Learning all the time, learning through honesty, learning because we care.
If we use a metaphor and suggest that Racism is a Mental, Social, Economic and Political Virus, then Honesty across all History Education Curricula, and in all Universities and Museums, is part of the vaccine and we, we the healthy, evidence based decent people who reach out to ensure that Racism and other similar oppressions are confronted and then excised from our culture, we are the Medics.
Poverty is also key to this, as is kindness. Kindness is political. Poverty is oppression, because it is a structured part of the existing economic system. Poverty also causes profound chronic stress. Kindness as a political dynamic alleviates both.
Abolishing poverty is a crucial political act of kindness, above and beyond all charitable action. Jacinda Ardern, as New Zealand's current Prime Minister articulates what that means in practice.
Abolishing poverty is a crucial political act of kindness, above and beyond all charitable action. Jacinda Ardern, as New Zealand's current Prime Minister articulates what that means in practice.
On June 8th, 2020, the New Zealand Government announces that they had eliminated community transmission of COVID19 within New Zealand.
In this video New Zealand government lays out that they have no new cases of SARSCOV2 infection or COVID19 disease, and that to all intents an purposes they are ready to return to 'normal' life, to restart normal economic and social activity within New Zealand. They will of course remain vigilant.
In this presentation, Jacinda Ardern lays out the time line for New Zealand's action taken, starting from their very first confirmed case of COVID19.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_New_Zealand#Transmission_timeline
The New Zealand Government and the people, together, took action immediately after WHO issued global notifications and it was clear that a global pandemic was under way.
From that point forwards, they paid close attention to what was happening around them, they drew on the experience of the Chinese, the Taiwanese, The South Koreans and others and they moved with clarity to stop any importation of the virus, to limit the community transmission of the virus within New Zealand and to work towards eradicating it from the population.
They have achieved that in 11 weeks.
I have posted previously about the efficacy of this kind of protocol, within a time line of 12 weeks, to achieve the same result, in any population, anywhere.
I have posted my thoughts about the British government's quite different approach.
In essence it boils down to this : The UK Government chose to allow the spread, the community transmission of the infection in order to game the situation, to exploit the emerging vulnerability so that they could re-rig the economy in classic neoLiberal fashion, as outlined in detail in Naomi Klein's 2006 study of this pattern of political, economic and ideological anti-democratic policy enforcement, Shock Doctrine.
The exact opposite of kindness, the exact opposite of the policy chosen and implemented by New Zealand's government.
In choosing this policy direction this they have caused 60,000 excess deaths, most due to COVDI19, and many due to loss of NHS normal service as it was converted to COVID19 status en masse, which was a dreadful policy - it ignored everything that is known and proven practice in managing and controlling an infectious disease that is at community transmission stage.
I wrote about that wilful ignoring the evidence, with focus on the utility of Fever Hospitals as a key element in controlling and stopping community transmission.
The UK Government have lied repeatedly about their actions, when challenged. They claim they are following the Science. That is a blatant lie.
The UK Government have also co-opted every push back by epidemiologists, public health professionals, health care professionals, social care professional,.teachers and many others who have challenged them and demanded changes to policy, based on the science.
Every action the Government has taken has led to continued transmission, rather than suppressing and stopping community transmission.
The ordinary people are the ones who have slowed the transmission - by staying home, by observing physical distancing, by their discipline. By enduring the limitations of a Government declared shut-down that was inadequately resourced. By putting up with the disruption to daily life, to family life, by staying home and by that means alone was the community transmission reduced.
The NHS staff have been forced to work with inadequate support across the country, care workers in residential care settings have been forced to work with inadequate support across the 11,500 care homes and other settings across the country.
So the question raised today, by New Zealand's present status is this - can this country, The United Kingdom, it's Government and it's people, learn from the present, in the present, in order to create a safe and healthy and prosperous future?
What is the answer to this question?
The answer is the UK Government has no intention of learning from New Zealand, or China, or from the WHO. Their policy on Corona Virus is deliberate, and they have no intention of stopping the spread, eradicating the virus within the islands of Britain. They are causing harm to the citizens of the UK in pursuit of ideological political economic profits and power grabbing.
They should be arrested, for misfeasance, misconduct in public office and for manslaughter.
The people have been abandoned by their Government, their press and are divided and in danger.
Statues and the past.
image source : "being colour-blind isn't good enough."
Some people took direct action in Bristol, within the context of Global Anti-Racist Violence movement, Black Lives Matter and the international response to the widely published video of the 8 and a half minute murder of George Floyd by 4 Minneapolis Police Officers.
A gathering of demonstrators toppled a statue of a Bristol based slaver trader, Sir Edward Colston, off it's plinth, and dragged it to the harbour, where his ships had berthed, where the bodies of slaves who had died on his ships, in chains and utter misery were often thrown, more than 300 years ago, and they pushed the statue over the rails, and into the waters, where it sank to beneath the waterline, to huge cheers.
An iconic moment, generated by genuine popular action.
It has since been retrieved. It will be place in a Museum. The people of Bristol have spent many, many years working through the various democratic processes afforded them to have the statue of this notorious slaver removed. Time and time again promises have been made, and time and time again delays and obstruction by local right wing politicians have stymied their best efforts.
