to the corporate media, this is it for Russian-backed Hitler. Game over. The walls are closing in. It’s the last days of the Trumpian Reich. Get those vuvuzelas ready!
Yes, apparently, the American people, who were all a bunch of Putin-worshipping, white-supremacist neo-Nazis when they elected Trump in 2016, have come to their senses and are going to deliver a landslide victory to “Slappy” Joe Biden and bring down the curtain on this “Age of Darkness,” or save the world from “racial Orwellianism” or the “bottomless pit of facsism,” or whatever.
White supremacy will be defeated and globalization will rise from the ashes! Decency will be restored! Love will trump hate! Black lives will matter!
Slappy and Kamala will immediately fly down and liberate the concentration camps. Trump will face some sort of Nuremberg trial, where he will have to answer for mass-murdering six million people with the Coronavirus by taking off his mask on the White House balcony.
Hillary Clinton will be appointed … something.
Exuberant liberals will pour into the streets, chanting unintelligible slogans through their designer masks and plastic head bubbles. OK, sure, the global economy will be ruined, and millions of people will be unemployed, and homeless, or will have needlessly died, so that GloboCap could simulate an apocalyptic global plague, and foment racialized civil unrest, and just generally create an atmosphere of confusion, depression, and paranoia, but the War on Populism will finally be over … and GloboCap will start to “Build Back Better!”
OK, it won’t be “better” right away. As our friends at the World Economic Forum note:
Thanks to the ongoing pandemic, the world is off-balance – and it will remain so for years to come. Far from settling into a ‘new normal’, we should expect a Covid19 domino effect, triggering further disruptions – positive as well as negative – over the decade ahead. The wave of civil unrest that spread across America and beyond recently may be one example …”
So, all right, maybe not quite the end of the War on Populism, but at least a new stage of it. A chaotic, destructive, violent stage of it, which will require a lot of “emergency measures” and will end up radically transforming the planet into one big pathologized-totalitarian marketplace.
We conspiracy theorists are calling it The Great Reset … but don’t take it from us, take it from TIME magazine, which just happens to be owned by a guy named Marc Benioff, a World Economic Forum Board of Trustees member, whose net worth is approximately $7.8 billion, and who is deeply concerned about the environment, and inclusivity, and economic fairness, as is everyone at the WEF these days.
Fortunately, just by sheer coincidence, this apocalyptic global plague has provided Marc and his billionaire buddies (who own the majority of the corporate media, and who meet once a year in a remote location guarded by heavily-armed security to discuss our future with major government leaders) with an opportunity to “reset” capitalism and save the planet from … well, themselves.
That’s not how they see it, naturally. No, the way they see it, they’re not the problem. The problem is … well, the problem is people. Not rich and powerful people like themselves, or the people they need to continue working, consuming, and servicing the interest on their loans, but … you know, all those other people. Uneducated, un-woke, working-class people. Gun-toting, fanatically religious people. Racist, conspiracy-theorizing people. Deplorable people. “Populist” people. People they don’t need anymore.
These people have been a problem recently. Not only are they a drag on the system, they have been actively interfering with it, voting for Brexit, electing Donald Trump, refusing to abandon their traditional values and outmoded ideas (e.g., national sovereignty, freedom of speech, and mammalian biology) and get on board with global capitalist ideology, and have been otherwise being a real pain in the ass.
It was one thing when these problem people were mostly black- and brown-skinned people with “extremist” beliefs in faraway countries that most Western consumers couldn’t care less about, because GloboCap could just bomb the crap out of them, but they can’t really do that here in the West. Hence, the War on Populism that we have been experiencing for the last four years … and whatever new, dystopian stage of it that awaits us in the post-Trump future.
2020 has been a preview of it. The lockdowns, the masks, the “social distancing,” and other so-called “emergency measures,” the Orwellian propaganda, the censorship of dissent, the banning of political protests, the corporate media finally transforming into a full-blown Goebbelsian keyboard instrument, the goon squads raiding people’s homes, the cult-like, totalitarian conformity … it’s just a taste of what’s to come.
This was always in the cards, of course. It was just a matter of time until we got here. The folks at GloboCap are no fools. They know they can’t remake the world into one big happy neo-feudal marketplace without breaking a few proverbial eggs … and not just in those “terrorist” countries, but everywhere, throughout the global capitalist empire. And that is exactly what they intend to do. So, they needed a new official narrative to justify all the broken eggs.
They haven’t settled on an official slogan yet. “The New Normal,” “The Great Reset,” “The Green New Deal” … they’re all just trial balloons at this point. It doesn’t really matter what they call it. It amounts to a new type of totalitarianism. As I noted in my previous column, “[i]t isn’t national totalitarianism, because we’re living in a global capitalist empire, which isn’t ruled by nation-states, but rather, by supranational entities and the global capitalist system itself.” But it is totalitarianism nonetheless.
They aren’t hiding it. They’re spelling it out, not in spittle-flecked Hitlerian speeches, but, clearly, unmistakably, in corporate-speak. Here is Klaus Schwab, Chairman of the WEF:
“[T]he world must act jointly and swiftly to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions. Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed. In short, we need a ‘Great Reset’ of capitalism.”
I added emphasis for those new to corp-speak. And, for those interested in reading more about Klaus Schwab, Winter Oak has published this disturbing profile, which you can also read on Cory Morningstar’s blog (along with a lot of other censored content).
Sorry … I was supposed to be writing about the final days of the Trumpian Reich, and I got all sidetracked with this GloboCap business. I hope you’ll forgive me for not being able to get all fired up about the election next week. Given everything else that is happening, and everything that has happened over the last four years, I’m just having a little trouble believing that there is any realistic scenario wherein GloboCap lets Trump serve a second term, regardless of who actually wins. So, that kind of takes all the suspense out of it.
Don’t worry, though, I’ll get back on the horse when the post-election rioting begins, and Donald Trump finally goes full-Hitler, declares himself Führer, dissolves the Congress, and orders his legions of Russia-loving white supremacists to start rounding up the Jews, as the corporate media, the fake “left” media, the Intelligence Community, the Democratic Party, fascism experts, Hollywood celebrities, and every hysterical liberal in existence have been promising he would since 2016.
Seriously, if he doesn’t go full-Hitler this time, and start rounding up and mass-murdering somebody, or else order the nuking of the United States and then blow his brains out in his underground bunker, some people are going to have some explaining to do.
CJ Hopkins is an award-winning American playwright, novelist and political satirist based in Berlin. His plays are published by Bloomsbury Publishing and Broadway Play Publishing, Inc. His dystopian novel, Zone 23, is published by Snoggsworthy, Swaine & Cormorant. Volume I of his Consent Factory Essays is published by Consent Factory Publishing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amalgamated Content, Inc. He can be reached at cjhopkins.com or consentfactory.org.


offguardian--2020-10-29--Incentivised Vaccine Trials: Kill (or maim) a friend and get £100

