Read on Twitter
Covid is a new chapter in the rise of neo-illiberalism: it allows the illiberalizing right to disregard public health under the guise of individual freedom and liberty, and shift the blame for illiberal policies - now vital to protect human life instead of capital - elsewhere.
Suddenly, the illiberal far right seems to protect rights, democracy and rule of law, as the virus is downplayed, or framed as a hoax. Spurred on by capital desperate to 'get back to normal', (social) media turn them into 'freedom fighters', 'justified' by a faux casus belli.
In parallel, governmental and societal reliance on bigtech is radically deepening as a necessary covid fix, whilst many liberal-democratic safeguards had already been rolled back extensively prior to covid - not least to rollout 'surveillance capitalism'.
Alas, the preceding chapter in the rise of neoliberalism is now 'locked in'. In this chapter, the pre-existing symbiosis between bigtech and far right is rapidly accelerating, (partly) building on novel faux narratives, with covid being utilized as neo-illiberal rocket fuel.
The risk of course is that the short-term focus on individual freedom and liberty - which is doomed to fail - will 'lock in' an illiberal mode of governance for good.
