Wow! I cannot say enough how positively impressed I was with the analysis and writing (and the avoidance of Marxist jargon — which I was expecting). This article needs broad distribution.

Thank you, Comrade Dremel!

As a reply to Chuck, one could also ask why the de facto rulers are NOT trying to prevent nuclear war, or multiple environmental disasters. I don’t have an answer for this, really, but I have to guess that they simply can NOT contemplate these matters as pertaining to themselves — their psyches seem to be mostly blinding them to continue their old patterns, even though EVERYONE will be effected (or ‘infected’, in this case). Might anyone else have some notion about this seeming conundrum?

I think the answer is cleaning indoor air to the max in every indoor space. However, in order to do this effectively, we must acknowledge that the pandemic is ongoing and cannot be ignored. We must also adapt our approach to align with the reality of 2023, rather than clinging to 2019.

If so many people have died or been disabled by Long Covid, how come I don’t know anyone?

It’s not like I’m some rich guy living in my ivory tower. I’m just a normal dude with a normal job living a normal life. I’ve known tons of people who have had covid (including me) but no one died of it and no one is disabled from it.

Am I the luckiest man on Earth or is Long covid being exaggerated?

Sorry to hear about your situation, Lesley, especially the personal isolation part. It seems like us oldies are the main people who are taking precautions. (I was only one year out from what could have been retirement age before my involuntary exit from the workplace.) Those of us with the fewest years to live are doing the most to preserve them. The mass of people who have the most life-years to lose if they are hobbled by Long Covid — they’re the ones who hug blithe ignorance with both hands. Stay strong and realise you’re right.

I too was disappointed by China’s cessation of Covid Zero policies. I thought that the ostensibly communist ruling party there might have enough of a sense of “let’s keep the masses healthy” to stick to it. Aided by the population’s cultural dynamic of fearing contagion. They’ve had so many rampaging diseases in packed cities over the centuries that it seems to be one of their folkways. I was working at a hospital in San Francisco during SARS I, and the Chinese patients/visitors were great about masking up, even when there were no rules in place. In Melbourne, it’s mainly us grey-hairs and Asians who continue to mask.

Sadly, the PRC government seems to have given in to the “let’s take care of the economy’s health in the short term and not worry about the peoples’ health in the long run.” Like Comrade Dremel, I am not a conspiracy theorist. But the zeitgeist of capitalism favours eugenics in the case of Covid. It’s disproportionately killing people in their 70s and 80s, but they are “useless eaters” to the power structure, which is content to let them cark it. Ditto for people with cancer, diabetes and other long-term health problems, who are more likely to be knocked off by a bout with bat flu. To a capitalist, though, that’s a net gain. And society, not just in Oz and the U.S., but EVERYWHERE, doesn’t make a peep. They’d squeal if TPTB tried to force more protection on them, but they sing and dance for slow death. Hitler, with his original “Aktion T4” eugenics program to kill the mentally deficient, could only have dreamt of having a society that would volunteer to die.

As an Aussie cancer survivor who went into personal total isolation in March 2020, and who has pretty much maintained it, I agree with you

I still practice all the recommended preventative measures, including being properly masked whenever I am away from my own home .
Occasionally I participate in outdoor open air events, but they are few and far between

My life revolves around my cats, my garden, and being visited by my children who respect my isolation. Fortunately I am retired and can live on my OAP. With social media I am well connected to a large group of people, so my intellectual stimulation is well catered.

I cannot see any short term change to my lifestyle and have started learning to play the piano.

I fear for the future of my children and grandchildren because there is no collective will to protect them or their fellow citizens of later generations than mine.

In 2016, my vibrant 94yo Mum died from SARS, and I am still sad about that, since she was almost totally recovered from pneumonia. I will do whatever I can to avoid a similar fate. Because no one else is doing it for me

This article is both educational and frightening because the abandonment of Zero COVID by China means there is less than a snowflake’s chance of surviving in hell that our capitalist society will do what is necessary to avoid future excess deaths or long COVID rendering a large part of the population disabled

Great overview!

Although there is no formal conspiracy needed,, what about the role of Evangelical nationalists and the dark money funding a lot of the pandemic response? These people know what’s good for them, their interests converge, and some will be active in disseminating propaganda and disinfo. Is there no dark money involved in generating a pandemic response that’s good for capitalism?

Also; what about the increased threat of fascism the politics of the pandemic presents? There’s an opportunity for political upheaval as govt’s are destabilized & war is waged on immigrants, Muslims, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, & Black & Brown people in the name of capitalism. Seems MAGA Trumplicans and Evangelicals have found their opportunity in the pandemic

Besides the obvious already addressed in this article, here’s a thought … https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-01/brisbane-school-no-covid-omicron-outbreaks-term-1/100956850
P.S. Excellent article … with references!