On 19th October 2020 a doctor died in Brazil .
He was 28 years old and died of Covid-19-related complications after taking part in vaccine trials .
The BBC stated , according to hearsay , “ the doctor had worked with infected patients , ” but this was not confirmed by the Brazilian Health Authority , Anvisa .
Knowing the BBC ’ s history this either means the vaccine companies are looking for a scapegoat on which to blame the doctor ’ s death , or they have set up the story of him working with infected patients to catch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to discredit vaccine research .
Regardless of this doctor ’ s death – sad though that may be – research into a vaccine for Covid-19 is already discredited .
It is taking shortcuts like never before in the history of modern medicine .
Pre-clinical trials used to take years .
Not any more .
On the day the Brazilian doctor died the World Health Organisation ( WHO ) issued a statement in a foreward to its draft landscape on COVID-19 vaccines .
It includes this disclaimer not ostensibly connected with the doctor ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
We already know that vaccine companies are exempt from liability should anything go wrong with these untested vaccines .
With that in mind you would think it unlikely anyone would want to be a “ guinea pig ” in this empirical research , least of all a doctor .
This immoral vaccine race to treat a coronavirus , which peaked in April 2020 , is beyond comprehension .
Incentives to vaccine producers must be huge .
Volunteers get next to nothing by participating in these vaccine trials .
Residents who use the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sent a letter begging them to take part in trials “ with a goal of finding a vaccine or treatment ” plus the lucrative incentive of receiving “ reasonable travel expenses ” to and from the clinic .
Lockdowns in “ your area ” will not “ affect you ” unless you are suffering Covid-19 symptoms .
So it seems lockdowns only apply to those of us not partaking in clinical trials .
If you really want to earn some money in these hard times , one vaccine trial specialist company , Synexus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sentence a friend to death , or perhaps even a fate worse than death .
A brochure has been published with all the features of a Western Outlaw notice that might have been nailed to a wooden post in a dusty cowboy town .
It depicts seven unsavoury looking characters , their faces masked .
The glossy leaflet does not quite put it like that though it pretty well amounts to the same thing .
“ Refer a friend and receive £100 ” is the heading with further explanation : “ If the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ participate in a study , we will give you £100 as a reward for your referral.
” Going for the “ refer a friend ” option I rang a Synexus number 0800 470 2449 .
After some five minutes or more I got bored listening to the spooky music , so I tried another number 0800 470 2488 .
The recorded message for keypad options and the spooky music were the same so I put the phone on speaker mode anticipating a long wait .
Amazingly I did not have to wait more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ operative , Alex .
I told her that I did not want to take the test myself but would like to recommend a friend who was really , really keen .
She explained that you can only refer a friend if you ’ ve taken part yourself .
After emphasising how keen my friend was she said you can get him to phone the centre but I had to tell her I did not know where he was .
His name is Bill Gates I told her .
The phone went silent .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
” Yes , she thought so .
I gave a brief biography and we had a bit of crack , as the Irish say .
Realising I wasn ’ t going to get £100 for referring everyone ’ s friend , Bill , I wished her a good day and hoped she was getting decent money for the job she ’ s doing , which I meant sincerely , since so many are out of work .
It occurs to me that having to wait a while for someone from Synexus to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no shortage of volunteers .
This is corroborated by a letter dated 16th October from Our Health Partnership , which now governs Yardley Wood Health Centre .
This incentive was listed as one of the bullet points to attract people to participate in vaccine trials in addition to the reasonable travel expenses , “ complimentary routine health checks ” and “ regular covid-19 testing ” .
Whoopee !
The sinister programme of Bill Gates to vaccinate the world – or else – begins early .
Nobody knows the exact source of the quote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seven , and I will show you the man ” , but it is something the Gates ’ philosophy endorses wholeheartedly .
Where vaccination is concerned ‘ the earlier the better ’ appears to be the credo .
In South Yorkshire , and presumably the rest of the country , they are administering nasal flu vaccines for four strains in an age-range from two to eighteen .
The product is Astra-Zeneca ’ s Fluenz Tetra , an upgrade of Fluenz .
From their own figures the greatest success using Fluenz was in 1996-7 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the earliest .
Since then to 2003 there would not again be a success-rate above 90 % .
The long-term effects do not appear to be disclosed .
The indication is more vaccinations equate with less efficacy of the vaccine .
This has been borne out in further studies .
In the study here it shows that those vaccinated only the previous year had more resistance to flu than those vaccinated two years consecutively and significantly more resistance than those vaccinated the previous three years .
Whether flu vaccines are beneficial has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ article points out .
More important than either of those is a piece in The Brotosh Medical Journal , not just because it is the most recent – February this year – but because it sheds light on the vulnerability of volunteers for flu vaccinations to other pathogens , like the coronaviruses .
Although Bill Gates might be seeking a vaccinated world in which people ’ s RNA/DNA can be modified using synthetic proteins , all the predictable deaths and other side effects from these vaccination projects , will render the programme untenable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will revert to RFID chips .

John Goss
On 19th October 2020 a doctor died in Brazil. He was 28 years old and died of Covid-19-related complications after taking part in vaccine trials. The BBC stated, according to hearsay, “the doctor had worked with infected patients,” but this was not confirmed by the Brazilian Health Authority, Anvisa.
Knowing the BBC’s history this either means the vaccine companies are looking for a scapegoat on which to blame the doctor’s death, or they have set up the story of him working with infected patients to catch out independent reporters who might republish it to discredit vaccine research.
Regardless of this doctor’s death – sad though that may be – research into a vaccine for Covid-19 is already discredited. It is taking shortcuts like never before in the history of modern medicine. Pre-clinical trials used to take years. Not any more.
On the day the Brazilian doctor died the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a statement in a foreward to its draft landscape on COVID-19 vaccines. It includes this disclaimer not ostensibly connected with the doctor’s death.
WHO […] disclaims any and all liability or responsibility whatsoever for any death, disability, injury, suffering, loss, damage or other prejudice of any kind that may arise from or in connection with the procurement, distribution or use of any product included in any of these landscape documents.
Coincidence? Who knows? We already know that vaccine companies are exempt from liability should anything go wrong with these untested vaccines. With that in mind you would think it unlikely anyone would want to be a “guinea pig” in this empirical research, least of all a doctor.
This immoral vaccine race to treat a coronavirus, which peaked in April 2020, is beyond comprehension. Incentives to vaccine producers must be huge.
Volunteers get next to nothing by participating in these vaccine trials. Residents who use the Yardley Wood Practice in Birmingham have been sent a letter begging them to take part in trials “with a goal of finding a vaccine or treatment” plus the lucrative incentive of receiving “reasonable travel expenses” to and from the clinic.
Lockdowns in “your area” will not “affect you” unless you are suffering Covid-19 symptoms. So it seems lockdowns only apply to those of us not partaking in clinical trials.
If you really want to earn some money in these hard times, one vaccine trial specialist company, Synexus, is offering a £100 reward to sentence a friend to death, or perhaps even a fate worse than death. A brochure has been published with all the features of a Western Outlaw notice that might have been nailed to a wooden post in a dusty cowboy town. It depicts seven unsavoury looking characters, their faces masked.
WANTED: Dead or Alive
REWARD: £100
The glossy leaflet does not quite put it like that though it pretty well amounts to the same thing. “Refer a friend and receive £100” is the heading with further explanation: “If the person you recommend then goes on to participate in a study, we will give you £100 as a reward for your referral.”
Going for the “refer a friend” option I rang a Synexus number 0800 470 2449. After some five minutes or more I got bored listening to the spooky music, so I tried another number 0800 470 2488. The recorded message for keypad options and the spooky music were the same so I put the phone on speaker mode anticipating a long wait. Amazingly I did not have to wait more than three minutes before speaking to an operative, Alex.
I told her that I did not want to take the test myself but would like to recommend a friend who was really, really keen. She explained that you can only refer a friend if you’ve taken part yourself. After emphasising how keen my friend was she said you can get him to phone the centre but I had to tell her I did not know where he was.
His name is Bill Gates I told her. The phone went silent. “You know who Bill Gates is?” Yes, she thought so. I gave a brief biography and we had a bit of crack, as the Irish say.
Realising I wasn’t going to get £100 for referring everyone’s friend, Bill, I wished her a good day and hoped she was getting decent money for the job she’s doing, which I meant sincerely, since so many are out of work.
It occurs to me that having to wait a while for someone from Synexus to answer the phone shows that there is no shortage of volunteers. This is corroborated by a letter dated 16th October from Our Health Partnership, which now governs Yardley Wood Health Centre.
“You’ll be joining a growing community of over 14,000 volunteers contributing to finding new medications and vaccines.”
This incentive was listed as one of the bullet points to attract people to participate in vaccine trials in addition to the reasonable travel expenses, “complimentary routine health checks” and “regular covid-19 testing”. Whoopee!
Prev 1 of 2 Next
The sinister programme of Bill Gates to vaccinate the world – or else – begins early. Nobody knows the exact source of the quote “Give me a child until he seven, and I will show you the man”, but it is something the Gates’ philosophy endorses wholeheartedly. Where vaccination is concerned ‘the earlier the better’ appears to be the credo.
In South Yorkshire, and presumably the rest of the country, they are administering nasal flu vaccines for four strains in an age-range from two to eighteen. The product is Astra-Zeneca’s Fluenz Tetra, an upgrade of Fluenz.
From their own figures the greatest success using Fluenz was in 1996-7 and 1997-8, in other words, the earliest. Since then to 2003 there would not again be a success-rate above 90%. The long-term effects do not appear to be disclosed.
The indication is more vaccinations equate with less efficacy of the vaccine. This has been borne out in further studies. In the study here it shows that those vaccinated only the previous year had more resistance to flu than those vaccinated two years consecutively and significantly more resistance than those vaccinated the previous three years.
Whether flu vaccines are beneficial has been questioned since the 1970s as this sceptical article points out.
More important than either of those is a piece in The British Medical Journal, not just because it is the most recent – February this year – but because it sheds light on the vulnerability of volunteers for flu vaccinations to other pathogens, like the coronaviruses.
Although Bill Gates might be seeking a vaccinated world in which people’s RNA/DNA can be modified using synthetic proteins, all the predictable deaths and other side effects from these vaccination projects, will render the programme untenable in the long-term. Then the plan will revert to RFID chips.


offguardian--2020-10-29--Great VIRAL Debate: Round 2: Dr Anderson’s Second Response

