What a difference a month makes.

Boris Johnson, March 3rd:

"I congratulate the Chinese authorities on the speed with which they posted the news of an outbreak that has had serious international implications".

Boris Johnson, one month later, having realized how much his government has cocked up in its response to the virus, and not wanting to be blamed for lots of deaths:

"Blame China for everything!".

Western governments, that downplayed the seriousness of Coronavirus for months, now blame China for covering it up when it first broke out - before recognizing and responding to it, and gaining praise from the World Health Organization.

Seems to me that Chinese authorities do deserve scrutiny for their initial response, but the hypocrisy here is obscene.

Whatever happened in China initially, many western governments ignored advice and warnings, from Chinese scientists and the W.H.O., for months. They effectively covered it up, when they should have begun preparing. And this will lead to many more deaths. So their only options now are to either accept culpability - never going to happen - or to lay the blame elsewhere.

UK Government blames China for their own failures

This is disgusting racism from the government to distract from...

- screwing up their initial response to the virus.
- decades of NHS dismantling and underfunding.

The World Health Organisation has praised China - they "rolled out perhaps the most ambitious, agile & aggressive disease containment effort in history".

But as we have learnt, our exceptionalist government could not give two shits about what the World Health Organisation has to say.

Did China really cover up the Coronavirus outbreak?

Here's what the World Health Organization has to say:

"The [W.H.O's Emergency] Committee welcomed the leadership and political commitment of the very highest levels of Chinese government, their commitment to transparency, and the efforts made to investigate and contain the current outbreak. China quickly identified the virus and shared its sequence, so that other countries could diagnose it quickly and protect themselves, which has resulted in the rapid development of diagnostic tools."

-The committee called for "support and appreciation for China, its people, and the actions China has taken on the frontlines of this outbreak, with transparency...."

Boris Johnson has Coronavirus

“I'm shaking hands continuously. I was at a hospital the other night where I think there were actually a few Coronavirus patients, and I shook hands with everybody, you'll be pleased to know”.

- Boris Johnson, a few weeks ago.

This man and his government initially totally ignored warnings and advice from the World Health Organization, from The Lancet, from China, etc, and instead downplayed the virus, putting us all at risk.

They opted for a strategy of 'taking it on the chin' - a completely nonsensical, incredibly irresponsible, and extremely anti-human, 'herd immunity' strategy.

This delay in responding appropriately to the crisis will result in many more deaths.

And the NHS - already under-resourced following decades of privatization and austerity imposed by Boris Johnson's ilk - will be far more overstretched than would otherwise have been the case.

Tory socialism? Not so fast.

Important thread by Jason Hickel.

The Tories are being praised for implementing supposedly socialistic measures during the Coronavirus crisis. Hickel points out that this is not really the case.

Coronavirus: will we learn that collectivism is essential to address all the other crises we face?

The climate crisis.
The housing crisis.
The poverty crisis.
The endless militarism crisis.
The homelessness crisis.
The mental health crisis.
Etc.

I hope that the Coronavirus crisis, and the understanding that it can only be fought collectively, is teaching us that it will take collectivism, solidarity, and significant central management of the economy in the interests of people+planet, for us to remedy all the other crises we face.

The Coronavirus is revealing that we're all socialistic at heart - just see the love and respect for NHS workers. We're just manipulated by a billionaire-owned media machine into thinking it isn't feasible.

Global South unable to fight the Coronavirus thanks to western imperialism

Now would be a good time to drop debt, end imperialist sanctions, and end the mass thievery of exploited, impoverished countries in the global south - that subsequently have inadequate/non-existant healthcare systems - so that they can have a chance at avoiding total Coronavirus hell!

Praise for Boris Johnson? Ugh!

Many are now praising Boris Johnson for finally initiating stricter measures to enforce social distancing. Experts - the World Health Organization, etc - have been calling for this for weeks.

OBVIOUSLY, we all want the government to succeed in doing what is necessary to handle this crisis. But they have already failed. It is now a case of damage limitation.

Having starved our NHS for 10 years, Johnson and his clique of experts, during a global pandemic, ignored advice from the rest of the world's scientists, thus delaying an appropriate response - seemingly because they wanted to protect the economy.

This will likely lead to many more cases of the virus, and thus an even more over-stretched NHS, and many more deaths than there otherwise would have been.

Austerity, resulting in 130,000+ deaths, was already criminal, and now this!

Some unity is needed, but please god let's not praise these incompetent, elitist, racist, deceitful, warmongering thugs!

Conoravirus conspiracy? I don't see it.

I‘ve noticed that many are concerned that the Coronavirus crisis is overhyped and some kind of operation by elites to implement a police state...

Firstly, from what I’ve read, I really don’t think this is overhyped. Just look at Italy, Iran. This virus is clearly not something we have the resources to cope with, if left to spread unchecked. It will most likely kill many, many people, and devastate healthcare systems.

Secondly, those pushing for strict laws during this crisis, it seems to me, are generally not the same actors who push for the suppression of dissent, increased surveillance, etc, in normal times. In fact, those who push for that are generally opposed to the economic lockdowns that will negatively impact their interests.

And in order for this to be some kind of conspiracy, we’d need to believe that non-US Empire states are in on it, given that they have implemented the harshest measures. And obviously, that’s dumb.

And... I don’t think the World Health Organisation, which advises for strict lockdowns, is a vassal of capitalist elites!

So I’m not too concerned about this temporary transition to a quasi police state. Although saying that, I do think it likely that many elites may see this as an opportunity to expand authoritarian agendas, so we should definitely be vigilant.

What to do whilst in Coronavirus lockdown?

With millions of us stuck at home with little to do, now could be a great time for collective learning, about the system in which we live. An awakening is needed now more than ever, in order for us to begin addressing the huge issues we face.

