The response of Donald Trump’s venal administration to Covid-19 has mirrored and has sometimes been even worse then the delusional and arrogant non-response of the UK.
This was to be expected, after all Donald Trump’s America serves as both role model and aspiration for this Conservative government.
Just as in the UK, an incoherent patchwork of half measures – many taken by private organisations in a vacuum of state action and direction – has given corporate rolling news teams lots of things to stupidly blather about in transatlantic studios. Since corporate media types need medical bypasses of conscience, integrity, self-respect and intelligence in order to work for Sky News, Fox News or the BBC – they don’t really understand anything outside of the usual propaganda round.
With no mental tools with which to interpret fast moving events and baffled by real world developments that need exactly the kind of critical thinking that corporate churnalism is at pains to avoid…
…flailing news teams reverted to type and tried to dress up the vacuity of right wing government action as strategy. As is the habit of the corporate media, when faced with a contradiction to its narratives, it makes up language and events all of its own. It creates phrases and ‘news’ which misdirect people from the truth, dumbs down discussion and gaslights consumers into believing utter nonsense.
One of my favourite examples was doing the rounds of cable news shows in the USA yesterday. Left with nothing much to report on domestically in terms of policy developments from The White House and with Covid-19 infections rising steadily, Fox News et al seized on reports that New York City and Los Angeles were going to close pubs, cinemas and theaters and ran thundering reports about a VIRTUAL LOCKDOWN of both cities.
Cue flustered TV fantasy Kens and anchor dolly girls cutting to somebody standing with a microphone in (a still rather busy looking) Times Square to deploy the hastily coined approved buzz term.
“This is a VIRTUAL LOCKDOWN isn’t it!?” asked TV zombie #1 to TV zombie #2, “oh erm absolutely!” said TV zombie #2 obligingly, though they clearly had no more idea than the rest of us what such a baffling phrase even means.
Camera men tried desperately to select shots of uncrowded pavements to facilitate the appearance of a VIRTUAL LOCKDOWN taking place and tv zombie #2 wisely decided not to interview the streams of deeply unworried looking people as they hurried back to work, went to pick up the kids from school, went shopping and did all of the other things that were oddly unaffected by the VIRTUAL LOCKDOWN.
The TV producer types swiftly realised (as is often the case) that it was wiser not to let reality intrude into their lunatic narratives by involving non-TV people. Anchor dolly girls directed silly questions about the VIRTUAL LOCKDOWN towards their studio fantasy Kens instead. “This is going to profoundly affect people’s lives isn’t it?” says anchor dolly – “oh, yes” agreed fantasy Ken quickly. “These vibrant cities are in VIRTUAL LOCKDOWN and it’s hard to see how they will ever recover”
What is a ‘lock down’ anyway? Are people chained to their beds and forced to watch cable news feeds all day ? Are the army on the streets of US cities chaining people to lampposts and setting fire to cars? If we assume (for the sake of argument – since absolutely nobody really knows what a ‘lock down’ even is) that this phrase means a drastic curtailment of business, retail and leisure activities and a draconian reduction in the licence of people to ramble about where they please…
…then it’s crystal clear that no US city is in any kind of a ‘lock down’. Schools remain open, shops remain open, offices remain crammed with workers and commuters crush into the metro at peak times as usual. Trains and planes bustle back and forth as normal and parents take their kids to the playground for a bit of fresh air. Yes Times Square is very quiet today – but then it is a theatre district. NYC has 19.45 million people in it and the overwhelming majority of workplaces and shops are open for business as usual.
Where does this ‘virtual lock down’ exist? The reason the word ‘virtual’ is put in front of ‘lock down’is to distinguish it from an actual lock down – a claim even the corporate media couldn’t foist on us while we are still doing the school run and commuting to work! But the virtual component is perfectly accurate in one regard, as this faux ‘lock down’ lives only in the minds of TV executives and corporate media hacks: part of the virtual reality of approved orthodoxy that they live in and peddle every day.
To be clear – you either have a lock down or you don’t. China, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong had lock downs. Italy has a lock down. What the US and UK chose is a ‘virtual lock down’. They decided to put money first and a have PR gimmick instead of an actual lock down. Real lock downs protect people but damage GDP and investment portfolios. 10% mortality rate? Business leaders were cool with that – especially as it was due to affect elderly and other people in need of bothersome long term health care.
The purpose of a virtual lock down is not to protect public health – but to protect right wing officials, the people who go on to protect the interests of capital and share owners above all else.
Once again the US and UK establishments have invented a twisted language to conceal their incompetence and their sins – they don’t give a fuck about you, but they would rather you didn’t know that.
If we let the corporate media and government spin doctors warp our language – then they can get away with murder. Don’t let them get away with it either now or in the future. Use simple honest language to discuss Covid-19 and don’t accept anything the usual suspects tell you at face value.
Since 2013 I have worked between 4-6 hours a day on this Ad-Free site: trying to give a voice to those without the power or agency to speak out for themselves and uncovering truths that well paid journalists in the corporate media dare not utter.
I am a home schooling parent on a low income – paying for the domain, web hosting and security entirely out of my own pocket.
If you found this article useful and could spare us a few shillings to help keep our lights on, it would be very much appreciated.
Thank you in solidarity with all our readers. John Lynch, Editor.
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