Foreword

This contribution is intended as a warning. By no means do I want to join in the hysteria and panic that we encounter every day in the media. Nevertheless, I believe that there are some dangerous tendencies which already exist and which could become increasingly serious or arise in the near future.

We should all be aware of these tendencies so that we can keep track of them in the flood of events of the day. This is not about an impending zombie apocalypse, nor about mountains of corpses in the streets or the smell of rotting in large cities; it is about major national and international contexts through which we as humanity are inevitably interconnected in the course of globalisation.

Every process that takes place in any country in the world has at least an indirect influence on all other countries. While we now sit in our glass cages and see only what is shown to us or what we find in the course of our own research, countless things are happening in parallel all over the world, which in turn influence each other.

Nobody can keep a complete overview, it is simply impossible. But some people who have been involved in research of all kinds through their work are more able, in terms of time and technology, to collect, analyse and evaluate information than the average working class citizen is.

My studies have above all taught me research, understanding and communicating content and writing my own content as core competences. In addition to university, my private research and writing has increasingly trained me in these things.

This article is my condensed result so far of the continuous search for answers in the past, the present and the future.

Taking a Standpoint

Not only these days, but actually since I have critically dealt with all kinds of topics, I very often encounter the confusion of „knowledge“ and „opinion“. I myself was and am by no means free of it. Important here is the constant self-reflection. Closely related to this circumstance is the fact that one must have an opinion on everything or at least should have one.

Some conversations I have had in the last months and years have been partly or even completely free of a fixed opinion. So how can one lead a discussion free of an opinion? For some people this is not clear at first sight.

Recent examples are the topics „Human influence on climate change“, „Rightward shift in society“ and now, most recently, „Danger from the corona virus“. It is almost impossible to have an objective discussion on these topics because our human empathy clouds our sober view with emotions.

„But everyone must have an opinion! After all, there is one truth that some people just haven’t grasped yet!“ This is the sound of some eager discussants. But I say no. I exercise my right to be indecisive and unbiased for all arguments and explanations that seem to me to be factual and logical. No matter by whom and no matter how far-fetched they may at first appear from my subjective point of view. An open ear, open eyes and an open heart are the basis of all communication.

In recent years, however, there has been an active campaign against a pluralistic view of opinion among the population. Populist slogans like „Hate is not an opinion!“ are becoming the battle cry of political correctness. Youtube now provides a direct link to Wikipedia for almost every socially relevant topic, giving a fixed frame of thought in which the content presented in the video should be seen.

There are campaigns against so-called „hate speech“ on social platforms, which are partly launched and managed by private foundations, so-called „shadow-banning“ of unwelcome comments by administrators or the commentary sections are preventively blocked by and highlight especially „relevant contributions“ in the commentary section. „Agent provocateurs“ could be used by certain bodies to establish certain rules in chats and forums – we commonly call them „trolls“.

A few months ago, a scandal about public broadcasting in Germany came to light, which surprisingly was only briefly and barely covered by TV and radio: The so-called Framing Study, which was financed by GEZ funds. In this study, the linguistics expert Elisabeth Wehling compiled a kind of manual on how apparently objective information can be conveyed by means of selected language use in a way that subliminally manipulates opinion and emotionalises.

Youtube has also revised its algorithms and prefers videos with content that is „monetizable“. This means that Youtube decides whether advertising for companies will be placed in your video and thus automatically be prioritized higher in the charts/suggestions, because companies pay for certain ranges after all.

Finally, the reference to the current situation: A decisive action will be taken against so-called „false information“ about Corona. It is demanded that active disinformation should be specifically prevented. So anyone who does not share the opinion of the Robert Koch Institute or the John Hopkins University could experience a limitation of their reach and freedom of opinion in the near future. These processes are poison for democracy and a healthy culture of discussion.

In short, while freedom of expression is not directly restricted, the information on which we form our opinions is gradually becoming „opinion templates“, opinions expressed can be stigmatised by individuals‘ decisions to „hate speech“ and the „free Internet“ is experiencing increasing regulation.