Direct action was what remained. The toppling of the statue was filmed, the event has become an educational focal point, and no doubt the press will move on - however hundreds of thousands if not millions of people have restarted their education on slavery and racism history within the UK.
Public Education.
The toppling of this one statue stands in contrast to the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein, orchestrated by the invading American Army, in Baghdad in 2003, and the dreadful slaughter that followed that propaganda moment.
The widespread publication of video from US air gunships shooting a crowd of unarmed civilians in Baghdad stimulated a similar reaction, of horror and revulsion among decent people world wide. Julian Assange is in jail, Chelsea Manning is under constant oppression. Tony Blair and George Bush walk free, and receive vat pensions from the tax payers.
We are learning about our shared past in ways that the Establishment of the UK, the USA and other places have resisted, and are still resisting.
Priti Patel's threat's of 'justice', and Johnson's claim of 'thuggery subverting' the Black Lives Matter demonstrations' are typical of this continued 'refusal to learn', this determined refusal to address long standing and present abuses of Power. They do not want to learn. They know enough already.
Corona Virus and BAME communities within the UK.
And there is the learning that we need with regards to Corona Virus and BAME communities within the UK, where the experience and evidence of the past four dreadful months,as outlined in a recent report on how long standing experience of racism underlies what the data is revealing : there is a proportionally greater lethal impact of the disease COVID19 across BAME communities.
And there are genuine concerns that the UK Government is limiting the discussion of those factors related to structural racism and social and economic inequity, by excluding them from discussion.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the MP for Streatham, said the fact the review overlooked factors arising from structural racism and wrongly focused on comorbidities including obesity and diabetes sent a message that “we don’t matter”.
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, the MP for Slough, who has lost three relatives to coronavirus, said: “It’s all very well saying black lives matter but if you’re not going to be taking any action to make sure that, yes, those lives do matter, then those are just hollow words.
What does the UK Government fear the public might learn that they already know?A friend pointed out that the rulers of the UK, the Establishment, probably know as much as they want to know - which is mostly what ever they need to know to be able to retain their power and status, their established position of occupying an artificial power disparity which they can exploit to garner more wealth to service ever greater power.
They do not want us to learn what a callous, cruel and nasty hierarchy they really are. They certainly do not want that knowledge publicised, discussed in public, in an open and transparent manner.
They are interested in learning better the skills of manipulation, deceit, grooming, psychometric analysis - and they study us very closely indeed in order to be in the best position to undermine any movements that might 'threaten' their ability to hold on to power, as a class.
Learning from history to avoid causing harms in the future is not on their curriculum. They will justify and rationalise the harms they cause, as they have always done, as long as they occupy positions of power in our society, in this culture.
Past and Present, and learning.
Here, with regards to COVID19, and infectious diseases, we have an example of the Establishment appearing to 'refuse to learn' in the present, with regards to China, Taiwan and New Zealand, and how to manage an epidemic, and refusing to learn from the past, with regards to Racism, and institutionalised Racist violence by police and others.
I would suggest that they are not refusing to learn rather that those 'mistakes' are essential tools of their continued oppression, and they have no desire to not have those tools at hand.
Thus we can see that using the phrase 'refusal to learn' in relation to the UK Government and Establishment is a fig leaf, it is a way of avoiding facing the truth - it holds out the hope that the rulers might, if we plead enough, if we vote in the right politicians, if we protest and demonstrate and remain loyal to the ideal of a democratic system, that they might choose to learn the lessons and change their behaviour.
In both cases the 'refusal to learn' leaves an injustice unresolved, and causes great and lasting harm to many, many innocent people.
This refusal to learn is deliberate.
They really do not care for our lives.
Ordinary peoples lives do not matter.
That is what COVID19 has revealed in stark detail in the UK and USA.
New Zealand's Government embarrasses them both.
The British Establishment, and the British Government, Civil Service and the Press are not fit and proper people to be the most powerful actors in this country. They are abusing us all through their established power, which was artificially created, through conquest, though slavery and oppression, and it is a power which is artificially maintained, through political grooming, corruption and bullying.
They must be held to account, before more harm is caused.
But how? That is the most pressing question we face today.
Total non compliance, rent and mortgage strike might be enough to call them to the table.
Who knows?
I don't.
Democratic learning.
How can anyone be expected to exercise Democracy without having any practice?
Why do our schools eschew Democracy as an organisational methodology that students, staff and parents engage in?
Why do we permit the Secretary of Education the powers over all students, in relative terms, of a King?
How can 12 years of habituation to hierarchy and authority prepare our youth for active engagement as democratically active citizens?
What would a democratic school look like?
"Imagine a school where children and teenagers are accorded all the rights and responsibilities of democratic citizenship; where students truly practice, rather than just read about, the principles of free speech, free association, and freedom to choose their own activities; where students vote on the rules that affect them, and serve on juries to try those accused of violating those rules. What better training than this to prepare students for democratic citizenship?"
Take these thoughts home with you, and muse upon the difference this approach might make to our current situation.
Kindest regards
Corneilius
"Do what you love, it is your gift to universe."
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