Rant incoming:
During the last year or so amid so many people and groups just completely dropping precautions and going back to "normal" - the most upsetting instances have been watching fellow activists and leftists do this.
I expected the ruling class and government to push us all back to "normal" - but what I didn't expect was so many folks who I watched be the first to initiate precautions at their events and pass out masks, saying they were standing in solidarity with workers and those most at risk (which to be blunt is all of us) for covid complications to just take the Biden administration's word that covid was "over".
These are the same people who helped radicalize me, who challenged me to expand my knowledge - who helped me understand that the ruling class has never had the poor and working classes best interests in mind. Who taught me how none of us are free until we are all free.
I am baffled because they are now seemingly taking the governments word for it and dropping all their precautions - even though we've all discussed over and over how our government exists to maintain a patriarchal, white supremacist capitalist state that benefits the ruling class via oppression and exploitation.
How can they possibly justify their abandonment of their fellow community members?
The ruling class makes their events #DavosSafe , they can afford to miss work while they recover from COVID, they can access the best doctors and the best treatments. The ruling class directly benefits from pretending COVID is over.
It justifies taking away increased food stamps, rental assistance, paid leave for COVID, access to testing, and so many other pandemic safety nets that made organizing among the poor and working class even easier.
Even more members of the poor and working class, being chronically ill and disabled directly benefits the ruling class because it is a barrier to organizing. Obviously, the disabled community has BEEN organizing for decades. But it does make it more difficult to organize if you barely have the energy to get out of bed.
The ruling class is banking on a mass disabling event amid the rise of organization across race, class, gender, and labor.
So, like I said: it is baffling to me to watch fellow activists and leftists playing into the #LetItRip approach with COVID.
Not only are they pushing away folks who would otherwise love to be involved in their work by dropping protections like masks at events/meetings - they're also making their work harder by risking repeat COVID infection. They're also perpetuating abelism by not making their events and meetings accessible while claiming to be dismantling their internalized abelism.
How are we supposed to build in the shell of the old if we aren't even willing to see that the ruling class is up to their same old ablelist, racist, and classist tricks? How are we supposed to fight together for a better world when you won't wear a mask to protect yourself and others?
Anyway , this is my rant about covid and my frustrations around folks abandoning protocols that save lives and make events accessible to everyone.
I am deeply encouraged and excited by so many folks on here talking about this and working with others to help change things - even when my experiences since mask mandates started being dropped have been very isolating. As always, there is much work to do. ♡
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