Thread by @EthicalRenewal

Let’s talk about rightwing liassez faire coronavirus denialism, or, in other words, “Let’s take it on the chin, folks!”

1/23
#coronavirus
#denial
#Johnson
#Trump

It all began with an ‘It’s just like flu’ shrug, a sprinkling of ‘I’ll shake hands with anyone’ braggadocio and an almost subliminal hint of mask aversion.

theguardian.com/world/video/20…

2/23
#coronavirus
#nudge
#Johnson
#Trump

We should be pleased, I suppose, that karma eventually kicked in:

bbc.com/news/uk-520607…

bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-…

Though was it really truly, madly, sincerely karmic enough?

3/23
#coronavirus
#karma
#Johnson
#Trump

Then we had to listen to the ‘guardians of business’ spiel.

gov.uk/government/spe…

This? From failed business men and tax evaders?

4/23
#coronavirus
#business

Our ‘guardians of business’–the Trumps, Johnsons and Bolsonaros–promptly delivered the world’s worst recessions to the countries they claimed to govern…

ft.com/content/d936d2…

It seems being ‘guardians AGAINST Covid’ was a better way to protect business after all.

5/23

Almost from the start we had Herd Immunity – the 'Smoking doesn't give you cancer' and 'CO2 doesn't cause climate change' of our times....

What will they deny next? The holocaust?

bylinetimes.com/2020/09/23/sca…

6/23
#coronavirus
#HerdImmunity
#covid

I’ve never taken kindly to being part of a herd. I’d rather be part of the human race, or part of all life on Earth….
Is herd membership something you’re ok with?

7/23
#coronavirus
#immunity
#herd

Herd immunity – championed by the same commentators, think tanks and lobby groups who don’t like public healthcare, free education, the NHS or paying taxes….

Nice bedfellows, are they?

bylinetimes.com/2020/10/09/cli…

8/23
#coronavirus
#herdimmunity
#covid

So what sort of panacea is herd immunity?

If applied as public policy (as Trump's almost achieved), it'll leave many thousands dead, millions with Long Covid or fatigue syndrome and, after all that, it almost certainly won’t work….

eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2…

9/23
#HerdImmunity

Did I hear you say herd immunity wiped out the common cold?

10/23
#herdimmunity
#commoncold
#wipedout

You need vaccines or mass death to wipe out fatal diseases, and if you haven’t got the first and don’t want the second then you need to Test, Trace and Isolate–with lockdown as a last resort.

T, T & I….
So how are the authoritarian populists doing on that front?

11/23

And now we come to the confected lockdown controversy, which has an immediate & pleasing bonus: Lockdown denialism lets our great leaders off the hook.

They didn’t manage lockdown properly… but why worry?

Lockdowns don’t actually make a difference, do they?

12/23
#lockdown

Lockdown denialism: a Get Out Of Jail Free card for the Bolsonaros, Johnsons and Trumps of this world.

13/23
#lockdown
#covid
#denial

But what about Sweden?

Sweden!
The siren call of the laissez faire Covid responder!

Yet with a recession equal to its neighbours and a Covid death rate many times higher, is it really such a beacon of success?

time.com/5899432/sweden…

14/23
#Sweden
#COVIDー19
#coronavirus

Let’s not forget ‘lockdown is murder’. All those hospital postponements! The inadvertent deaths.

But that’s another confected argument.

No one claims lockdown is a good thing. It’s just the least worst option for countries failing to develop decent track and trace.

15/23

As we grind into the second wave of coronavirus (or, in some cases, just continue with the first), our authoritarian populists get truly cynical. “Lockdown is just a postponement of deaths,” they tell us.

16/23
#murder
#COVIDー19
#coronavirus

“Lockdown is just a postponement of deaths” would be valid if….

- postponement wasn't a good in itself (who wouldn't want their death postponed?)

- postponement didn't allow treatments to improve & hospitals prepare

17/23
#postponement
#Death
#foretold
#lockdown

So let’s just call the ‘lockdown postpones deaths’ argument what it is. It’s the 'rejection of empathy' argument. It’s the ‘Who gives a damn about the vulnerable and the old?’ argument.

Why not just let the f***ers die?

18/23
#postponement
#death
#lockdown
#covid

So what’s behind the cynicism, the denialism, the fake science?

Perhaps this:
Authoritarian populists don't like looking after other people.
Utter selfishness is at the heart of their beliefs.

19/23
#populist
#covid19
#coronavirus
#denial

That's why this type of leader has failed so badly at handling the pandemic. Tackling coronavirus meant they had to look after other people.

That's not what they like doing.

20/23
#Corona
#virus
#COVID19
#coronavirus

These ‘strong leaders’ care very little about other people’s risks. They strongly dislike investing in precautions like ICU beds, PPE, ventilators, lockdowns, masks.

They strongly dislike helping others.

21/23
#Corona
#virus
#COVID19
#coronavirus

Our authoritarian populist leaders DO like giving huge contracts to their friends – but that’s just a backdoor to arranging future benefits for themselves.

COVID unveils capitalism’s beating heart....

22/23
#selfishness
#capitalism
#coronavirus
#COVID19

If you want selfishness to be the guiding principle of everyone’s lives, why do anything at all to protect others?

On principle, the only person you care about is yourself.

23/23
#selfishness
#capitalism
#coronavirus
#covid