Perhaps the most astonishing – and alarming – thing about the Wuhan Plague is the way in which populations around the world have meekly submitted to opportunistic wannabe dictators in governments and bureaucracies exploiting the crisis with indecent haste. Quicker than you can say “Reichstag fire”, governments have stripped away hard-won democratic freedoms. Entire populations have been muzzled and locked down. Anyone who has dared protest the abrogation of their civil liberties, not to say their most fundamental human rights, has been denigrated and vilified.
All with barely a whimper of complaint.
Until now.
Unrest and resistance to the pandemic dictatorships is growing around the world. From Israel to Europe, citizens are rising up and saying, “Enough”. Stoked by frustration from months of bureaucratically-imposed isolation and unemployment, tensions are boiling over.
The Netherlands is the latest flashpoint for a population who’ve just had enough of the little dictators.
The Netherlands braced on Tuesday, local time, for a fourth consecutive night of coronavirus anti-lockdown riots, with some shops boarding their windows and sending staff home early for safety.
Dutch police detained more than 180 people on Monday night, when roaming groups set fires, threw rocks and looted stores in several cities.
The Netherlands’ first curfew since World War II was imposed on Saturday despite weeks of falling infections, after the National Institute for Health (RIVM) said a faster-spreading variant first found in England was causing a third of cases.
Of course, governments and media are doing everything they can to keep the hysterical fear ramped up, but it’s increasingly falling on deaf ears.
“We have had riots in the past, but it’s rare to have this for several nights across the entire country,” said National Police spokeswoman Suzanne van de Graaf. “It’s not only in known problem areas, but much more widespread.”
Riot police with shields and batons were called out in more than 10 cities, many of which had issued emergency decrees to provide officers with greater powers to conduct searches[…]
Schools and non-essential shops across the Netherlands have been shut since mid-December. Bars and restaurants were closed two months earlier.
Sydney Morning Herald
Italy, long held up as the pandemic boogey-man, is also calling Basta!
Thousands of restaurants have opened in Italy in defiance of the country’s strict Chinese coronavirus lockdown regulations. The mass civil disobedience campaign — launched under the hashtag #IoApro (#IOpen) — has seen as many as 50,000 restaurants opening despite evening curfew restrictions.
In Bologna and Milan, restaurant patrons erupted into a show of civil disobedience, chasing away police who were attempting to enforce lockdowns. Patrons chanted, Libertà! (Freedom!).
Polish businesses, including ski resorts, are also planning to open in defiance of lockdowns.
“We will end this madness… which wants to destroy Poland and Polishness, destroy the middle class, small and medium-sized enterprises and kill several hundred people a day,” said Sebastian Pito?, the ad hoc leader of the Górlaskie Veto — Highlanders’ Veto — movement, which claims to represent around 200 businesses.
Breitbart
While no one in their right mind would deny the seriousness of the pandemic, many are deciding that they are not prepared to trade their freedom for a little safety. It’s been terrifying to witness how easily nations have slid into elected dictatorships.
So it’s heartening to see at least some of the people begin to fight back. What remains to be seen is how grimly governments and bureaucrats cling to their new-found absolute power. Authoritarians don’t exactly have a track record of surrendering power willingly.
Things may be about to get very ugly – and if New Zealand is hammered back into lockdown again, even Kiwi tempers might boil over.
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