Round Two of The Great VIRAL Debate continues .
Track this debate ’ s progress in our Coronavirus Debate Section .
Dr Piers Robinson is our chair .
Off-Guardian is your host .
The proposition under debate is : Dr Anderson , arguing for the proposition , responds to Denis Rancourt ’ s round two response from 22 Oct : I want to make some points about ‘ immunity ’ before addressing the second response by Denis .
The rejection of preventive health measures has drawn on simplistic ideas about immunity , such as that surviving a one-time contact with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But while some viruses can be controlled by natural immunity , others evade attempts at either Darwinian immunity or immunity by vaccine .
Some like HIV/AIDS cause chronic persistent disease and in others , including COVID19 , there is reinfection .
Immunity comes from two factors : developing specific antibodies to the virus and activating a general immune response .
Yet after some months we know that COVID19 antibodies in heavily affected cities are only at about 10 % , a long way from the necessary levels for ‘ herd immunity ’ with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Helmreich ; Pitt ; Woodley ; Doshi ) .
To counter my advocacy of public health systems , Denis attacks ‘ state medicine ’ , by which he lumps together socialized health systems ( like that of Cuba and Syria ) and Big Pharma-privatised systems ( like that of the USA ) .
He does not seem to notice the difference , saying This is libertarian stuff loved by the Trumps and Boris Johnsons of the world .
Denis criticizes ‘ Big Pharma ’ but sides with them in dismissing socialized medicine .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The first part claims that COVID19 is a typical winter ‘ low- humidity ’ respiratory disease ; the second part is that the deaths “ mostly occurred in elderly persons in care homes ” , linked to the poor ventilation in those homes .
One obvious problem with this ‘ low humidity ’ disease theory is that five of the top ten countries reporting infections and deaths ( India , Brazil , Colombia , Mexico and Peru ) have substantial tropical populations .
On the ‘ most deaths in aged care homes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ about half of Sweden ’ s 5,730 deaths occurred among those in elder care homes ” .
However the other half ( almost 3,000 ) amounts to more than double the combined deaths in ALL the other Nordic countries ( 1,343 ) ; and Sweden ’ s institutional care rate is much higher than that of Brazil , Peru and India .
I am afraid this is just another western , orientalist theory .
Denis refers to my citation of the IFR for a seasonal flu as about 0.1 % as an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that I have not sufficiently addressed his theory about influenza and care homes .
However we have both relied on much the same data .
Denis cites Ioannidis to speak of “ a typical death toll from seasonal influenza ” of 290,000-650,000 , and I cite Paget which gives the same data , which averages to about 400,000 flu deaths per year .
Yet after 9 months of pandemic , and the various quarantine regimes , the reported COVID19 death toll of almost 1.2 million is three times that .
Denis says I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 30 March , and that this is too old .
In fact , in my opening statement I cite five sources : Verity et al ; Basu ; CDC ; Bhattacharya ; and Mallapaty .
In my first response I point out that even the sources Denis relies on ( Ioannidis and the CDC ) give higher IFR estimates than Denis accepts .
No need to repeat all that here .
Finally , responding to my citation of policy and practice in Syria , Denis suggests I am “ significantly mistaken ” .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Eva Bartlett ( who blocks me on Facebook ) in which she abuses me as “ a deluded person living far removed from reality ” and falsely asserts ( without any reference ) that I defend “ brutal lockdowns ” .
Readers of this debate might recall my opening statement which says it is important to distinguish principles of public and preventive health and to “ not conflate [ those ] principles with particular political actions ” .
There have been all sorts of inappropriate and repressive responses ; but we are discussing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ argument is that Syrian policy re COVID19 was “ nominal ” and not strictly enforced .
But examples of crowds can be found everywhere .
She misleads people by suggesting that the Syrian government did not take the pandemic seriously , and that Syria ’ s early closure of the borders , the curfew , school closures and so on had little to do with the country ’ s low levels of infections .
Syrian policy and practice is detailed in my June article , listed below .
Denis should not have tried @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an unreferenced Facebook post .
Our participants ’ Final Responses will be published next week ( w/c 01 Nov ) .
Track this debate ’ s progress in our Coronavirus Debate Section

Round Two of The Great VIRAL Debate continues. Track this debate’s progress in our Coronavirus Debate Section. Dr Piers Robinson is our chair. Off-Guardian is your host. The proposition under debate is:
SARS-COV-2 merits suppression measures in order to combat the virus rather than the herd/community immunity approach
Dr Anderson, arguing for the proposition, responds to Denis Rancourt’s round two response from 22 Oct:
I want to make some points about ‘immunity’ before addressing the second response by Denis. The rejection of preventive health measures has drawn on simplistic ideas about immunity, such as that surviving a one-time contact with any new virus confers life-long immunity. But while some viruses can be controlled by natural immunity, others evade attempts at either Darwinian immunity or immunity by vaccine. Some like HIV/AIDS cause chronic persistent disease and in others, including COVID19, there is reinfection.
Immunity comes from two factors: developing specific antibodies to the virus and activating a general immune response. Yet after some months we know that COVID19 antibodies in heavily affected cities are only at about 10%, a long way from the necessary levels for ‘herd immunity’ with a highly infectious disease (Jones and Helmreich; Pitt; Woodley; Doshi).
To counter my advocacy of public health systems, Denis attacks ‘state medicine’, by which he lumps together socialized health systems (like that of Cuba and Syria) and Big Pharma-privatised systems (like that of the USA). He does not seem to notice the difference, saying
state medicine … in both socialist and neo-liberal systems … creates an unhealthy dependence, and a debilitating perception of one’s own body and place in the world.”
This is libertarian stuff loved by the Trumps and Boris Johnsons of the world. Denis criticizes ‘Big Pharma’ but sides with them in dismissing socialized medicine.
He then presents his own two-part theory. The first part claims that COVID19 is a typical winter ‘low- humidity’ respiratory disease; the second part is that the deaths “mostly occurred in elderly persons in care homes”, linked to the poor ventilation in those homes.
One obvious problem with this ‘low humidity’ disease theory is that five of the top ten countries reporting infections and deaths (India, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru) have substantial tropical populations. On the ‘most deaths in aged care homes’ side, Fiore did report that “about half of Sweden’s 5,730 deaths occurred among those in elder care homes”. However the other half (almost 3,000) amounts to more than double the combined deaths in ALL the other Nordic countries (1,343); and Sweden’s institutional care rate is much higher than that of Brazil, Peru and India. I am afraid this is just another western, orientalist theory.
Denis refers to my citation of the IFR for a seasonal flu as about 0.1% as an “uninformed statement”, apparently miffed that I have not sufficiently addressed his theory about influenza and care homes. However we have both relied on much the same data. Denis cites Ioannidis to speak of “a typical death toll from seasonal influenza” of 290,000-650,000, and I cite Paget which gives the same data, which averages to about 400,000 flu deaths per year. Yet after 9 months of pandemic, and the various quarantine regimes, the reported COVID19 death toll of almost 1.2 million is three times that.
Denis says I rely on Verity et al, from 30 March, and that this is too old. In fact, in my opening statement I cite five sources: Verity et al; Basu; CDC; Bhattacharya; and Mallapaty. In my first response I point out that even the sources Denis relies on (Ioannidis and the CDC) give higher IFR estimates than Denis accepts. No need to repeat all that here.
Finally, responding to my citation of policy and practice in Syria, Denis suggests I am “significantly mistaken”. He refers to a Facebook article by Eva Bartlett (who blocks me on Facebook) in which she abuses me as “a deluded person living far removed from reality” and falsely asserts (without any reference) that I defend “brutal lockdowns”.
Readers of this debate might recall my opening statement which says it is important to distinguish principles of public and preventive health and to “not conflate [those] principles with particular political actions”. There have been all sorts of inappropriate and repressive responses; but we are discussing principles here.
Eva’s main argument is that Syrian policy re COVID19 was “nominal” and not strictly enforced. But examples of crowds can be found everywhere. She misleads people by suggesting that the Syrian government did not take the pandemic seriously, and that Syria’s early closure of the borders, the curfew, school closures and so on had little to do with the country’s low levels of infections. Syrian policy and practice is detailed in my June article, listed below. Denis should not have tried to prove a point simply by citing an unreferenced Facebook post.
Our participants’ Final Responses will be published next week (w/c 01 Nov).
Track this debate’s progress in our Coronavirus Debate Section


