Americans are standing up to tyranny. (Patreon)
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America is a terrible society overall, in my view. But one thing they do still have, which I greatly admire, is the revolutionary spirit. They still have the heart to oppose tyranny. They've shown this over the past few weeks far more so than any other western country.
The USA is a young nation, and was founded on genocide and slavery, yes, but also (in part) by people who were fleeing tyranny in Europe. They vowed never to let tyranny reign over them ever again. This is one of the main reasons they have the second amendment (the right to bear arms). Americans were raised with this concept for the past 200+ years.
Don't get me wrong, plenty of Americans- especially the "liberals" -have become gutless conformists, but there's still a sizeable minority who will not stand for tyranny of any kind. The tyranny has been creeping in for decades of course, but relatively slowly, and in recent times under the guise of "the war on terror" which distracted many Americans away from who the real enemy actually was (and still is). But the drastic nature of the lockdown measures have woken many of them out of their slumber. The penny has finally dropped and they realise their beloved freedom is under attack.
This is why lockdown in America has been far shorter than in many other western nations- because there has been mass demonstrations (many of them armed), and the poverty in many parts of the country is such that it could easily descend into anarchy very quickly.
Predictably, the powers that be have sought to try and undermine the resistance by dividing people on racial and political lines, e.g- those who oppose lockdown are "right wing racists" and those who support it are "left wing liberals". The claim that the virus disproportionately kills black people is being framed in such a way that if you oppose the lockdown you essentially are supporting the death of black people. Many black people are falling for this classic "dive and conquer" ruse. The sad irony is, as the economy nose dives into the abyss- directly because of the lock down -it's black communities which will be hit the hardest. Unemployment, crime, and ill health will skyrocket. It's like turkey's voting for Christmas.
Yes the social and political right in modern day America is populated by a large number of racists (understandably alarming to any black person), but you shouldn't make the mistake of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I'm certainly not suggesting people should align themselves to the right, but rather not to dismiss an idea, fact, or opinion out of hand, just because it comes from someone on the right. Because the right wing media in America (even mainstream outlets like Fox) have been far more willing to allow open debate about COVID-19 and the lockdown than the left wing media, who have been totally opposed to all debate, and are demonising anyone who wants to engage in one. They want you to ignore any science which contradicts the mainstream narrative, and blindly conform. They are trying to trigger people's emotions, not their intellect. They are totally opposed to freedom of speech (in general actually, not just on this issue).
But as divided as America is, as a nation they still have much more fight in them then any other western country. Centuries of domestic tyranny have worn down and finally defeated the spirit of most western Europeans. In fact it's worse than that, centuries of royal rule have lead to what amounts to a collective Stockholm syndrome- whereby most of the public now love their oppressors, either consciously or subconsciously. The royals may no longer hold power (ostensibly), but the effect is still there. The masses crave tyranny and are actually terrified of liberty (in its true sense). But as Thomas Jefferson once said "I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery". The level of freedom that most people like us (non conformists) are looking for isn't actually all that dangerous, but the masses are so cowardly and hysterical at this point, that nothing short of martial law will make them feel safe.