Peter Hitchens on how much of the West became totalitarian using Covid

Peter Hitchens details the history of when and how governments went from being representative to tyrannical from the first world war, to 2020.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

2 Replies to “Peter Hitchens on how much of the West became totalitarian using Covid”

  1. The use of medicine as tyranny was invented back in the old Soviet Union during the Khrushchev era following the death of Josef Stalin in 1953.

    The new regime wanted to present a less-threatening and more paternalist image of itself to the outside world while still remaining firmly in control of the Russian population and the subjugated peoples of the Warsaw Pact nations. Stalin’s use of naked force and terror had gone too-far, even for the communists themselves. Yet, how was the iron grip of the state to be maintained if not through such measures?

    Enter Soviet scientists and physicians, who came to the rescue in the form of new “diagnoses” of illnesses whose signs and symptoms looked disturbingly like ordinary dissent and rebelliousness. In particular, psychiatry was harnessed to achieve the goal of repressing dissent and handling “troublemakers” – and the gambit proved hugely successful, as far as the regime was concerned.

    By harnessing the concerned and trustworthy doctor, the state put a smiling face on tyranny. “We’re only taking patient X into the hospital for a while, for his own protection of course, until his illness can clear up and he can rejoin society….we’ll do everything possible for him, of course…” The “hospital” being a maximum-security prison disguised as a psychiatric hospital, with bars on the doors and windows, armed guards, and controlled access.

    Inside, the state could have its way with the “patient,” subjecting him to party “re-education” and reprogramming, or simply locking him up. The real hard cases could be sent to the gulag, maybe to return, maybe not. Inquires by the family would be met with bureaucratic denial of various kinds, and of course “Your (husband, father, brother, etc.) is too ill to receive visitors. Perhaps he will be well-enough soon to see you but not yet…”

    To all outward appearances, the patients were being treated humanely, yet the ugly truth remained hidden behind a false facade of benevolent caring and medical professionalism.