offguardian--2020-10-30--Class Consciousness in the Age of COVID

Class Consciousness in the Age of COVID

Prior to the appearance of COVID-related restrictions and lockdowns , neoliberal capitalism had turned to various mechanisms in the face of economic stagnation and massive inequalities : the raiding of public budgets , the expansion of credit to consumers and governments to sustain spending and consumption , financial speculation and militarism .
Part and parcel of this has been a strategy of ‘ creative destruction ’ that has served to benefit an interlocking directorate of powerful oil , agribusiness , armaments and financial interests , among others .
For these parties , what matters is the ability to maximise profit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whether on the back of distorted free trade agreements which open the gates for plunder or through coercion and militarism which merely tear them down .
In the so-called ‘ developed ’ nations , notably in the US and the UK , along the way millions of jobs have been offshored to cheap labour economies .
In effect , societies have become hollowed out .
They have increasingly resembled empty boxes whereby the main component lurking inside is a giant mechanical hand of government and media propaganda with the threat of state violence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ function is to pull the lid shut if anyone ever dares to tear it open and shed light on things .
If successful , they will see the immorality , the lies , the hypocrisies .
And they would also be able to identify cynical methods of social control that have assumed a different level in 2020 with constant COVID fear propaganda being pumped out on a daily basis .
If we take the UK , the fact is that excess deaths in 2020 are not out of the ordinary when looking back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continue to see the rolling out of near-endless restrictions and tiered lockdowns across the country based on questionable PCR tests and the designation of healthy , asymptomatic people as ‘ cases ’ .
The narrative has shifted from COVID deaths and ‘ flattening the curve ’ to an obsession with ‘ cases ’ as the curve became flattened and COVID-related deaths bottomed out .
Even at the height of government- and media-driven COVID paranoia , over 90 % of ‘ COVID deaths ’ were most likely due to the serious co-morbidities listed on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who make up the vast majority of such deaths .
COVID marks a crucial stage of neoliberal capitalism .
Under yet another strategy of creative destruction , millions of livelihoods across the world continue to be destroyed and small businesses are on the edge of bankruptcy .
But this is precisely what is supposed to happen when we acknowledge that it is all part of the ‘ great reset ’ as explained by the recent article ‘ Klaus Schwab and his great fascist reset ’ which appeared on the OffGuardian website : a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on fundamental liberties and mass surveillance as entire sectors are sacrificed to boost the bottom line of the pharmaceuticals corporations , the high-tech/big data giants , Amazon , Google , major global chains , the digital payments sector , biotech concerns , etc .
In other words , a ‘ Fourth Industrial Revolution ’ which historian Luciana Bohne recently noted on her Facebook page is going to result in a different economy based on new businesses and sectors .
In turn , this means older enterprises are to be driven to bankruptcy or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ massive job losses .
Although COVID is being blamed , Bohne notes that the shutting down of the old economy was already happening as there was insufficient growth , well below the minimum tolerable 3 % level to maintain the viability of capitalism .
Bohne quotes the World Bank to underline her point : Economies are being ‘ restructured ’ and ‘ downsized ’ and COVID restrictions and lockdowns are being used as a battering ram to implement this agenda .
It is very revealing that Matt Hancock , British minister for health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Parliamentary Group on the Fourth Industrial Revolution in October 2017 .
Klaus Schwab was also in attendance .
If readers take time to read the aforementioned piece , they may well be disturbed by many of the beliefs Schwab holds for the future .
And now , three years on from Hancock ’ s presentation , we are seeing him play an active role in implementing the type of scenario Schwab has set out in his various books and speeches by rolling out further restrictions and phased lockdowns , mass surveillance measures , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ devastation .
Hancock really does seem to be taking his cue from the influential Schwab , the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum .
COVID is being used to inject neoliberal capitalism with new life by destroying livelihoods and implementing a social and economic tectonic shift .
If people in the richer countries are perplexed by the destruction of livelihoods under the pretext of COVID , they need look no further than India to appreciate why governments wage financial and social war on their own people and the type of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interests they ultimately serve .
There is a plan for the future of that country and most of its current farmers do not have a role in it .
India remains an agrarian-based society with over 60 % of the population still relying on agriculture either directly or indirectly for their livelihood .
Successive administrations have been making farming financially nonviable with the aim of moving farmers out of agriculture and into the cities to work in construction , manufacturing or the service sector , despite these sectors not creating anything like the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the agrarian base , we are seeing a fundamental attack on Indian society .
The aim is to displace the existing labour-intensive system of food and agriculture with one dominated by a few transnational corporate agribusiness concerns which will then control the sector .
Agriculture is to be wholly commercialised with large-scale , mechanised ( monocrop ) enterprises replacing family-run farms that help sustain hundreds of millions of rural livelihoods , while feeding the urban masses .
As is currently happening in the West , small independent concerns ( in this case , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bankruptcy .
So why would anyone set out to deliberately run down what is effectively a productive system of agriculture that feeds people , sustains livelihoods and produces sufficient buffer stocks ?
Similarly , why in 2020 are governments facilitating economic destruction ?
Politicians are effectively facilitating the needs of global capital and all it entails : a system based on endless profit growth , crises of overproduction and market saturation and a need to constantly seek out , create or expand into new , untapped markets to maintain profitability .
India ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the behest of predatory commercial interests ( via the Indo-US Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture , World Bank directives and WTO policies ) and the peasantry is being dealt a knock-out blow so global agribusiness and retail concerns can capture financially lucrative markets and further incorporate the agri-food sector into their global supply chains .
Looking at the Industrial Revolution in England , historian Michael Perelman has detailed the processes that whipped the English peasantry into a workforce coerced into factory wage labour .
Peasants left their land to work for below-subsistence wages in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new , rich class of industrial capitalists .
Perelman describes the policies through which peasants were forced out of agriculture , not least by the barring of access to common land .
A largely self-reliant population was starved of its productive means .
It was brutal , just like ongoing developments in India .
And what we are now seeing are vested interests forcing through a Fourth Industrial Revolution across the world .
This too is brutal and is also having dire consequences in places like India as I have previously outlined in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dispossession and Dependency ’ .
The encouragement of identity politics , narcissism , apathy and consumerism ’ s irretrievable materialism , among other things , have undermined ordinary people ’ s capacity for action .
Not so the billionaire class pushing through the ‘ great reset ’ which is acutely aware of its own interests .
A lack of class consciousness among ordinary people debilitates their ability to unite and recognise that their interests and those of the government and the people they really serve are diametrically opposed .
Free from the shackles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be better placed to resist current restrictions and challenge the prevailing narrative on COVID .
Unfortunately , those who might be expected to be pivotal in this – prominent figures and media outlets which claim to be of the ‘ left ’ – have failed to lead by example and have capitulated to the agenda of those who are driving the COVID narrative , the restrictions , the fear , the rolling out of draconian surveillance and rushed-through vaccines and the economic devastation leading to millions of job losses .
What must be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has done little more than cheerlead restrictions and lockdowns .