My basic principle is that everyone should have the right to express their opinion. Anyone who resorts to platitudinous, blatant and overt insults should be reported, and if they are reported repeatedly and after a fact-check, they should also be sanctioned – just to be clear. However, what is understood by „Hate Speech“ is often a purely subjective assessment.

However, before censoring more and more, it is better to think about functions to make insults fade out for the target persons instead of establishing a ban on opinion. Those who suppress opinion do not fight it, do not fight the idea, but suppress feelings, stir up more hatred in secret and nourish frustration, which then breaks out in other ways, such as physical violence.

We should rather work on a healthy understanding of human beings instead of imposing bans on everything we do not like. History has shown often enough the effects of oppression in all its forms.

Democracy has a break

Whether or not the corona virus is a real pandemic with human-threatening consequences is not an issue here. Rather, I would like to point out the dangers associated with this crisis. Fundamental democratic rights and human freedoms are highly endangered.

Even if we do not speak of a „curfew“ in Germany, citizens must still expect sanctions if they do not comply with the federal government’s order. And where the state does not punish, overzealous citizens take responsibility themselves and rebellious fellow citizens are reprimanded.

In our neighboring countries, tougher action is being taken: in France, 100,000 forces are deployed to monitor compliance with the Corona rules. Citizens are now not allowed to move more than 1 kilometre away from their homes (source: statement of a friend from France).

Borders are tight, fences are erected, nations are sealing themselves off, supplies of aid to certain countries are confiscated as they pass through other countries on their way, as happened recently with supplies from China to Italy – where is the ever-present European spirit?

In an exceptional situation, it quickly becomes clear that the EU is merely a business model of the rich countries to exploit smaller countries, when in the end each state is concerned about its own well-being.

So, while our freedom of movement, assembly and travel is taking a little break, Denmark is taking a step forward. There, a „Corona Emergency Law“ has already been unanimously adopted, which gives state bodies the power to carry out tests, quarantine measures and treatment on citizens without their consent.

Practical example: You live in Denmark. Your child goes to a large school. A teacher at this school is tested positive and the school is closed down completely. Now all pupils are ordered to home quarantine on suspicion, as has happened several times in this country.

If it now emerges that the teacher in question has taught your child, then the likelihood of your child and therefore your whole family being infected is relatively high. Will you voluntarily go to the nearest Corona site and report? If not, then the state can send forces to your protection to urge you to go to this registration office.

If your test is now positive, then an „appropriate“ immediate treatment with the „necessary“ medication can start immediately, even if you feel perfectly healthy. A vaccination, as soon as it is developed, is then certainly not excluded. Don’t worry, you don’t have to sign anywhere, everything is regulated by law and therefore legal.

Money: the engine of the human world

Let us come to another big topic, which could fill whole books again. In short: For the average person, at the end of every news program, the question arises as to who might actually be interested in this stock market news? Every day they are prayed up and down, and you don’t even know who has these stocks.

This means that for most people these numbers, the stock exchange, Wall Street, the DAX, the Dow Jones etc. are just big words, the meaning of which only suits with pressed shirt collars understand. However, these things are the mathematical summaries of all processes of this world that are somehow related to money. And that is unfortunately all that is relevant nowadays.

On the stock market it is not noticeable when you kiss your partner, hug your mother or pay a visit to your father, but when you bring a bouquet of flowers to your partner, go shopping for your mother or drive to your father’s house, for example, this has at least an indirect effect on the economy because consumption has taken place.

Now we have had several major financial crises in recent years. The so-called „banking crisis“ surrounding the Lehman Brothers bank should still be familiar to most people. However, very few people know how close the global economy was to the abyss back then.

Central banks such as the ECB or the FED have two instruments to steer the financial economy: The Fed Funds Rate and the Money Supply. They can raise and lower the key interest rate to make credit more expensive or cheaper. The ECB’s key interest rate has been at 0% since 2016 – which means that the room for manoeuvre has been exhausted. Now it can of course increase the money supply, but then the money is worth less and prices rise. This is called inflation.

