They call it Freedom Convoy 2022. ---- They claim it's all about freedom. ---- A
mishmash of groups who are fighting for contradictory "freedoms" have been campedin and around the New Zealand Parliament in Wellington since February 6th. ----They range from Maori nationalists to New Age conspiracy theorists, whitesupremacists to religious fundamentalists, and other fringe groups including theextreme right sovereign citizen movement. Their flags flutter everywhere. Theirbanners, which peddle pseudo-science and conspiracy ‘theories', litter thegrounds of Parliament and decorate many of the vehicles that are blocking keyroads around it. Inflammatory rhetoric, including calls to kill leadingpoliticians and journalists, is being broadcast online and repeated in bannersand posters. Their vitriol is clear for anyone who is walking past Parliament.Yet, because there is a variety of motivations for involvement, some are notaligned with dodgy groups and many of the protesters are counter-culture andanti-Establishment types who are upset about vaccination mandates, someAnarchists and others on the Left have decided to support the protesters.Those Lefties are misguided.Just because some protesters are dancing to Bob Marley and smoking joints doesn'tmake their involvement defensible. It doesn't mean we give the whole thing ourendorsement. It doesn't make the conspiracies any more acceptable. Theanti-Semitic claptrap about the Rothschilds bankrolling the mainstream media,Bill Gates and Jacinda Ardern being part of a plot to use the Covid-19vaccination programme to microchip the world's population and that the pandemicwas planned by "the deep state" or similar bogeyman lurking in the background.Let's not forget we are in the midst of a pandemic that has killed over 5.877million people worldwide. It has crippled health systems around the world asthey've been overwhelmed with patients. Normally, I would be the first to protestagainst the imposition of any laws that curtail our freedoms to move about and togather with others, including comrades, family and friends. However, this is oneexceptional time when we probably need to accept the necessity of suchrestrictions, with caveats. As long as the restrictions are proven by relevantlyqualified scientific experts to be essential and are restricted to as short atime as necessary, so that the Covid-19 virus can be combated and its spreadcurtailed as much as is practical.This does not mean we should simply accept whatever the powers-that-be aresaying. Our point of view should be rooted in the implication of the science, notinfluenced by the additional agenda of the state. We must do everything in ourpower to make sure that they do not use the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse tobroadly crack down on civil liberties and human rights, as has happened incountries like Brazil, China and Hungary. On this point the anti-vaccinationprotesters do have a valid point. There should be some indication as to when themandates could be lifted that can be measured, such as the number of cases comingdown to less than ten a day for a month. We must retain our critical independence.There is also the thorny question of how to address the many tangata whenua whohave joined the ranks of the protesters. Should we be supporting them? On thisoccasion the answer is a blunt no.Local iwi have condemned the protests and the use of Maori sovereignty flags bythe protesters. The key reason is because of the number of Maori who have died inpast pandemics because they weren't vaccinated and because Maori soldiers whofought overseas in the Second World War were vaccinated. To oppose vaccinationsis seen as dishonouring those ancestors. (Wellington's Tangata Whenua wantprotesters to leave, Stuff, February 17th, 2022.) In response, many of the Maoriprotesters have condemned these leaders - and Maori who oppose them - astraitors, especially on Twitter.When it comes to addressing how to deal with Covid-19 we must let the science andfacts do the talking. Those facts include:1. The Pfizer vaccine, along with other Covid-19 vaccines, were developed fromexisting SARS vaccines because Covid-19 is a variant of the SARS virus. (It'sofficially called the severe respiratory syndrome coronations 2 or SARS-CoV-2.)It's not an experimental medicine or vaccination in which we're all unwillingguinea pigs.2. As of January 31st, 2022, a total of 9,461,496 vaccinations were administeredin New Zealand. 49,412 resulted in non-serious side effects and 2,460 resulted inserious side effects. That's 0.54% of doses that resulted in any side effects.(Source: Medsafe.)3. Comparing New Zealand's death rates on a per capita basis our Covid-19 currentdeath rate is the lowest in the OECD and in actual numbers. This is due almostentirely to the lockdowns and severe restrictions on entering and leaving thiscountry.4. There are no 100% guarantees that a person won't get Covid-19 if they arefully vaccinated. I personally have a friend who got Covid-19 despite beingdouble vaccinated. However, this does not mean people shouldn't get vaccinatedbecause it does protect over 95% of those who get the Pfizer vaccination fromgetting Covid-19. (Source: Comparing the Covid-19 vaccines: How are theydifferent? Kathy Katella, Yale University, January 31st, 2022.)5. Homeopathy, alternative or traditional "medicines" and various super foodswill not prevent anyone from getting Covid-19. Just because something isn'tmanufactured by Big Pharma it doesn't make it safe.Looking at the class composition of the protest, there is no doubt a range ofpeople involved. Regardless of who is involved, those who are unemployed havelost their jobs because they have refused to take a vaccine that is free, widelyavailable, has been around a while, has caused limited severe reactions, has beenthoroughly tested and which will keep them out of hospital. It's not mandatory toget the vaccination. However, as with all things, not getting vaccinated carriesconsequences.It's also not just about them. They often talk about herd immunity to validatetheir arguments. Herd immunity is not about protecting selfish people who refuseto get vaccinated. In part its about protecting those who can't get vaccinatedfor genuine medical reasons, such as cancer patients with compromised immunesystems and people with diseases like Hashimoto Disease that compromise theirimmune system.You can sometimes do good things for poor reasons. Perhaps some people havebecome vaccinated out of fear of the government. Though I doubt there are manyreal people like that. I think and hope the best among us who have been fullyvaccinated and got our boosters aren't doing it because of governmentinstructions or mandates. We did it because the science stands up and we actuallygive a damn about our communities, our comrades and our families and friends.We're vaccinated to protect others, not just ourselves. Not all the participantsof the protest are anti-vaxx. There are some who are double vaxxed but oppose themandates. To them I'd say a better approach than joining the convoy would be toconvince their unvaccinated friends to get vaccinated and thus take the teeth outof the mandates. This convoy protest highlights a clash between ideologies thatare solipsistic and selfish and those with a sense of fundamental social,collective responsibility.And that is the problem with the protests outside Parliament.When Anarchists march to Parliament it is because we are advocating for a greatercause than ourselves. We join a hikoi because we want to see change aimed atimproving (or radically changing) society for the betterment of working people.We march because we oppose wars of neo-colonialism and imperialism. We marchbecause we are appalled by various "isms", such as racism and sexism, that haveblighted the world.What we don't engage in a hikoi for, is the "freedom" to do whatever the hell youwant, to peddle conspiracies largely devoid of any proven facts and to ignore andundermine science.Just because some of those protesters are listening to Bob Marley while smokingweed or belong to the working classes it doesn't make them harmless. The factthey're willing to stand side by side with racist and religious bigots peddlingharmful conspiracies, means these people have made poor choices. Tailinguncritically behind such participants is not the answer. The wero this situationthrows down for us is to offer better alternatives rooted in science, logic andtrue transnational solidarity. It is a perspective that should also not justsilently fall in with the government but challenges the state from a principledview where we can on this issue. It is one that simultaneously continues tochallenge the government on other issues such as rising food, fuel and rentprices etc and other harmful aspects of the capitalist system the state props up.The people in the protest are not idiots, they've made bad choices and its partlybecause we haven't done a good enough job of suggesting something better. Ratherthan join the current protest, we should be putting our efforts into that.Anarchists should oppose the protest, oppose the government and build bettersocial and economic alternatives to either.https://awsm.nz/?p=12746_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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