Here's a list of documentaries, short films, interviews, talks, etc, that I have come across over the last few years, and found informative and often enlightening.

Coming to terms with what has been done to the planet by the current system can be distressing, but it's a vital step if we are to secure a sustainable, peaceful future.

(I'm making another list here, of films about potential solutions to all the horrors detailed below!).

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The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.

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Four Horsemen - a feature documentary which lifts the lid on how the world really works.

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The Spider's Web: Britain's Second Empire.

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Rosa Koire. UN Agenda 2030 exposed

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The End Of Poverty? In a world of plenty, why are so many families around the planet still living in abject poverty?

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The New Rulers of The World: John Pilger’s documentary on globalisation.

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Confessions of an Economic Hitman.

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The Rise of History's Biggest Empire: Abby Martin explores the U.S. Empire, its rise to world hegemony and its impact on people and the planet.

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“United States” to Imperial America: Our Hidden Empire.

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Vandana Shiva: We Must Fight Back Against the 1 Percent to Stop the Sixth Mass Extinction.

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Rockefeller Medicine - History of how holistic medicine was removed.

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Michael Parenti - The U.S. War on Yugoslavia.

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Shadows Of Liberty, about the ongoing war on journalism and freedom of information.

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John Pilger: The War You Don't See.

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Big Pharma Companies Are Exploiting The World's Poor

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The malaria business: Big pharma vs natural medicine

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Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media.

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Interview with Jason Hickel - author of The Divide 

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Arundhati Roy speaks poetically to power.

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Giants: Who Really Rules The World?

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John Pilger: The Coming War on China.

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Michael Hudson - Dollar Cycle and De-Dollarization.

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Zeitgeist Addendum - Money Creation and Fractional Reserve Banking.

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Rotten: This documentary series exposes the fraud, corruption, and the consequences on our health of today’s global food industry. (Full series on Netflix).

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Requiem for an American Dream with Noam Chomsky.

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How the US makes countries pay for its wars: Economics of American imperialism with Michael Hudson.

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Privatized Planet. 

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The Economics of Happiness.

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Talk by Helena Norberg-Hodge

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Oliver Stone's Ukraine On Fire. Full film available here.

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The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, about the 2002 coup in Venezuela. 

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Oliver Stone's Untold History of The United States. (Available on Netflix in the US).

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Michael Moore: Capitalism, A Love Story.

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Michael Moore: Sicko.

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John Pilger: War By Other Means. A film about Third World debt, which reveals the money owed to the rich world by the Third World is far greater than the aid or charitable donations they receive.

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The Weight Of Chains: A film about the breakup of Yugoslavia.

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Neoliberalism: WTF? Neoliberal Capitalism from Ronald Reagan to the Gig Economy.

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Bill Gates is continuing the work of Monsanto - Dr Vandana Shiva

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A Billion Go Hungry Because of GMO Farming - Dr Vandana Shiva

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How Corporations Ruined Food.

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Inside America's Meddling Machine.

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The Panama Deception.

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Rentier Britain: all the rent goes to the 1%.

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What Was Liberalism? #3 Neoliberalism.

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Economist, Steve Keen: How Economics Became a Cult.

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Cuba! Africa! Revolution! Documentary about the Cuban interventions in the Angolan Civil War and several other African Wars for Independence during the 60's and 70's.

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Fidel Castro: The Untold Story

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Vietnam: A Television History. 13-part American documentary and television mini-series about the Vietnam War.

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Paradogma

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The Uncertainty Has Settled

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Rockefeller Medicine - History of how holistic medicine was removed.

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The War on Sensemaking.

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Princes of the Yen: Central Banks and the Transformation of the Economy.

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https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/this-video-dispels-every-nature-vs-nurture-myth-youve-ever-heard/#.Xjz1O5bXIdk.twitter

Magic Money Tree Only Grows For The Rich

The UK government is to pay 80% of wages for those forced out of work by the Coronavirus. (Excluding the self-employed, for now).

Where will the money come from?

The only reason this question isn't being asked now, as it is constantly when socialists promise spending on social programs, is that the Coronavirus crisis threatens the interests of those at the top - a workforce starving to death is not exactly desirable for them.

There's millions of folks who were already in crisis before this virus came along: 14 million in in-work poverty, for example. Where was the money then?

The planet has been in crisis for quite a while! Where was the money for a green new deal?

And, where was the money to prevent 10 years of austerity that killed 130,000+ people, and screwed public services, including the NHS?

The magic money tree only comes out when the interests of the super rich are severely threatened, to keep the system that they control, afloat.

Capitalism is an insanely destructive system, but it isn’t stupid - it knows how to sustain itself. As it is attempting to do during the Coronavirus crisis, with neoliberal politicians suddenly becoming ‘socialist’.

Hoarding food an inevitable consequence Thatcherism

Given the obsession with individualism and the denigration of the very notion of society/community; intrinsic features of the dog-eat-dog ideology - neoliberalism - imposed since Thatcher/Reagan... it is hardly surprising that many people are hoarding food and unable to think as a collective in a time of crisis. Every man for himself!

Plus it’s a result of having corrupted, useless governments that have been taken over by that market-knows-best ideology, and thus have handed over power to private corporations. Leaving them incapable. And thus leaving the public scared that government will not look out for them, ensuring food supplies etc.

Let the virus spread, despite a massively unprepared NHS?!

I still can't get over this.

The UK government wanted to allow the virus to spread, despite advice from the World Health Organization, most scientists, and every other country that is currently effectively managing the outbreak.

And despite knowing that the NHS is massively underprepared for a potentially huge spike in cases - thanks to 10 years of the austerity that these same politicians imposed! (And decades of neoliberal economics before that).

Mike Galsworthy, founder of 'Scientists for EU', calls this a 'mess up', but to me, it very much looks like a criminal and insane prioritization of short term economic health, over the health of people. (Which is totally the norm in our system).

