SIMON ELMER - THE ROAD TO FASCISM (PART 2) - CLOSE TO THE ABYSS

Source: https://www.ukcolumn.org/video/simon-elmer-the-road-to-fascism-part-2-close-to-the-abyss Description: In the second half of this discussion of Simon Elmer's book (Part 1 is here), Elmer and David Scott start by examining the Canadian trucker protests and the extraordinary state response that it engendered. That response is summarised by a series of wild insults directed by Justin Trudeau against the ordinary working-class people of Canada who were doing nothing more sinister than standing up for their rights under the Canadian Constitution. When these slanders are listed together (instead of being spread over months), the effect is like a woke version of the Great Cursing issued by Archbishop Gavin Dunbar.

Elmer and Scott discuss the role and position of the political Left in this present more towards a global fascism. Elmer notes that the modern Left, far from resisting the new totalitarianism, or even meekly complying with it, is instead cheerleading for it. Elmer examines why this is so and identifies the totalitarian and authoritarian thread that runs through leftist philosophy and imagination. Even more significantly, however, he sees that the woke ideology that is central to the new fascism has long been infecting the Left. Wokedom has also captured civil institutions and national ideology with a speed not seen since the fascist risings of the 1920s and 1930s.

Forsaking the Left, Simon Elmer has found himself part of a new solidarity, dropping differences with members of the Old Left, old-school conservatives and Christians to oppose the greatest contemporary threat to the liberty of humanity. For, under lockdown, we have, after all, seen the return of the camps: quarantine camps, in this case. In Australia, once a relaxed "Lucky Country" full of optimism, the camps were imposed with vigour. The initiation of camps starts when the state considers that its duty, responsibility and power extends to ensuring the biological health, vitality and wellbeing of every member of the population. Elmer also questions whether 15-minute cities, digital ID and central bank digital currency are simply gateways leading to camps for all and control over every aspect of our lives.

Hannah Arendt said, in response to Adolf Eichmann's claim that obedience is supreme, that "No-one has the right to obey". In other words, judgements regarding morality and immorality must be made by every individual and cannot be simply passed up the chain of command to another. To attempt to do so is itself an immoral act. This is a key lesson that we have had to relearn during lockdown.

Elmer explores the sad position of the Covidian faithful now they have begun to confront the fact that their faith was in a false god, and that their priests (politicians, medical experts and rich philanthropists) have deceived them.

There is a reaction against the new totalitarianism, and in this Simon Elmer sees grounds for hope. The reaction is due to people realising what is being lost. As Joni Mitchell sang, "you don't know what you've lost till it's gone". The pushback is essential—if not for us, then for our children—for, as a society, we are close to the abyss.