Colin Todhunter
Prior to the appearance of COVID-related restrictions and lockdowns, neoliberal capitalism had turned to various mechanisms in the face of economic stagnation and massive inequalities: the raiding of public budgets, the expansion of credit to consumers and governments to sustain spending and consumption, financial speculation and militarism.
Part and parcel of this has been a strategy of ‘creative destruction’ that has served to benefit an interlocking directorate of powerful oil, agribusiness, armaments and financial interests, among others. For these parties, what matters is the ability to maximise profit by shifting capital around the world, whether on the back of distorted free trade agreements which open the gates for plunder or through coercion and militarism which merely tear them down.
In the so-called ‘developed’ nations, notably in the US and the UK, along the way millions of jobs have been offshored to cheap labour economies. In effect, societies have become hollowed out. They have increasingly resembled empty boxes whereby the main component lurking inside is a giant mechanical hand of government and media propaganda with the threat of state violence lying in wait. And its only function is to pull the lid shut if anyone ever dares to tear it open and shed light on things. If successful, they will see the immorality, the lies, the hypocrisies.
And they would also be able to identify cynical methods of social control that have assumed a different level in 2020 with constant COVID fear propaganda being pumped out on a daily basis. If we take the UK, the fact is that excess deaths in 2020 are not out of the ordinary when looking back over a 25-year period.
But we continue to see the rolling out of near-endless restrictions and tiered lockdowns across the country based on questionable PCR tests and the designation of healthy, asymptomatic people as ‘cases’. The narrative has shifted from COVID deaths and ‘flattening the curve’ to an obsession with ‘cases’ as the curve became flattened and COVID-related deaths bottomed out.
Even at the height of government- and media-driven COVID paranoia, over 90% of ‘COVID deaths’ were most likely due to the serious co-morbidities listed on the death certificates of the mainly over-75s who make up the vast majority of such deaths.
COVID marks a crucial stage of neoliberal capitalism. Under yet another strategy of creative destruction, millions of livelihoods across the world continue to be destroyed and small businesses are on the edge of bankruptcy.
But this is precisely what is supposed to happen when we acknowledge that it is all part of the ‘great reset’ as explained by the recent article ‘Klaus Schwab and his great fascist reset’ which appeared on the OffGuardian website: a transformation of society resulting in permanent restrictions on fundamental liberties and mass surveillance as entire sectors are sacrificed to boost the bottom line of the pharmaceuticals corporations, the high-tech/big data giants, Amazon, Google, major global chains, the digital payments sector, biotech concerns, etc.
In other words, a ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ which historian Luciana Bohne recently noted on her Facebook page is going to result in a different economy based on new businesses and sectors. In turn, this means older enterprises are to be driven to bankruptcy or absorbed into monopolies. It also entails massive job losses.
Although COVID is being blamed, Bohne notes that the shutting down of the old economy was already happening as there was insufficient growth, well below the minimum tolerable 3% level to maintain the viability of capitalism.
Bohne quotes the World Bank to underline her point:
In order to reverse this serious setback [COVID] to development progress and poverty reduction, countries will need to prepare for a different economy post-COVID, by allowing capital, labor, skills, and innovation to move into new businesses and sectors.”
World Bank, October 2020 Report
Economies are being ‘restructured’ and ‘downsized’ and COVID restrictions and lockdowns are being used as a battering ram to implement this agenda.
It is very revealing that Matt Hancock, British minister for health, gave a speech to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Fourth Industrial Revolution in October 2017. Klaus Schwab was also in attendance.
Hancock stated:
And I’m delighted to speak alongside so many impressive colleagues who really understand this, and alongside Professor Klaus Schwab who literally ‘wrote the book’ on the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Your work, bringing together as you do all the best minds on the planet, has informed what we are doing, and I’m delighted to work with you.”
If readers take time to read the aforementioned piece, they may well be disturbed by many of the beliefs Schwab holds for the future. And now, three years on from Hancock’s presentation, we are seeing him play an active role in implementing the type of scenario Schwab has set out in his various books and speeches by rolling out further restrictions and phased lockdowns, mass surveillance measures, vaccination projects, authoritarian government and economic devastation.
Hancock really does seem to be taking his cue from the influential Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.
COVID is being used to inject neoliberal capitalism with new life by destroying livelihoods and implementing a social and economic tectonic shift. If people in the richer countries are perplexed by the destruction of livelihoods under the pretext of COVID, they need look no further than India to appreciate why governments wage financial and social war on their own people and the type of brutality they are capable of and whose interests they ultimately serve.
There is a plan for the future of that country and most of its current farmers do not have a role in it. India remains an agrarian-based society with over 60% of the population still relying on agriculture either directly or indirectly for their livelihood.
Successive administrations have been making farming financially nonviable with the aim of moving farmers out of agriculture and into the cities to work in construction, manufacturing or the service sector, despite these sectors not creating anything like the number of jobs required. By uprooting the agrarian base, we are seeing a fundamental attack on Indian society.
The aim is to displace the existing labour-intensive system of food and agriculture with one dominated by a few transnational corporate agribusiness concerns which will then control the sector. Agriculture is to be wholly commercialised with large-scale, mechanised (monocrop) enterprises replacing family-run farms that help sustain hundreds of millions of rural livelihoods, while feeding the urban masses.
As is currently happening in the West, small independent concerns (in this case, smallholder farmers) are being driven to bankruptcy. So why would anyone set out to deliberately run down what is effectively a productive system of agriculture that feeds people, sustains livelihoods and produces sufficient buffer stocks? Similarly, why in 2020 are governments facilitating economic destruction?
Politicians are effectively facilitating the needs of global capital and all it entails: a system based on endless profit growth, crises of overproduction and market saturation and a need to constantly seek out, create or expand into new, untapped markets to maintain profitability.
India’s agrarian base is being destroyed at the behest of predatory commercial interests (via the Indo-US Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture, World Bank directives and WTO policies) and the peasantry is being dealt a knock-out blow so global agribusiness and retail concerns can capture financially lucrative markets and further incorporate the agri-food sector into their global supply chains.
Looking at the Industrial Revolution in England, historian Michael Perelman has detailed the processes that whipped the English peasantry into a workforce coerced into factory wage labour. Peasants left their land to work for below-subsistence wages in dangerous factories being set up by a new, rich class of industrial capitalists.
Perelman describes the policies through which peasants were forced out of agriculture, not least by the barring of access to common land. A largely self-reliant population was starved of its productive means.
It was brutal, just like ongoing developments in India. And what we are now seeing are vested interests forcing through a Fourth Industrial Revolution across the world. This too is brutal and is also having dire consequences in places like India as I have previously outlined in the article ‘Coronavirus Capitalism: Entrenching Dispossession and Dependency’.
The encouragement of identity politics, narcissism, apathy and consumerism’s irretrievable materialism, among other things, have undermined ordinary people’s capacity for action. Not so the billionaire class pushing through the ‘great reset’ which is acutely aware of its own interests.
A lack of class consciousness among ordinary people debilitates their ability to unite and recognise that their interests and those of the government and the people they really serve are diametrically opposed. Free from the shackles of mainstream propaganda, ordinary people would be better placed to resist current restrictions and challenge the prevailing narrative on COVID.
Unfortunately, those who might be expected to be pivotal in this – prominent figures and media outlets which claim to be of the ‘left’ – have failed to lead by example and have capitulated to the agenda of those who are driving the COVID narrative, the restrictions, the fear, the rolling out of draconian surveillance and rushed-through vaccines and the economic devastation leading to millions of job losses.
What must be regarded as the ‘establishment left’ has done little more than cheerlead restrictions and lockdowns.


offguardian--2020-10-30--Reality Check – THAT Mural is Not Antisemitic

It ’ s time to put this lie to bed – the mural is not antisemitic .
Not at all .
Disclaimer : I originally started writing this article over a year ago , when the “ antisemitism crisis ” was in full flow .
But by the time I had come round to finish it , other topics had taken the headlines and I put the piece aside .
I regret that now , because in that time this mural has been used to bash Corbyn and his supporters over and over again .
Now “ Labour Antisemitism ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the predictably biased nonsense in the EHRC report .
The hacks at the Guardian have dug out this mural again , to beat decomposing horse that is the British Left .
It needs to stop .
The mural is not antisemitic , and anyone saying it is either a mendacious liar , an ill-informed fool , or an antisemite themselves .
This is the mural , THAT mural .
Painted by Mear One , defended on Facebook by Jeremy Corbyn .
The source of much of the “ antisemitism crisis ” media hysteria @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at length , in other places but it needs , and deserves , it ’ s own article .
We need to finally put this to bed .
The constant repetitions of the same tired lies ( see this Rafael Behr piece ) need to end .
This article isn ’ t for you to read , regular reader .
I know you likely share our position already .
This is for you to send to , and share with , everybody out there who is still – wittingly or otherwise – spreading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
There is no Labour antisemitism .
It is an invented narrative based on nothing .
Months of quote mining and deliberate misunderstanding produced a case so thin as to almost not exist .
This mural is their prized piece of “ evidence ” .
It is not antisemitic .
The media say it is .
They say it displays “ antisemitic tropes ” , that it “ caricatures jews ” .
None of that is true .
It is not antisemitic , it is not intended to be so , and anybody @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or hasn ’ t done their research .
The defense of the mural is simple : the artist said it wasn ’ t about Jews .
There are six people in the picture , two of them are Jewish , but four of them are not .
They are all very rich and powerful men .
If your argument is “ they must be Jewish , because they ’ re rich and they ’ ve got big noses and they ’ re exploiting people ” ….well then YOU are the antisemite , not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ simple summary , now let ’ s get more detailed .
Mear One , the mural artist who painted it , released a statement when it press furore started .
It never got much attention in the mainstream media because it didn ’ t fit their narrative : According to artist , the mural was about billionaires oppressing the poor .
That holds up , given the names of the people in the picture : Shall we go through the names ?
Let ’ s work in the order he names them .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mear One is referencing , but guessing by appearance I would say it was Lionel Walter Rothschild , on the far left : The Rothschilds are one of the richest and most powerful families to ever exist .
The own and operate central banks in dozens of nations , hold title in both English and Austrian nobility , and serve as financial advisors to the Queen of England .
Which ever one the artist meant , yes , they are one of only 2 people in the picture who were actually Jewish .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ man to ever exist , he founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870 and ended his life with a fortune worth 400 billion in adjusted dollars .
Easily identifiable by his side-swiped hair and small moustache , he was an Evangelical Protestant .
He was not Jewish .
One of the richest and most powerful men of the modern era , JP Morgan had a storied career in finace , steel , railways , and many others ( not to mention spots of war profiteering ) .
He was also a driving force @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Reserve .
The most easily identified thanks to the huge nose , the bigger moustache and the tiny spectacles , JP Morgan was a lifelong Episcopal Christian , he was not Jewish .
Andrew Carnegie was one of the richest Americans to ever exist , making billions in the steel and railway industries .
His later charity work notwithstanding , he was a premium example of a robber baron .
His legacy lives on in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace , a US-backed NGO and integral part of the Deep State .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ parents .
He was not Jewish .
Paul Warburg was a member of German-Jewish banking dynasty who moved to the US in 1902 .
He was director of the Wells-Fargo bank and then chairman of the Federal Reserve .
He is considered the major driving force behind the founding of the Fed , and was a vocal supporter of central banking .
Marked by the receding hair and big moustache , Warburg – unlike almost everyone else in the picture – was actually Jewish .
Aleister Crowley is the only subject not associated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ figure , an author and ( his biographers allege ) a sometimes intelligence agent for His Majesty ’ s Government .
Standing out for being the only entirely hairless subject , Crowley was born to wealthy Christian parents , and then founded his own religion .
He was not Jewish .
In conclusion : The majority of the people in the mural are not jews .
None of them were included for being jews .
Judaism or Jewish symbols do not appear and are not in anyway referenced in the painting .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a painting of rich man with a big nose and think “ he must be jewish !
” , YOU are an antisemite , not the artist .
More than that , and as I have written about before , “ antisemitism ” is now being used to deflect criticism away from 0.1 % .
The men in this painting were NOT all Jewish , but they WERE all billionaires .
Anybody who persists in using this as evidence Jeremy Corbyn – or anyone who supports him – is an antisemite is therefore @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from pure ignorance .
Send them this article to correct them .