And have the Tories actually completely abandoned the 'herd immunity' strategy? It doesn't really seem like it as yet. Still no enforcement of social distancing. Just advisory.

If there's any justice, the government will be held to account for this. (There isn't, so it won't be). It seems clear that their neoliberal mentality is massively hindering their ability to cope with this crisis.

.....

Update: as expected, it seems that this was not simple a 'mess up'.

The Coronavirus Crisis - if only Jeremy Corbyn was PM

I've never been more sad/angry that we don’t have a Corbyn-led Labour government!

Now is literally the worst time imaginable to have neoliberals in charge of the country; those who've privatized/ransacked the state, leaving us unable to handle this crisis; those who’ve screwed over the many in service of the few.

People are terrified of how they will cope financially in the coming months/years and our only hope is that the free market, dog-eat-dog Thatcherites in power, abandon their entire ideology.

Neoliberal media said Corbyn supporters were in a ‘cult’.

But it is neoliberals who are the cultists, as demonstrated by the Tories’ extremely irresponsible, dangerous, inhuman response to the Coronavirus so far.

Corbyn supporters were trying to destroy the cult!

Might this crisis finally destroy the cult of the market and the cult of the individual?

UK government finally acknowledges what experts have been saying for weeks, or have they?

The UK government is still taking a very nonchalant approach to the Coronavirus crisis, comparatively to other countries - only 'advising' and not banning gatherings, or closing schools; no sufficient welfare proposals to enable all those who need/want to self-isolate to do so; no requisitioning of private hospitals, etc.

It seems to me that the priority is still to keep the economy running as normally as possible, and for lots of people to fairly quickly get infected, to build 'herd immunity' - even though they have supposedly now finally recognized that this could be catastrophic.

They're going with a nonchalant strategy despite most other countries doing the opposite; despite criticism from most experts; and despite the UK having significantly fewer hospital beds/ventilators/doctors than Italy!!!!!

Am I missing something, or is this potentially a huge crime against humanity? The government's handling of this crisis just seems incompetent to me.

Now is literally the worst time to have neoliberals running the country. These people have destroyed our ability to effectively handle a crisis like this, with their privatizing, deregulating and austerity over many decades. We barely have a functioning state anymore - see here and here. Their ideology is completely incompatible with the kind of big government action, (on the side of ordinary people), that is required right now, to prevent disaster.

They are definitely doing so to an extent, but really our only hope is for them to quickly and completely abandon the horrible ideology that they've adhered to their whole careers.

Criticism of the UK response to the Coronavirus crisis

Criticism of the UK response to Coronavirus crisis...


Editor of The Lancet, Richard Horton:

The morning after the dramatic change in strategy to COVID-19 by this govt, I can’t help but feel angry that it has taken almost two months for politicians and even “experts” to understand the scale of the danger from SARS-CoV-2. Those dangers were clear from the very beginning.

Western “experts” failed to heed warnings.

Scientists have been sounding the alarm on coronavirus for months. Why did Britain fail to act?

“It is a national scandal, we shouldn’t be in this position” - on BBC Question Time

The handling of the COVID-19 crisis in the UK is the most serious science policy failure in a generation.

Why are political leaders afraid of the truth? This is the NHS today: “Colleagues have to attend disciplinary meetings for speaking out. Others have been spoken to and were ‘warned’ informally...I never thought I lived in a country where freedom of speech is discouraged.”

"It's the biggest science policy in a generation".

.....

Former director at the World Health Organisation, Anthony Costello:

Our government public health advice is simply wrong.

What is UK/ US context? Economy before people?

Five days ago, UK plan was to stop testing in community, allow 60% of the population to become infected, build herd immunity, + accept a 1% mortality rate (250,000). Now it's ramp up testing, suppress epidemic, limit to 20,000deaths. So why did we not do this in the first place?

COVID19 testing in South Korea has been at 20,000 per day for weeks. Why did we not scale up testing weeks ago? We are at 4000 per day now and government say it will take 4 weeks to reach 25,000.

Was it advisory team group-think, led by clinician scientists with no experience of large scale epidemic control? Was it British exceptionalism, dismissive of Chinese and Korean science and capability, and condescension towards WHO “bureaucrats”.

Overcentralisation v Self-organising. The UK always had testing capacity. Like Korea we developed a WHO approved test on January 10th.  But Korea immediately approached their pharmaceutical companies to help expand testing. We didn't.

.....

Director of Global Health, Devi Sridhar:

UK govt took a gamble on strategy based on flawed model & thinking it knew better. And it is shocking.

I still remain puzzled on why the UK govt is moving so slowly in its response

I don’t understand why mass testing and contact tracing with isolation is not being pursued in the UK?

Puzzling: from Jan until March 12th, even if gov't was indeed following 'herd immunity' plan of everyone gets it & keep economy/society going, why would they not order appropriate PPE to protect front-line health workers & responders, & prepare beds and get ventilators? Why wait?

Surprised to hear UK Deputy CMO say yesterday that WHO advice on testing is only for poor countries & UK has strong enough health service to treat our way through outbreak. Don't know any country which has this capacity, rich or poor & burden falls on health staff unnecessarily.

Even if govt was planning from Feb-mid March to let the virus run through the population until 60-80% would get it, why would they not prepare health services including adequate PPE for front-line staff?
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Former President of Faculty of Public Health, John Ashton:

The government science is wrong.. they haven't been doing the testing...we need to move to regional government..everything will seize up within a week.

Interview here.

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Hundreds of scientists warn UK government’s response to outbreak ‘risking lives’

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Founder, Scientists for EU, Mike Galsworthy:

UK govt messed up Covid-19 modeling... and are now backtracking hard.

