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The Corona Crisis: Fighting the Authoritarian Response

3. August 2020 Philosophy News News
At least 20 thousand people (some say many more) marched in Berlin on August 1st 2020 to protest against the restrictions imposed by governments against the Covid-19 epidemic. Unanimously branded as "criminals," "neo-nazis," and "idiots" by the Western media, their presence is nevertheless an indication of a growing movement of resistance against the authoritarian crackdown in Europe. As I am writing, the Covid epidemics has been over for at least two months in Europe. In the US, instead, the epidemic is over in the large cities while another wave of infections has been sweeping the central states, only now showing signs of abating. The result is a different perception of the situation. In the US, the progressive movement is still trying to use the epidemic as an anti-Trump weapon, accusing the president of not having been authoritarian enough and not having imposed even more draconian measures. In Europe, instead, the public is starting to perceive that nobody is dying of Covid-19 anymore. It is still an embryonic movement, routinely demonized and criminalized by the government propaganda machine, but it is clearly rising. The recent manifestation in Berlin of tens of thousands of people (perhaps many more) is a clear indication of this trend. Earlier on, we had seen something similar in Italy. You will be probably baffled by this interpretation of the Berlin demonstration, especially if you live in the US or if you routinely watch TV or read newspapers in a Western [More]
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