A few days ago, the FED also cut its key interest rate massively. At the same time, billions are being pumped into the economy to cover missing loan payments, because medium-sized and small businesses no longer have any income due to the crisis.

So money is being shot in all directions to keep the money cycle somehow alive. Like an organism, the blood pressure must not drop any further, because then the prices of the goods that are still available will shoot up. At this point I would just like to point out the kebab index or the price development of bread in recent years.

There this inflation has been working for a long time. If there is a complete shutdown during the Corona crisis, in the worst case it can lead to stock market closures. If then the securities trading comes to a standstill, many people have a lot of money, but there are only very few things that can be bought. So if there are 10 loaves of bread at the baker’s and 20 customers each have 100 euros with them, then the baker will not only take 3 euros for the kilo. Suddenly a can of beans is worth more than a euro note.

We all know the images of the hyperinflation of 1929: children playing with money, money notes with astronomical numbers on them, massive unemployment and hunger.

The economic and financial expert Dirk Müller sees these dangers as very real.

The reorganization of world politics

One last point should be mentioned here. Since the Second World War we have had the UN Charter of Human Rights, but in the last 70 years there has been and still is more war in the world than ever before. Since September 11, 2001, the USA has been in a modern crusade against „Islamic terror“.

While the current empire is pursuing a military-offensive strategy of deterrence and interference, the next contender for this post has tended to focus on expanding the domestic market and production: China. A large part of the products that determine all our lives are produced there.

In recent years, however, China has become increasingly dominant. The centralist state has started to focus more on armaments. In general, international armament has recently experienced a boom. NATO demands from its member states that they spend 2% of their GDP, as two percent of 3,400,000,000 trillion Euro (= about 68,000,000 Euro) to be ready for the danger in the East.

So far the declared enemy has been Russia, but China is beginning to overtake Russia as enemy number 1. Now we are experiencing a global crisis, which can almost be regarded as over in China as the epicenter. So if the Chinese economy manages to get back on its feet while the Western economy, i.e. the economies of Europe and America, are still on the ground, then the resulting Chinese lead will soon be impossible for the Western powers to catch up with.

Admittedly, the global supremacy of the USA has caused much unrest around the globe. However, it is doubtful whether the Chinese model of a world order is the more pleasant option. While we are currently still living the American dream, which revels in hedonistic abundance, the Chinese surveillance state with social points and an iron work ethic could soon take over.

It should be noted that I reject imperial power structures of any kind. Whether the USA covers the earth with democratic wars or China brings us a communist capitalism, I find both to be relatively equally shitty.

Summary

I know that the trends, developments and fears listed above are anything but beautiful. Moreover, they are only an excerpt of the things that are going on in the world. Moreover, I have clapped this article in two days and tried to keep it as short as possible. There are a few things that have not found their way into this article for reasons of time and morality. That’s why I have presented things here in a very shortened and simplified way.

People who are more familiar with the individual topics may know what I am talking about. For those who find some of it new: Go out and search for the truth yourself. I can only present my view of things here, which are presented here in a very shortened form.

The good thing is that these developments are dependent on us, that is, on the population. States, institutions, the market and politics need the people of the earth to implement these things. People must play a part in all this, because the global elites represent only a few thousand people.

For this reason, on all fronts, there is division, incitement, playing off, lying and cheating in order to make people blind and deaf to the above developments and to silence the critical voices. It is the mass of people who do not have the longer lever, but who can pull their lever with much more power. Only the people must know about this lever, this possibility.

In order to prevent this, white against black, poor against rich, Christians and Jews, against Muslims and Hindus, man against woman, old against young and right against left are stirred up. While the masses fight for opinions, the global developments outlined above continue unchecked.

This crisis is the greatest challenge but at the same time the greatest opportunity in human history.

And so it all really began with a virus in a fish market?

It did not start with that.

But it could bring us the end of the world as we know it.

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by Marco Lo Voi

This the english translation of the article:

„Ängste, Befürchtungen, Gefahren – Wie die Corona-Pandemie die Welt verändert“

Translated with:
www.deepl.com/translator