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Economic anthropologist, Jason Hickel:

This evidence was available many weeks ago, and yet the government ignored it - even in the face of explicit WHO warnings. It is negligence on an extraordinary scale. Now healthcare workers in an NHS which has already been cut to the bone *by this very same party* will be made to mop up the mess our leaders have created, at significant risk to their own lives and families.

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Testimony of an A&E doctor in north of England:

It is absolute carnage in A&E. Utter chaos.

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Boris Johnson reportedly joked with business leaders that the effort to build more ventilators could be called ‘Operation Last Gasp’.

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The UK was basing its coronavirus control policy on a model based on hospitalisation rates for different disease.

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New Zealand scientists horrified at UK 'herd immunity' strategy.

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Government is resorting to Twitter in a plea for additional ventilators, and is paying private private hospitals for the use of their beds - meanwhile, in Spain they have requisitioned private hospitals.

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Analysis by Media Lens, critiquing the media's poor job at questioning the government's response to the crisis

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Football pundit, Gary Neville, doing a better job here, of critiquing Boris Johnson's actions, than most of the media!

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This government has abandoned healthcare workers to a disastrous fate.

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Compare response to crisis in Germany and UK.

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Johnson’s own personal views on the role of the state have been a major factor, according to those familiar with his thinking.

The government “bet” the future of the UK on advice from a very small group of scientists that for a long time differed from the wider international consensus.

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Urgent open letter to UK government, from experts in health research, public health, epidemiology,  calling for lockdown.

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Top statistician at Cambridge University: The UK is running out of time to avoid reaching a situation like Italy

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Damning video montage of Boris Johnson downplaying the virus.

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Financial Times journalist:

Other countries have been where UK, US and co are.

China instituted stringent lockdowns, many of which remain in place. Its case count has stopped rising.

Korea: enormous test, trace & quarantine strategy, which brought the spread under control.

UK? "keep calm and carry on"

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The lethal ‘herd immunity without vaccine’ strategy came from Dominic Cummings: “protect the economy and if that means some pensioners die, too bad”.

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“There is a huge staffing crisis” in the NHS with “no contingency plan.” There is no stand-down of elective procedure planning. Staff who have symptoms of COVID-19 are refused tests.

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Nafeez Ahmed on evidence that Boris Johnson’s government was more focused on saving money than lives when it came to issues such as school closures.

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“For two months the government had time to prepare, but Johnson’s instincts were to resist a life-changing crackdown. ‘There was a lot of talk about how this was just a bit of flu.’”

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Mortgage-holders will get support, whilst renters - many of whom will be self-employed with no income support - will not.

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'Confused, dangerous, flippant': rest of world pans PM's handling of coronavirus

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NHS staff:

“It's terrifying at the moment. Still no access to personal protective equipment [PPE] or testing.”

“There's been no guidelines, it's chaos.”

“I don't feel safe. I don't feel protected.”

“We are literally making it up as we go along.”

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Boris Johnson, at the beginning of March, completely ignoring warnings and advice from the World Health Organization:

"I'm shaking hands continuously. I was at a hospital the other night where I think there were actually a few Coronavirus patients, and I shook hands with everybody, you'll be pleased to know".

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Advice on protective gear for NHS staff was rejected owing to cost.

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Government ‘too slow to act’ and ministers have failed to lead by example, health experts say.

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Western failed response to the Coronavirus - is "a colossal market failure" - Noam Chomsky

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The EU has said the UK can take part in the procurement project [to access ventilators...], which will use the EU's buying power to purchase more stock. But... the UK would not be joining because "we are no longer members of the EU.

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UK should have gone into lockdown 10 days ago, Italy's scientific adviser warns.

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As a doctor I have to speak out: Johnson has contributed to thousands of deaths.

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Boris Johnson, March 3rd:

"I congratulate the Chinese authorities on the speed with which they posted the news of an outbreak that has had serious international implications".

Tories, one month later, having realized how much they've cocked up in their response to the virus, and not wanting to be blamed for lots of deaths:

"Blame China for everything!".

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Boris Johnson was briefed about Coronavirus in December 2019. His first Cobra meeting was on 2nd March 2020. No actions were taken for 3 months.

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The coronavirus letter you’ve just been sent by Johnson is a lie.

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NHS doctors ‘gagged’ over protective equipment shortages.

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Coronavirus Britain has a Very Sick Immune System. It's called the Media.

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We still have no explanation on why Germany has more tests.

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Look at the absolute astonishment of this newsreader when she realises Britain will only be getting 30 ventilators from the “thousands” promised by Michael Gove.

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None of the antibody tests ordered by Matt Hancock work.

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UK missed coronavirus contact tracing opportunity, experts say.

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Reuters report:

The government's move away from "herd immunity" was not based on changed modelling. They really had planned to allow 250,000 people to die, and were taken by surprise when the public weren't willing to accept that.

What changed was the behavioural science. The government had assumed we would prefer to let 250,000+ people die rather than spend a few weeks at home.

And there was no real effort to ramp up testing or increase number of ventilators. It looks like the government only sprung into action once they saw other countries were behaving differently and felt pressured to change.

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Doctor who pleaded for more hospital PPE dies of coronavirus.

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NHS staff forbidden from speaking out publicly about coronavirus.

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Leaked recordings of a Home Office conference call on Tuesday, exclusively obtained by Byline Times, reveal that the Government has all but given up in its fight against the Coronavirus and is intent on simply finding “a method of managing it within the population”.

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In 2016, a pandemic drill was carried out in Britain with shocking results. Devastated by cuts, the NHS was overwhelmed. The govt was warned, but did nothing and the Dept of Health suppressed the conclusions. What has happened in 2020 is a state crime.

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Boris Johnson 'skipped five Cobra meetings on coronavirus as warnings ignored'.

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In a speech earlier this year, Boris Johnson argues the UK could make a profit by avoiding lockdown.