It’s time to put this lie to bed – the mural is not antisemitic. Not at all.
Kit Knightly
Disclaimer: I originally started writing this article over a year ago, when the “antisemitism crisis” was in full flow. But by the time I had come round to finish it, other topics had taken the headlines and I put the piece aside. I regret that now, because in that time this mural has been used to bash Corbyn and his supporters over and over again.
Now “Labour Antisemitism” is back in the headlines thanks to the predictably biased nonsense in the EHRC report. The hacks at the Guardian have dug out this mural again, to beat decomposing horse that is the British Left. It needs to stop.
The mural is not antisemitic, and anyone saying it is either a mendacious liar, an ill-informed fool, or an antisemite themselves.
*
This is the mural, THAT mural. Painted by Mear One, defended on Facebook by Jeremy Corbyn. The source of much of the “antisemitism crisis” media hysteria. We’ve discussed it, at length, in other places but it needs, and deserves, it’s own article.
We need to finally put this to bed. The constant repetitions of the same tired lies (see this Rafael Behr piece) need to end.
This article isn’t for you to read, regular reader. I know you likely share our position already. This is for you to send to, and share with, everybody out there who is still – wittingly or otherwise – spreading the myth of “Labour antisemitism”.
There is no Labour antisemitism. It is an invented narrative based on nothing. Months of quote mining and deliberate misunderstanding produced a case so thin as to almost not exist.
This mural is their prized piece of “evidence”. It is not antisemitic.
The media say it is. They say it displays “antisemitic tropes”, that it “caricatures jews”. None of that is true. It is not antisemitic, it is not intended to be so, and anybody saying otherwise is either knowingly lying, or hasn’t done their research.
The defense of the mural is simple: the artist said it wasn’t about Jews. There are six people in the picture, two of them are Jewish, but four of them are not. They are all very rich and powerful men.
If your argument is “they must be Jewish, because they’re rich and they’ve got big noses and they’re exploiting people”….well then YOU are the antisemite, not the artist.
*
That’s a simple summary, now let’s get more detailed.
Mear One, the mural artist who painted it, released a statement when it press furore started.
It never got much attention in the mainstream media because it didn’t fit their narrative:
It was also [the media’s] interpretation, and never mine, to point out “hook noses” “crooked noses” and other vile Nazi, Third Reich anti-Semitic propaganda, even concocting cuckoo ideas like how the naked figures under the monopoly board depicted “starving holocaust victims” when they actually represent the multi-races of humanity! As a thinking feeling human being to hear such stuff makes me sick to my stomach.
According to artist, the mural was about billionaires oppressing the poor. That holds up, given the names of the people in the picture:
I chose to depict the likenesses of such early turn of the century Robber Barons, specifically Rothschild, Rockefeller, Morgan, Carnegie, Warburg, as well Aleister Crowley who was a kind of philosophical guru to the ruling elite of that time and a well-known Satanist.
Shall we go through the names? Let’s work in the order he names them.
1. “Rothschild”
It’s actually unclear which Rothschild Mear One is referencing, but guessing by appearance I would say it was Lionel Walter Rothschild, on the far left:
The Rothschilds are one of the richest and most powerful families to ever exist. The own and operate central banks in dozens of nations, hold title in both English and Austrian nobility, and serve as financial advisors to the Queen of England. Which ever one the artist meant, yes, they are one of only 2 people in the picture who were actually Jewish.
2. John D. Rockefeller
The original Rockefeller, possibly the richest man to ever exist, he founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870 and ended his life with a fortune worth 400 billion in adjusted dollars.
Easily identifiable by his side-swiped hair and small moustache, he was an Evangelical Protestant. He was not Jewish.
3. JP Morgan
One of the richest and most powerful men of the modern era, JP Morgan had a storied career in finace, steel, railways, and many others (not to mention spots of war profiteering). He was also a driving force behind the setting up of the Federal Reserve.
The most easily identified thanks to the huge nose, the bigger moustache and the tiny spectacles, JP Morgan was a lifelong Episcopal Christian, he was not Jewish.
4. Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was one of the richest Americans to ever exist, making billions in the steel and railway industries. His later charity work notwithstanding, he was a premium example of a robber baron. His legacy lives on in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a US-backed NGO and integral part of the Deep State.
He was born in Scotland to Presbyterian parents. He was not Jewish.
5. Paul Warburg
Paul Warburg was a member of German-Jewish banking dynasty who moved to the US in 1902. He was director of the Wells-Fargo bank and then chairman of the Federal Reserve. He is considered the major driving force behind the founding of the Fed, and was a vocal supporter of central banking.
Marked by the receding hair and big moustache, Warburg – unlike almost everyone else in the picture – was actually Jewish.
6. Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley is the only subject not associated with high-finance. He was an occult figure, an author and (his biographers allege) a sometimes intelligence agent for His Majesty’s Government.
Standing out for being the only entirely hairless subject, Crowley was born to wealthy Christian parents, and then founded his own religion. He was not Jewish.
(As a “prolific Satanist”, he’s actually the only person included in the picture based on their religion, so you could argue it’s an anti-Satanic mural.)
*
In conclusion: The majority of the people in the mural are not jews. None of them were included for being jews. Judaism or Jewish symbols do not appear and are not in anyway referenced in the painting.
It is not antisemitic.
If you see a painting of rich man with a big nose and think “he must be jewish!”, YOU are an antisemite, not the artist.
More than that, and as I have written about before, “antisemitism” is now being used to deflect criticism away from 0.1%. The men in this painting were NOT all Jewish, but they WERE all billionaires.
Anybody who persists in using this as evidence Jeremy Corbyn – or anyone who supports him – is an antisemite is therefore either being deliberately dishonest, or speaking from pure ignorance.
Send them this article to correct them.


