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I didn't suggest online petitions and, no, I don't suggest that we start trusting the capitalist state. I do trust science. I trust doctors on epidemics . . . the same way I trust environmentalists on the climate. Why would we not? Most of us know enough to understand whether these things make sense or not. And here's the thing about conspiracies. When there actually are conspiracies (and sometimes when there aren't), somebody starts blowing the whistle on it. No group of serious scientists say that global warming is anything other than real. It's no less real when its discussed on the bourgeois media or by members of the bourgeois state. Too, no group of serious medical professionals are saying that these precautions against the pandemic are excessive. Considering that these precautions are also playing merry hell with the economy, it's a fair bet that the capitalists aren't playing with some new means to annoy us. The point is that here--or in Italy or in Spain--these restrictions are being imposed as temporary measures. Are there dangers? There are always dangers when you deal with these people, so we should stay cautious and watch their every move. I suspect, for example, that there's going to be a serious effort to normalize some of what they've slipped into education--particularly the shift to online routines. When this is behind us, there will be major efforts to impose these more generally, and this will have to be fought. But how and where we can best fight them should depend on where we can best mobilize and deploy our forces. Cheers, Mark L. _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