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The Times:

Coronavirus: 38 days when Britain sleepwalked into disaster.

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Exercise Cygnus uncovered: the pandemic warnings buried by the government

Exercise Cygnus dramatically exposed the gaps in Britain’s pandemic response but its ‘terrifying’ findings have yet to be published.

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The Coronavirus Video Boris Johnson Doesn't Want You To See.

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“I don’t quite understand why we had four weeks of everybody shrugging their shoulders ..” -  one of the worlds must respected doctors - David Nott

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Boris can boast about his ‘successful' coronavirus war all he wants, but Britain’s horrendous death toll tells the real shameful story.

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Just 273 of the 18.1m people who arrived in UK in run-up to lockdown were quarantined.

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'Biggest failure in a generation': Where did Britain go wrong?

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UK government 'using pandemic to transfer NHS duties to private sector'.

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“A National Scandal”: a timeline.

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UK scientists condemn 'Stalinist' attempt to censor Covid-19 advice

Neoliberalism has destroyed our ability to handle crises

Individualism, the free market, and billionaire ‘philanthropists’ will not save us from crises like the Coronavirus, or climate change, etc, (they tend to cause crises).

We need solidarity, a well funded, publicly-owned state, and economic planning in the interests of people and planet.

But sadly, our state has been diminished and corrupted, by those billionaires and their neoliberal, free market reforms - privatisation, deregulation, austerity.

Since the 1980s, we’ve had a market-knows-best, every-man-for-himself ideology imposed on us, for the benefit of the few. Profit for those at the top comes first. The planet, humanity, be damned.

Sorry to quote Nigel Farage, but we really do need to take back our country!

Not from immigrants or from people on benefits - but from those at the top who’ve ransacked our public services, exploited the workforce, wrecked the environment, bought the media, waged expensive, devestating wars, put us all in ever-increasing debt, and just generally made life increasingly miserable, as they’ve redistributed wealth from the many to the few.

We handed over our country and our freedom to a handful of billionaires and transnational corporations. A massive redistribution of power and wealth is needed.

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Compare the response to the Coronavirus crisis in neoliberal western states, to the response in China - which has been praised by the World Health Organisation. This response does not demonstrate China's authoritarianism; it demonstrates that they have a non-privatized, well-functioning state, and a government that is in control, rather than the market.

In China, government has authority over capital. And they’ve got a system that ensures only those who’ve proven themselves to serve society, end up in positions of power.

In the west, capital has authority over government. And our system rewards the most ruthless and self-interested, and puts them in positions of power.

It is why we wage wars, whilst China builds infrastructure, etc.

And it’s a huge reason as to why China can respond effectively to crises, whilst western governments cannot.

.....

In summary, the reasons for incompetent western response to this crisis:

- state diminished by privatisation/austerity
- reluctance to implement socialist policies
- prioritisation of short term economic health
- cult of individualism
- people misinformed by monopolised media

i.e. Neoliberalism.

How come China can respond effectively to crises, but we can't?

Why have most western governments not responded appropriately to the Coronavirus crisis, as China, and some other countries have?

Surely largely it is because of a continued, blind adherence to the neoliberal 'religion' - a reluctance to acknowledge that the market is not the answer; that big state intervention is needed, to contain the virus, to allocate resources as needed, to provide welfare for those who will need to self-isolate, (millions of whom are already struggling to survive, thanks to decades of living under this ideology), etc.

Following decades of neoliberalism being imposed by an elite few over western countries - and over much of the rest of the world - governments have become increasingly powerless and corrupt, with those elites/private corporations, taking over, ransacking the public sector, siphoning wealth from the many to the few. So not only is there a reluctance, there is also now, thanks to a shrunken state, an inability, to respond appropriately.

Everything is about quick profit. There is a focus on short term thinking. Today's economy is all that matters. The action necessary to handle this virus, will affect short term profits, and thus, the economy - so it is to be avoided. Obviously, in the long term, major action now and a loss in short term profit and growth, would be a much better option for the economy! There is such a destructive irrationality here. Neoliberalism is both profoundly destructive, and profoundly stupid.

A system that is run for profit, is obviously only going to do that which is profitable, and preparing for a crisis like a pandemic, is not profitable.

Also, are people in China better informed, and is this a factor? In the west, our corporate media system, monopolized in the hands of the elite few billionaire capitalists, makes it pretty difficult for anyone to know what is going on - with the economy, with geopolitics, with science, etc. If you rely on that media system to inform you about the world, chances are you'll be misinformed about most big issues; it has a massive affect on public opinion, and on government policy.

An informed populace is surely far more likely to be united and willing to go along with what authorities are advising.

Under neoliberalism - our corrupt media system, our corrupt governments, our decades of selfish individualism, have quite reasonably led to a high level of distrust in our authorities, and a high level of division. Whereas in China, where poverty has recently been reduced rapidly; where revolutionary spirit still lives on; where the government seems to govern in the interests of the people (huge reduction in poverty, etc), the population is far more capable of coming together and collectively fighting a crises like this.

I don’t like many things about China’s system - most socialists in the west are calling for more direct democracy, not less, and I'm no fan of globalization in general. But their achievements, in rapidly reducing poverty, investing in green tech, embarking on a peaceful foreign policy, and now in fighting and almost defeating the Coronavirus, surely need to be recognised.

Is this what can be achieved with a united populace? With a system that rewards and empowers those who serve the common good, rather than those who are the most ruthless and greedy? With a government that is in control of things, rather than corporations?

I think the insanity of the western system is demonstrated most clearly by the fact that even in a time of global crisis, economic sanctions against non-compliant states - implemented to advance imperialist interests - remain, even when they are directly hindering those countries' ability to fight the crisis. The destructive nature of neoliberal capitalism - a system that empowers an elite few and requires perpetual growth and profit, putting that before the interests of people and planet - is exposed now more than ever.