offguardian--2020-10-31--WATCH: The Jones Plantation

WATCH: The Jones Plantation

The first half of our halloween short-story double bill isn ’ t a horror story in the tradiional sense .
But it should certainly frighten any body who has been paying attention to the way world is going .
Mr. Jones owned a cotton plantation and many slaves .
One day he was talking to the owner of the plantation next to his , and mr. Jones was lamenting the fact that times were tough .
He was having to work his slaves harder than ever and was having trouble with some of them being disobedient or trying to run @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he knew someone who could help .
One day Mr. Jones called his slaves together so a man named Mr. Smith could talk to them .
Before beginning Mr. Smith whispered to Mr. Jones , “ Whatever I say do not contradict me or interfere and I promise you your slave troubles will end.
” My name is Mr. Smith ” , he said to the slaves , “ and this may be the happiest day of your lives .
From today forward you will no longer be slaves but free men.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to step forward but Mr. Smith gestured for him to remain silent .
He did so , only because the other plantation owner had spoken so highly of Mr. Smith ’ s skills .
“ You are no longer the property of Mr. Jones ” , Mr. Smith continued , “ you are free .
No more would you be forced to labor for the benefit Mr. Jones .
Now you can work for yourselves.
” Now the slaves were all murmuring and looking at each other , many were smiling , many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you are now free to leave the plantation whenever you want ” , Mr. Smith said , “ however , since we are surrounded by other plantations , if you leave some other plantation owner will likely claim you as his own the moment you set foot on his property !
So , I urge you not to risk your newfound freedom by doing something so foolish .
Instead I suggest that you stay here .
No longer is slaves but as willing participants and part owners of this plantation .
Yes !
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mr. Jones bit his tongue to keep from objecting .
“ For now we might as well leave Mr. Jones in charge , ” said Mr. Smith , “ since he ’ s the only one with any experience at running a plantation .
which is quite a complicated thing to manage , but he will no longer be your master but just another worker on the plantation .
In fact he will now be using his organizational and management skills to serve you.
” “ Whatever problems you may have had with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ equals and you need each other to make this work .
If we all cooperate and work together we can all reap the benefits together !
In honor of this happy occasion I present you this new symbol of togetherness and cooperation .
This flag which shall be the emblem of the new free Jones plantation !
” He held up the new flag , but most of those listening were still too amazed to respond .
“ And this shall be our motto , ” Mr. Smith announced , “ we work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ benefit .
Pledging our allegiance to the Jones plantation , which stands for prosperity liberty and justice for all !
To celebrate , everyone has the rest of the day off .
Enjoy your freedom do as you please and be back here tomorrow morning , bright and early , so that we may begin work on this great and noble new endeavor as equal freemen !
” Finally convinced that Mr. Smith was serious , the former slaves applauded and cheered .
“ We all want this plantation to do well ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the next meeting , “ so we can all share the benefits .
We all know that it takes a lot of effort to make a cotton plantation work .
Just because you ’ re all free doesn ’ t mean you can stop working .
In fact , since you ’ re now working for yourselves , I expect you to work even harder than ever before .
But now with pride and joy , knowing that you ’ re working for yourselves.
” “ Of course , there still have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does whatever he wants the plantation won ’ t produce anything .
This experiment will fail and we ’ ll all starve !
You should be thankful that Mr. Jones has agreed to stay on to lend his knowledge and skills to this endeavor .
And I trust you all do your own part to make this work.
” “ Several of you have been chosen to act as project supervisors to manage different aspects of the operation , to make sure everyone is doing his assigned job , to make sure the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The rest of you may head out to the fields to start your first day of work as free men.
” The next morning Mr. Smith had a grim expression on his face as the daily meeting began .
“ I have an unpleasant duty to do today ” , he said , “ yesterday Charles was caught keeping some of the cotton he picked .
Presumably to sell for his own personal profit .
That is against the rules .
That is stealing .
For that Charles must be punished.
” Two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I take no joy in this ” , Mr. Smith continued , “ but you must understand : if we do not maintain order , if we do not have rules that we all abide by , then the plantation will fail and we will all suffer.
” The whip cracked against Charles back .
“ But , if we all pitch in for the common good , then we can all prosper .
Being free doesn ’ t mean you should be selfish and greedy .
We must each do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rules , and then we can all benefit and each of you will receive your appropriate share of the profits.
” “ But if you and Mr. Jones decide the rules , and whip us if we disobey , how is that any different from what we had before ?
” “ How can you say that ?
” , Mr. Smith asked , “ I ’ m shocked !
You were slave before !
Now you ’ re free !
Things still need to be managed and organized by those best qualified @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how to run a plantation , Samuel ?
” “ Well no ” , Samuel answered “ but if we ’ re free , why do we get no say in what the rules are and how things work ?
” “ I ’ m surprised at your ingratitude ” , Mr. Smith answered , “ none of you know how a plantation is run so you ’ re in no position to be making decisions about how things are done here.
” “ You don ’ t seem to appreciate all the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
From protecting you from all the outside threats you know nothing about , those who would come here capture and enslave you if not for Mr. Jones protection , to making sure that you all have food and housing ; tools to work with ; you ’ re cared for when sick and injured , and so on.
” “ There wouldn ’ t be a plantation at all – no cotton to pick no land to plant and harvest – if not for him .
You should be grateful that he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comfort you now have .
Your lives would be far worse if not for him .
Nevertheless , as free and equal participants in this endeavor , from now on at each meeting any worker may have two minutes to ask questions or voice suggestions or complaints.
” With that the workers all seemed satisfied and headed out again to the fields to pick the cotton .
“ I have a big announcement ” , Mr. Smith said as the daily meeting began , “ Mr .
Jones cousin is here , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our project is coming along !
” “ It has been decided that , from now on , you will be deciding who will manage the plantation .
Of course this job can ’ t be done by just anyone , but every three months we will have a special meeting , at which all the workers will vote on whether we think Mr. Jones should run the plantation , or whether we think his cousin Mr. Johnson should run the plantation.
” “ That means that ultimately you are in charge , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you want running things on your behalf .
If you don ’ t like the way things are being managed , you now have the power to change it.
” Amazed and pleased the workers headed out again to the fields , to pick the cotton Days passed .
Months passed .
A year passed .
And the plantation continued to operate as before .
Sometimes Mr. Jones was in charge , sometimes Mr. Johnson was in charge , but the day-to-day routine stayed exactly the same .
The workers worked hard , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ little to show for it .
Every day the meeting would begin with them all reciting the Jones plantation motto : We work together as free men for our mutual benefit .
Pledging our allegiance to the Jones plantation , which stands for prosperity , liberty and justice for all .
One day Mr. Smith announced “ Samuel has asked to say a few words this morning , and whatever the rest of us may think of his ideas and opinions , we are all free here .
And that means we are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ So Samuel , you have two minutes , begin.
” “ I was excited when all this started ” , he began glancing nervously at Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones , “ but don ’ t you all see what ’ s happened here ?
Nothing ’ s changed !
We ’ re all still slaves !
” There were grumbles of disagreement from the crowd .
“ They tell us what to do , and whip us if we don ’ t .
They still make all the rules and punish us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make suggestions , and complain about things , but they never really change anything .
They let us choose between Mr. Jones and Mr. Johnson , but what ’ s the difference ?
The situation stays the same .
We do all of the work and they take as much as they want , and decide how much they ’ ll let us keep .
They live in luxury , made rich by the cotton we pick .
We do all the work and have to build our own huts , grow our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They leave us just enough that we don ’ t revolt or run away.
” “ This is not freedom !
We ’ re all still slaves !
They ’ ve only changed the words they use , but nothing else has changed .
They say we ’ re all free and equal but we ’ re not , they command and we obey .
That ’ s not freedom , that ’ s not equality .
They say we ’ re free to leave , but all that means is that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ else ’ s slave.
” Why should we work or obey the rules ?
We didn ’ t agree to this !
They made the system , they forced it on us , they control and rob us and call it freedom !
They ’ ve deceived you into thinking that being able to choose which slave master you ’ ll work for is the same as being free !
It ’ s not !
Open your eyes !
” “ If you keep what you produce they call it stealin ’ , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ call it sharing and fair distribution .
Can ’ t you see that this is all… ” “ Your time is up , Samuel ” Mr. Smith announced calmly .
At his gesture two supervisors grabbed Samuel by the arms and led him to the whipping post .
“ I ’ m sorry Samuel , but you ’ ve broken the rules .
There are rules against encouraging others not to work , and encouraging others to break the rules .
You ’ re only hurting all of us with your discontentment and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whip fell and Samuel let out a grunt .
“ Without rules without order all would be lost .
Without law there would be chaos .
We can ’ t just behave as wild animals , each doing whatever he pleases .
We must all follow the plan , and all do our duty for the betterment of everyone .
And those who do not must be punished.
” The whip fell again and blood flowed freely from Samuel ’ s back .
“ Samuel it is you are stealing from the others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assigned work .
You are making more work for others when you disobey the rules .
It is you who are endangering the future of everyone else here .
You are the thief , you are the criminal , you are the one trying to destroy the arrangement that keeps us all safe and prosperous.
” At every lash of the whip the other workers cheered louder and louder .
Some yelling curses at Samuel .
“ Being spoiled and selfish you complain about everything , talking as if you ’ re oppressed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ things , you are the one keeping us from being all we could be .
It is your greed and your rebelliousness that is hurting all of us.
” “ They all play by the rules ” , Mr. Smith said , gesturing at the others , “ what makes you think that you don ’ t have to ?
You think you ’ re above the law ?
” There were loud yells of agreement as the whip fell again .
“ We must maintain order , ” Mr. Smith proclaimed , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to make it so that we can all be happy and prosperous .
To have the society we want there have to be rules .
We all have to contribute our fair share to this great endeavor , and we can not tolerate actions and attitudes that seek to undermine the amazing things that – together as free men – we have achieved and will continue to achieve !
” Mr. Jones was smiling as he gave Mr. Smith a pat on the back .
The crowd was cheering so loudly that none @ @ @ @ @ @ @ died .
The Jones Plantation was written and animated by Larken and Amanda Rose .
You can watch their interview with James Corbett here or visit their website here .

