The Global Movement Against Covid Tyranny

Last weekend, global protests were held against vaccine passports, lockdowns, and other authoritarian Covid-related policies. Organised by anti-lockdown group World Wide Demonstration, such protests have been happening regularly in many cities for months. However, this time around, the marches were different; the crowds enlarged and emboldened by the recent wave of new curbs and restrictions around the world.

The writing on the wall seems to be that the ‘new normal’ will include the ever-present threat of seasonal lockdowns hanging over the population as well as open and often very severe political discrimination against the unvaccinated. This year, for the first time since the emergence of Covid, majorities in Western countries are vaccinated in the lead up to winter, and governments pushing for a repeated round of lockdowns are having a hard time convincing the public of their legitimacy. Everyone still remembers the excuse that was used as a justification for the lockdowns last autumn that said ‘we need to do this until there is a vaccine.’ Now, such rhetoric can obviously no longer be used. 

Some people have started desperately looking for someone or something to blame the apparent return of curbs and lockdowns on and, as we have seen, this usually crystallises into hate and hostility against the unvaccinated. Indeed, there are very few groups against whom such a level of widespread vitriol would be considered socially acceptable. However, this anger is fundamentally misdirected. I believe that the vast majority of Covid restrictions are a political phenomenon, not a medical one. Perhaps counter-intuitively, what sometimes happens in politics can be surprisingly unrelated to anything in the real world; if some politicians are pushing for lockdowns, that does not mean they have to have good social, medical, or scientific reasons to do so.

It seems that over the past months, an increasing number of people have come to recognise this fundamental disconnect — that ‘Covid’ restrictions sometimes have nothing to do with Covid, per se. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why the global protest movement against this kind of modern tyranny is growing. Indeed, not only has World Wide Demonstration been organising protest marches in more and more cities — the crowds have also been getting ever larger.

Until last week, and despite persistent demonstrations, media coverage of anti-lockdown protests has been very sparse; almost eerily so. Over the recent months, there would usually be the odd news report here and there, but virtually no major stories or headlines (except for the coverage provided by the so-called ‘alternative media’, of course). I would venture to guess that corporate journalists and reporters are very much aware of their agenda-setting powers and that they are deciding not to give these protests the platform and exposure they think they do not deserve. In the eyes of many of them, it is only because of these protesters — these holdouts — that we are still in this Covid/lockdown mess. If they just ‘got over themselves’ and ‘got on board’, everything would be over soon and life would be back to normal. Therefore, the best course of action is to isolate them from one another (or at least create that perception). If they feel like they cannot organise, they will more easily submit.

Podcaster Clint Russell puts it this way:

Last week, however, many of the protests (and the combined worldwide crowds) were so large that some media coverage could not be avoided anymore, especially since some of the protests became violent and destructive. Still, though, these reports are often hidden away or obscured by ambiguous headlines (a notable exception being a front-page story by The Telegraph). So, let us give these protests the coverage they deserve.

Australia, sadly plagued by some of the most tyrannical Covid policies, is now seeing perhaps the largest anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine-passport protests since the beginning of the pandemic. There are even claims that the crowds were among the largest in Australian history, with massive demonstrations being held in major cities including Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Cairns.

In North America, a major demonstration took place in New York, a city that has become infamous for the damage caused to it by harsh and long-lasting Covid restrictions. Likewise, Toronto and Vancouver have seen huge crowds marching for freedom.

Despite its Covid restrictions being relatively mild, the UK has also been seeing large protests, with demonstrators over the weekend taking to the streets in cities including London, Manchester, Glasgow, and Belfast.

However, the ‘epicentre’ of the protests was across Europe, where hundreds of thousands marched to voice their anger and disagreement at the tightening and re-imposition of partial or even full lockdowns. In cities large and small, the whole of Europe protested.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of cities in which major demonstrations were held. You are invited to explore these links and watch all the videos.

Additionally, there were also smaller protests that took place in Europe and across the world, including in dozens of cities in Italy, many cities in France, in Breda, Aarau, Stockholm, Taipei, Cape Town, Kyoto, Hamamatsu, Nelson, Panama City, Fortaleza, Crown Point, Kuwait City, Mumbai, London (Canada), and Seoul.

To the best of my knowledge, the aforementioned protests were by and large peaceful and orderly. There were exceptions to this rule, though, with some demonstrations ending in violence and turning into outright riots. Those are the events that were dramatic enough to warrant corporate media coverage, and most European and US media will have an article dedicated to these protests. In contrast, the massive crowds in Australia, for example, will be glossed over.

The sites of the most disorder were the Netherlands and Belgium. In Rotterdam, police battled the protesters, fires were started, and police cars were destroyed. Reportedly the police “fired” at protesters (presumably with rubber bullets), water cannons were used against the crowds, and dozens of people have since been arrested. In The Hague, the situation was similar, albeit arguably on a somewhat smaller scale, while clashes with the police took place and fires in the streets were also set up in Brussels. The disorder continued in some Dutch cities on Sunday night, with more clashes taking place and arrests being made.

Another dramatic situation has been developing in the French overseas territory of Guadeloupe over the past week. Large-scale destruction has taken place in some of the towns on the islands as a general strike was called in protest of vaccine passports, among other policies. In response, special forces have been dispatched from mainland France, putting Guadeloupe “under siege.” Meanwhile, over in Paris, police in riot gear have also been sometimes clashing with protesters.

Austria is somewhat of a special case at the present. There, a lockdown for the unvaccinated, put in place only last week, was closely followed by the declaration of a full lockdown on the whole population just days later. Perhaps not surprisingly, Austrians have been on the streets ever since, with some reports claiming that demonstrations in Vienna were, again, among the largest the city has ever seen. There, some tension and violence could also be seen on Saturday night. The Austrians have also been protesting against the incoming lockdown in the cities of Linz and Innsbruck. After the country appeared at the forefront of instituting new harsh treatment of the unvaccinated and a full lockdown later, protests against the Austrian government’s actions came from abroad as well. At the sites of Austrian embassies in London and Paris, protesters gathered over the weekend to chant “Shame on you!”.

This is the story of last weekend. It is a story that is being covered by the corporate press only partially, and usually in the most uncharitable light possible. Notably, the way in which the violence and disorder that did happen is written about is in stark contrast with, for example, the infamous “fiery but mostly peaceful” reports from the US riots of summer last year. Unlike there, it is clear that when it comes to the anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine-passport demonstrations, the press is absolutely not on the protesters’ side.

There is a long and complicated debate to be had about what the best long-term way to prevent, resist, or avoid sliding into totalitarianism is. What is happening now, however, is the short-term — the emergency. And, in that kind of situation, I am not sure if there is a better way to combat the totalitarian threat than mass protests. All governments ultimately stand and fall with public opinion or at least acquiescence, and showing in a visible way that a large part of the population is not prepared to give that tacit consent has at least a little chance of giving the decision-makers pause. It is not much, but it might be the best shot we have against the pro-lockdown elite. Godspeed to the protesters; and I sincerely hope they will be at least somewhat successful in turning the Covid trends around.

Shoutout to the stellar protest coverage on Twitter by Aaron Ginn and Banana Media.