Tory/centrist austerity, and capitalism in general, makes us vulnerable to crises

Coronavirus is now a pandemic, western countries having failed to contain it as China did.

In the UK, not only do we have a government that is failing to address the crisis, but we are also less able to do so than we otherwise could have been, thanks to a decade of completely unnecessary austerity, imposed by capitalists for the benefit of the few, massively damaging our public services/infrastructure.

Capitalism, with it’s elite rule, monopolisation, hoarding, individualism, exploitation, war, extreme inequality... putting profit before people+planet... is the greatest pandemic of all.

Has the last 40 years of neoliberalism killed any sense of solidarity? With Italy struggling to cope with an outbreak of the virus, more than any other country in Europe thus far, it was China that offered aid, not fellow EU countries!

And is there any chance that the EU, and the US, will be ending their economic war on countries like Syria, Venezuela, Iran...? Sanctions kill at the best of times! Even worse now.

Boris Johnson's first budget

Following a decade of completely unnecessary austerity, making the poor suffer and die for the crimes of the super rich, the Tories have suddenly found a magic money tree!

Hugely thanks to Corbyn's Labour winning the argument, re austerity and state intervention, Tories are moving left on the economy. The extreme neoliberal hell that many of us predicted isn't happening.

Labour under Keir Starmer will be pretty redundant.

A radical left opposition is needed now more than ever, to keep pressure on the Tories; to oppose imperialism, ecocide, exploitation, gradual NHS privatization, etc, which will likely all continue, and to fight for a new vision for the future, of worker empowerment, internationalism, and the green industrial revolution.

Biden has probably beaten Bernie

After their loss in 2016, Hillary Clinton's team hatched a plan to blame Trump’s win on Russia, and the media/establishment have run with it ever since.

It helped ensure there would be no judgement day for her, the Obama years, or the Democratic Party, thus ensuring that another corrupt neoliberal, like Joe Biden, would be able to succeed in this year’s primary.

Since 2016, voters should’ve been coming to terms with how the hell someone like Trump was able to become President - ie because the Democrats, like Blair’s Labour in the UK, abandoned the working class and chose neoliberal globalisation, leading to huge inequality, poverty and resentment.

But instead, they’ve been told to blame it all on Russia and to see Trump as an anomaly put there by Putin, when really he is a symptom of the system; an inevitable consequence following decades of both parties screwing over workers. So now they’re desperate to end what they see as an aberration, and return to ‘normalcy’; ie to the neoliberal disease that threw up Trump.

Elites and their media win again. Immensely sad for the world. Bernie Sanders wasn’t perfect, but he’d have definitely started seriously fighting the disease.

Brits love their genocidal empire!

Polls show that Brits are more likely to view the British Empire as something to be proud of than something to be ashamed of. 😩

Over a 300 year period, British elites invaded nearly every country in the world to plunder and profit. Seeing themselves as a master race, they invented concentration camps, enslaved millions, tortured and massacred those who resisted, killed 29 million Indians, forced the Chinese into Opium addiction, exterminated entire villages to quell rebellions, stole $trillions, used chemical weapons... etc etc.

Our country is deeply ignorant and racist, and our media/education system help to keep it that way, so that today's military and economic imperialism, under US leadership, can continue!

Centrists quash the left and fuel the right

‪The more the ‘centre’ seeks to quash the left, and prevent the necessary change to redistribute power/wealth, the more the ‘populist’ right will thrive, and the more militant the real populist left will inevitably become.

‪Centrist inability/unwillingness to acknowledge that fundamental system change is needed, and that populism didn’t just appear out of nowhere, is our greatest problem.

They will continue to attack the symptoms they’ve created, rather than the disease - their own ideology.

Elite rule, an inevitable consequence of a capitalist system, is the problem

Neoliberal capitalism - imposed by Reagan, Clinton, Thatcher, Blair, etc - really has fucked us up for generations.

I’d argue that those leaders, and their plutocrat puppet-masters, are possibly more responsible for damaging the planet/humanity than any other leader in history.

The mass privatization putting us all under the thumb of a handful of super rich exploiters; the destruction of the very notion of society, community, solidarity, democracy; of the idea that we can work together for the common good.

Human nature is to cooperate, but this system encourages and requires us to do the opposite!

Environmental devastation, war, terrorism, refugee crises, poverty, homelessness, one billion undernourished, addiction and mental health crises, mass surveillance, declining life expectancy...

None of this is normal!

It is thanks to a system that empowers an elite few to monopolise the world and exploit everyone and everything!

Russiagate doing its job?

The main point of 'Russiagate' was to enable the Democrats to avoid self-reflection and criticism for their incredibly embarrassing loss to a racist game show host.

As a result, most Dem voters still don't realize how bloody awful the likes of Obama and Joe Biden are - they are the disease of which Trump is just a symptom.

Instead, many have been convinced Trump won because of evil genius, Vlad Putin. Just as happened, to a lesser extent in the UK, with Remainers and Brexit.

DNC, Obama, Hillary, centrists... screwing Bernie/humanity yet again

Obama conspiring with the 'centrist' candidates/establishment to screw over Bernie.

Hillary constantly attacking Bernie and his campaign.

These people are just monstrous, they really are. They despise the fact that impoverished, exploited workers, in the richest country on earth, are trying to rise up against their exploiters and seek some dignity in life. How dare they! Don't they understand that their purpose in life is to work for the benefit of an elite few to get ever richer whilst destroying the planet, not to have basic things like healthcare?

'Liberal' leaders despise the whole notion of democracy. The world must be ruled by a war-profiteering, ecocidal plutocracy, and their corrupted politicians, and that is final.

To defeat that plutocracy, with its media monopoly making it extremely difficult for a stressed, disillusioned populace to be anything other than severely un/disinformed, is proving to be impossible.