The first half of our halloween short-story double bill isn’t a horror story in the tradiional sense. But it should certainly frighten any body who has been paying attention to the way world is going.
*
“One cannot change reality by changing the words you use to describe reality. Look beneath the rhetoric, and glimpse the truth.”
Mr. Jones owned a cotton plantation and many slaves. One day he was talking to the owner of the plantation next to his, and mr. Jones was lamenting the fact that times were tough. He was having to work his slaves harder than ever and was having trouble with some of them being disobedient or trying to run away.
The other plantation owner said he knew someone who could help.
Day one
One day Mr. Jones called his slaves together so a man named Mr. Smith could talk to them.
Before beginning Mr. Smith whispered to Mr. Jones, “Whatever I say do not contradict me or interfere and I promise you your slave troubles will end.”
My name is Mr. Smith”, he said to the slaves, “and this may be the happiest day of your lives. From today forward you will no longer be slaves but free men.”
Mr. Jones was so shocked he started to step forward but Mr. Smith gestured for him to remain silent. He did so, only because the other plantation owner had spoken so highly of Mr. Smith’s skills.
“You are no longer the property of Mr. Jones”, Mr. Smith continued, “you are free. No more would you be forced to labor for the benefit Mr. Jones. Now you can work for yourselves.”
Now the slaves were all murmuring and looking at each other, many were smiling, many were looking puzzled.
“In fact you are now free to leave the plantation whenever you want”, Mr. Smith said, “however, since we are surrounded by other plantations, if you leave some other plantation owner will likely claim you as his own the moment you set foot on his property! So, I urge you not to risk your newfound freedom by doing something so foolish. Instead I suggest that you stay here. No longer is slaves but as willing participants and part owners of this plantation. Yes! This is now your plantation!”
Mr. Jones bit his tongue to keep from objecting.
“For now we might as well leave Mr. Jones in charge,” said Mr. Smith, “since he’s the only one with any experience at running a plantation. which is quite a complicated thing to manage, but he will no longer be your master but just another worker on the plantation. In fact he will now be using his organizational and management skills to serve you.”
“Whatever problems you may have had with him before, you are now all equals and you need each other to make this work. If we all cooperate and work together we can all reap the benefits together! In honor of this happy occasion I present you this new symbol of togetherness and cooperation. This flag which shall be the emblem of the new free Jones plantation!”
He held up the new flag, but most of those listening were still too amazed to respond.
“And this shall be our motto,” Mr. Smith announced, “we work together as free men for our mutual benefit. Pledging our allegiance to the Jones plantation, which stands for prosperity liberty and justice for all! To celebrate, everyone has the rest of the day off. Enjoy your freedom do as you please and be back here tomorrow morning, bright and early, so that we may begin work on this great and noble new endeavor as equal freemen!”
Finally convinced that Mr. Smith was serious, the former slaves applauded and cheered.
Day Two
“We all want this plantation to do well”, Mr. Smith said at the beginning of the next meeting, “so we can all share the benefits. We all know that it takes a lot of effort to make a cotton plantation work. Just because you’re all free doesn’t mean you can stop working. In fact, since you’re now working for yourselves, I expect you to work even harder than ever before. But now with pride and joy, knowing that you’re working for yourselves.”
“Of course, there still have to be rules; if everyone just does whatever he wants the plantation won’t produce anything. This experiment will fail and we’ll all starve! You should be thankful that Mr. Jones has agreed to stay on to lend his knowledge and skills to this endeavor. And I trust you all do your own part to make this work.”
“Several of you have been chosen to act as project supervisors to manage different aspects of the operation, to make sure everyone is doing his assigned job, to make sure the rules are followed and so on. The rest of you may head out to the fields to start your first day of work as free men.”
Day Three
The next morning Mr. Smith had a grim expression on his face as the daily meeting began.
“I have an unpleasant duty to do today”, he said, “yesterday Charles was caught keeping some of the cotton he picked. Presumably to sell for his own personal profit. That is against the rules. That is stealing. For that Charles must be punished.”
Two men tied Charles to the whipping post.
“I take no joy in this”, Mr. Smith continued, “but you must understand: if we do not maintain order, if we do not have rules that we all abide by, then the plantation will fail and we will all suffer.” The whip cracked against Charles back. “But, if we all pitch in for the common good, then we can all prosper. Being free doesn’t mean you should be selfish and greedy. We must each do our assigned duties, and obey the rules, and then we can all benefit and each of you will receive your appropriate share of the profits.”
A young man named Samuel stepped forward.
“But if you and Mr. Jones decide the rules, and whip us if we disobey, how is that any different from what we had before?”
“How can you say that?”, Mr. Smith asked, “I’m shocked! You were slave before! Now you’re free! Things still need to be managed and organized by those best qualified to do so. Do you know how to run a plantation, Samuel?”
“Well no”, Samuel answered “but if we’re free, why do we get no say in what the rules are and how things work?”
“I’m surprised at your ingratitude”, Mr. Smith answered, “none of you know how a plantation is run so you’re in no position to be making decisions about how things are done here.”
“You don’t seem to appreciate all the things that Mr. Jones provides for you. From protecting you from all the outside threats you know nothing about, those who would come here capture and enslave you if not for Mr. Jones protection, to making sure that you all have food and housing; tools to work with; you’re cared for when sick and injured, and so on.”
“There wouldn’t be a plantation at all – no cotton to pick no land to plant and harvest – if not for him. You should be grateful that he’s made possible the level of comfort you now have. Your lives would be far worse if not for him. Nevertheless, as free and equal participants in this endeavor, from now on at each meeting any worker may have two minutes to ask questions or voice suggestions or complaints.”
With that the workers all seemed satisfied and headed out again to the fields to pick the cotton.
Day Four
“I have a big announcement”, Mr. Smith said as the daily meeting began, “Mr. Jones cousin is here, and not just to visit and see how our project is coming along!”
“It has been decided that, from now on, you will be deciding who will manage the plantation. Of course this job can’t be done by just anyone, but every three months we will have a special meeting, at which all the workers will vote on whether we think Mr. Jones should run the plantation, or whether we think his cousin Mr. Johnson should run the plantation.”
“That means that ultimately you are in charge, because you will be deciding which man you want running things on your behalf. If you don’t like the way things are being managed, you now have the power to change it.”
Amazed and pleased the workers headed out again to the fields, to pick the cotton
Days passed. Months passed. A year passed. And the plantation continued to operate as before.
Sometimes Mr. Jones was in charge, sometimes Mr. Johnson was in charge, but the day-to-day routine stayed exactly the same. The workers worked hard, long hours every day and still had little to show for it. Every day the meeting would begin with them all reciting the Jones plantation motto:
We work together as free men for our mutual benefit. Pledging our allegiance to the Jones plantation, which stands for prosperity, liberty and justice for all.
One day Mr. Smith announced “Samuel has asked to say a few words this morning, and whatever the rest of us may think of his ideas and opinions, we are all free here. And that means we are all allowed to speak our minds. So Samuel, you have two minutes, begin.”
Samuel stepped forward looking scared.
“I was excited when all this started”, he began glancing nervously at Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones, “but don’t you all see what’s happened here? Nothing’s changed! We’re all still slaves!”
There were grumbles of disagreement from the crowd.
“They tell us what to do, and whip us if we don’t. They still make all the rules and punish us if we disobey. They let us make suggestions, and complain about things, but they never really change anything. They let us choose between Mr. Jones and Mr. Johnson, but what’s the difference? The situation stays the same. We do all of the work and they take as much as they want, and decide how much they’ll let us keep. They live in luxury, made rich by the cotton we pick. We do all the work and have to build our own huts, grow our own food and take care of ourselves. They leave us just enough that we don’t revolt or run away.”
“This is not freedom! We’re all still slaves! They’ve only changed the words they use, but nothing else has changed. They say we’re all free and equal but we’re not, they command and we obey. That’s not freedom, that’s not equality. They say we’re free to leave, but all that means is that we’re free to be someone else’s slave.”
Why should we work or obey the rules? We didn’t agree to this! They made the system, they forced it on us, they control and rob us and call it freedom! They’ve deceived you into thinking that being able to choose which slave master you’ll work for is the same as being free! It’s not! Open your eyes!”
“If you keep what you produce they call it stealin’, when they take what you produce they call it sharing and fair distribution. Can’t you see that this is all…”
“Your time is up, Samuel” Mr. Smith announced calmly. At his gesture two supervisors grabbed Samuel by the arms and led him to the whipping post. “I’m sorry Samuel, but you’ve broken the rules. There are rules against encouraging others not to work, and encouraging others to break the rules. You’re only hurting all of us with your discontentment and your complaining and your disobedience.”
The whip fell and Samuel let out a grunt.
“Without rules without order all would be lost. Without law there would be chaos. We can’t just behave as wild animals, each doing whatever he pleases. We must all follow the plan, and all do our duty for the betterment of everyone. And those who do not must be punished.”
The whip fell again and blood flowed freely from Samuel’s back.
“Samuel it is you are stealing from the others when you don’t do your assigned work. You are making more work for others when you disobey the rules. It is you who are endangering the future of everyone else here. You are the thief, you are the criminal, you are the one trying to destroy the arrangement that keeps us all safe and prosperous.”
At every lash of the whip the other workers cheered louder and louder. Some yelling curses at Samuel.
“Being spoiled and selfish you complain about everything, talking as if you’re oppressed. But you are the one ruining things, you are the one keeping us from being all we could be. It is your greed and your rebelliousness that is hurting all of us.”
“They all play by the rules”, Mr. Smith said, gesturing at the others, “what makes you think that you don’t have to? You think you’re above the law?”
There were loud yells of agreement as the whip fell again.
“We must maintain order,” Mr. Smith proclaimed, “to make this plantation great, to make it so that we can all be happy and prosperous. To have the society we want there have to be rules. We all have to contribute our fair share to this great endeavor, and we cannot tolerate actions and attitudes that seek to undermine the amazing things that – together as free men – we have achieved and will continue to achieve!”
Mr. Jones was smiling as he gave Mr. Smith a pat on the back. The crowd was cheering so loudly that none of them had noticed that Samuel had died.
*
The Jones Plantation was written and animated by Larken and Amanda Rose. You can watch their interview with James Corbett here or visit their website here.