A liberal centrist is someone who...

Most self-described liberals really are a nightmare. They've no interest in reality. No comprehension of how power works; of the system that we live under. And they're utterly arrogant. Does my head in. It's too upsetting to think they're all assholes, so I'm going with DEEPLY conditioned/ignorant! They are basically guilty of most things that they accuse the 'populist' left and right of being: close-minded, ignorant, cultish, Stalinist, aggressive, imperialist, ecocidal, racist...


A liberal is someone who will support a politician like Hillary Clinton because she is a woman, whilst completely ignoring the fact that she is a corrupt warmonger partly responsible for the deaths of literally millions of women.

A liberal is someone who will condemn the Russian government for homophobia, but will support western politicians who install and support far more homophobic regimes and movements all around the world - e.g. Syria, Honduras, Saudi Arabia, etc.

A liberal is someone who shouts 'conspiracy theory!', when they discover some information they don't like.

A liberal is someone who shouts 'Russia!', when they discover some information they don't like.

A liberal is someone who opposes Donald Trump for sexist comments, but not for waging an economic war on Venezuela that has killed thousands.

A liberal is someone who will profess to being anti-war, whilst supporting politicians who support imperialism.

A liberal is someone who thinks that a monopolized media with a long history of acting as a propaganda machine for western imperialism, that has people misinformed on pretty much every major issue, is reasonably balanced and fair, and all alternative media outlets are alt-right conspiracy sites.

A liberal is someone who will equate western wars that have killed millions, with Russia's defensive actions in Ukraine and Syria, following NATO expansion and wars, and/or with China's non-violent actions in Africa - where they have not sought to meddle in those countries governments, and are instead doing business (on mutually agreed terms?).

A liberal is someone who thinks it is completely unreasonable for Russia to react when NATO surrounds them, and who doesn't even consider what the US would do if Russia were to start installing puppet regimes in Mexico/Canada and building military bases there.

A liberal is someone who thinks a social democracy like they have in Finland is just as, or even more, dangerous than fascism, if it is proposed in the UK/US.

A liberal is someone who thinks billionaire elites, most of whom made their fortunes via ruthless self-interest, or inherited it, are mostly decent people who made their fortune doing good things for the world, and who deserve their powerful position over us.

A liberal is someone who ignores the root cause of our problems.

A liberal is someone who defends journalists who prop up the status quo, and attacks those, like Julian Assange, who’re trying to bring about peace and justice.

A liberal is someone who thinks only western powers should be allowed nuclear weapons, and that those countries targeted by western powers for regime change and exploitation, who desperately need to defend themselves, should not.

A liberal is someone who ignores the extreme injustice of neoliberal globalization and who votes to continue and expand it.

A liberal is someone who thinks the privatisation of our country, resulting in the destruction of the NHS, homelessness, ecocide, war, etc, is the natural way of things and best for progress.

A liberal is someone who thinks a system that empowers a few corporations to rule and requires ruthless competition to fight for scraps, and goes totally against the human instinct to love and cooperate, is most suited for human nature.

A liberal is someone who thinks humans are ruthless competitors, and so that is why capitalism is a suitable system for us, but at the same time, a liberal is someone who does not think that the most ruthless few who rise to the top, will conspire to do awful things to the rest of humanity and the planet.

A liberal is someone who thinks we have no choice but to accept a world in which a handful of people have all the power and money.

A liberal is someone who knows that power corrupts, yet supports greater and greater centralization of power.

A liberal is someone who thinks that the 'needs' of billionaires are as important as the needs of the homeless.

A liberal is someone who thinks we can continue allowing unaccountable corporations to plunder a finite planet for profit.

A liberal is someone who thinks we have freedom in the west, despite the fact that anyone who speaks out about all the awful things happening under the current system; who opposes neoliberalism and imperialism, is ignored at best, or smeared/prosecuted at worst, and banished from polite society. (Or bombed/economically sanctioned, if they're a dissenting country).

A liberal is someone who supports al Qaeda in Syria.

A liberal is someone who supports neo-Nazis in Ukraine.

A liberal is someone who supports fascists in Venezuela and Bolivia.

A liberal is someone who thinks that mass migration is a naturally occurring phenomenon, rather than generally a result of desperation, as people's lands are taken over by the corporations and banks that liberals support.

A liberal is someone who thinks a lifelong anti-racist, Jeremy Corbyn, is a racist, and who equates him with actual racist, British empire-loving Boris Johnson.

A liberal is someone who equates fascists with those who're calling for some redistribution of power and wealth to bring about peace and justice.

A liberal is someone who votes on domestic issues and doesn't care about all the death and destruction our governments/system wreak around the world.

A liberal is someone who thinks public services are unaffordable, but spending $trillions on war, and tax subsidies for oil companies, is.

A liberal is someone who will say that they care about the climate, but will reject the opportunity to vote for a politician with a long record of environmentalism, and instead vote for a party with a record of fracking and war.

A liberal is someone who opposes the imprisonment of journalists in Iran, but who says nothing about the persecution of journalists, and whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning, in the west, (or even supports the politicians who do that persecuting).

A liberal is someone who will condemn an exploited worker for not buying an expensive electric car, and will support a carbon tax on that person, but meanwhile will support an unbelievably destructive, plutocratic global economic system that involves an elite getting obscenely rich off the endless plunder of the planet - the same elite that is exploiting that worker.

A liberal is someone who is fine with social media corporations and virtual monopolies censoring dissent, often at behest of government.

A liberal is someone who judges those countries that revolt and try and resist capitalism, as dictatorial, whilst espousing that capitalism, with it's empowering of a few plutocrats and corporations, is very democratic.

A liberal is someone who thinks racism is just a result of far-right media, rather than a result of inequality/impoverishment brought on by neoliberal capitalism.

A liberal is someone who will condemn the far-right for their racist fear-mongering of migrants, but who won't address the root cause of that migration - wars and economic terrorism waged by western capitalists.

A liberal is someone who, after a leftist loses an election, will proclaim "see, nobody wants a left-wing government!", completely ignoring the fact that the entire system, including $billions of media propaganda, is rigged against the left.

A liberal is someone who scapegoats others (Russians, mainly) for the crimes of capitalism, just as the far-right does to migrants, Muslims, etc.

A liberal is someone who likes to think of themselves as an internationalist, but who could not give a shit about the evil deeds of their government outside their own borders. Black lives matter in the west, but not in Yemen, or any other country being attacked by the west.

A liberal is someone who will smear as 'Putin bots' those who (unlike liberals) actually oppose Trump's worst policies (militarism, Patriot Act, etc), because they don't go along with ridiculous conspiracy theories about Trump-Putin 'collusion'. 

A liberal is someone who will attack those who criticize Joe Biden, despite his long, documented record of being a thoroughly corrupt warmonger. 

A liberal is someone who doesn't want to accept reality and who lives in a matrix of corporate propaganda. 

Joe Biden is awful. Here's why

Joe Biden...

- lied about marching in the civil rights movement

- lied about being arrested trying to visit Nelson Mandela

- said "our culture is not imported from some African nation."

- said "poor kids are just as bright as white kids"

- said he "doesn't want his kids to grow up in a racial jungle"

- gave a eulogy at the funeral of segregationist, Strom Thurmond

- said "you ain't black" if you're black and you don't vote for him

- supported the racist war on drugs; he authored the 1994 crime bill which disproportionately targeted black people for mass incarceration

- is corrupt and in bed with Wall Street and billionaires

- has a super PAC that is organized by healthcare lobbyists, weapons makers, finance

- supports cuts to social security

- opposes public healthcare for all, despite it being a less costly option than his proposal, and says he would veto it even if it was passed in the Senate

- supports profiteering pharmaceutical companies

- played a central role in the student debt crisis

- has "no empathy" for the financial struggles of young people

- supported the bankruptcy bill, which made sure that student loans could not qualify for bankruptcy; it decimated bankruptcy protection for millions, all for the benefit of banks

- voted to repeal Glass-Steagall, which helped lead to the 2008 crash

- supports obscene, ecocidal militarism

- enthusiastically backed the Iraq War, which killed 1million+ people

- said "I actually like [psychotic Iraq War architect] Dick Cheney"

- gave a medal to Iraq war criminal, George W Bush

- groveled to Saudi Arabia, and was part of an administration that sold them $115billion of weapons and helped them wage a genocidal war on Yemen

- has consistently supported NATO expansion, needlessly provoking Russia and helping push us towards today's new Cold War

- supported neo-Nazis in Ukraine

- supports far-right coups in Latin America

- called persecuted journalist and publisher of war crimes, Julian Assange, a 'high tech terrorist'

- uses foreign 'aid' as a tool of imperialism

- thinks Kim Jong Un is the leader of South Korea

- is pro-fracking

- has been given a D- for his climate change record from Greenpeace (they give him a B+ for his future plans, but based on his record, who would trust him?)

- supports unethical free trade agreements like NAFTA, that devastated US manufacturing, (and the environment), resulting in job losses, lower wages etc. And he called NAFTA a 'success', even after it had done all of that

- voted to let states overturn Roe v. Wade

- inappropriately touches women and children, and has been accused of sexual assault/rape.

- said "I don’t think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body."

- said "I do not view abortion as a choice and a right."

- said "I'm conservative on most issues"

- supported a ban on HIV+ immigrants

- supported limits on welfare for migrants and proposed deploying troops against them

- helped deport 2.5 million people

- railed against ‘Illegals,’ and called for 700-mile border fence

- pushed Ronald Reagan to ramp up incarceration

- put kids in cages

- supports the Patriot Act and thinks it hasn't gone far enough

- pressured other countries not to give asylum to whistleblower, Ed Snowden

- is one of the most Israel-friendly politicians of his generation, because he sees it as an important base to keep US battleships, (i.e. it is an important base from which to maintain US domination of resources in the region). Said "Were there not an Israel, the US would have to invent an Israel to protect our interests in the region."

- supported 1996 anti-gay marriage law

- agreed with Sarah Palin in 2007, in opposing gay marriage

- is a dreadful public speaker and is showing signs of cognitive decline.

- plagiarizers speeches

- lied about his academic credentials

- was VP during Obama's awful presidency

- keeps forgetting Obama's name

- has a long history of appeasing the right

- welcomes support from racist billionaires who think Muslims should be spied on

- has a corrupt family

- reacts aggressively to criticism

- helped election of a Republican in a midwest battleground

- said it was safe for people to go and vote for him, during the Covid pandemic

- called for raves to be banned and their promoters to be arrested 

Watch this.


Since becoming the nominee, he has:

- hired Larry Summers

- said he supports the unelected US puppet, Juan Guaidó, in Venezuela

- tweeted imperialist nonsense at Cuba, and said that he supports the continuation of sanctions

- denounced BDS, saying it "lets Palestinians off the hook for their choices". No Palestinian ever chose to live under military occupation. This is anti-Palestinian racism.

- declined to call for an unqualified lifting of Iran sanctions

- said he will continue US policy in Syria, which involved sending $billions of weapons to al Qaeda-aligned groups

- been more of a supporter of the neo-fascist takeover of Venezuela than Trump

- picked a bunch oh hawks for his foreign policy team

- compared Trump to socialist leaders?!?!

- said Trump is the first racist president(?!)

- shown more signs of mental decline

- ordered removal of Israel occupation reference from election campaign

- dropped calls for an end to fossil fuel subsidies and tax breaks