Critical citizens are now “enemies of democracy”

This Article of the NachDenkSeiten shows bluntly how politicians deal with critics these days:

"Corona deniers" and "lateral thinkers" should be classified as "right-wing extremists", according to a state interior minister. And the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has introduced a new observation object entitled “Delegitimization of the state hostile to democracy and/or dangerous to security”. What is hostile to democracy, however, are intentional linguistic ambiguities and overly sweeping judgments on critics of their own policies.

"Corona deniers" must "consistently be assigned to the right-wing extremist spectrum," said Thuringia's Interior Minister Georg Maier, according to media reports: "We have to sharpen the assignment of politically organized crime, especially with the corona deniers." The scene is politically clearly right-wing motivated : "It is right-wing extremists who instigate it."

In addition, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) and the President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, presented the 2021 report for the protection of the Constitution on Tuesday. In it, a newly set up observation object is listed for the first time. It bears the title "anti-democratic and/or security-endangering delegitimization of the state" and includes at least "parts of the 'corona deniers' and 'lateral thinkers' scene," according to the media. In this category, the domestic secret service summarizes “very different groups and actors beyond the classic left-right scheme”: groups and individuals who spread certain “conspiracy theories, some of which are underpinned by anti-Semitism”, cast doubt on the democratic state or reject it outright , so the media reports. There is still no assessment of how large the number of followers of this heterogeneous scene is.

Medial twists

The "Stuttgarter Zeitung" states as an example of numerous problematic media reports on the subject:

“Many of the new enemies of democracy are not left- or right-wing extremists – even if they have left- or right-wing extremists in their ranks, march in step with them, offer them a new parade ground. But it is also immaterial whether the new enraged bourgeoisie is on the left or the right, or whether it is generally disoriented. Rather, what matters is the lack of respect for the law, for the constitution and for the representatives of the state.”

The paragraph practices one of the currently valid distortions: On the one hand, the fact is acknowledged that the group of critics is not homogeneous, and then the (predominantly?) non-radical critics are accused of “marching in step”. At the same time, it is absurd to accuse the majority of critics of the Corona policy of a lack of respect for the constitution - after all, many of them wanted to protect the constitution against attacks by the Corona campaign. Of course there are radical figures among the critics of the Corona policy from whom one must distance oneself, but the large majority cannot be described as politically extreme. On the other hand, many of the corona measures that were not scientifically justified were clearly politically extreme.

Deliberate linguistic blur

Both political projects mentioned at the beginning are (as has been the case since the beginning of the Corona episode) accompanied by a deliberate lack of clarity in language, which in part leads to an Orwellian distortion of language in the social debate: Anyone who insists on the Basic Law indirectly becomes an opponent of that very thing constitution treated. Anyone who wants to preserve democratic rights is then indirectly considered an “enemy of democracy”. Anyone who protests against scientifically unjustified restrictions on the guaranteed freedoms of citizens is now an "enemy of freedom" for many media and politicians. Anyone who wanted to protect the constitution of our state in the form that was valid up to the Corona episode - despite all criticism - from a further erosion of civil rights (e.g. the right to demonstrate) is considered an enemy of the state. Anyone who demands children's right to education, exchange and exercise is considered a radical - and not the radical groups in politics and in the editorial offices who have supported a scientifically unfounded corona policy against the citizens.

The linguistic fuzziness practiced when describing critics of Corona policy is often similar: First of all, the very different critics of Corona policy are generally accused of “denying” the existence of the virus. In the next step, these “deniers” are generally declared “lateral thinkers” – regardless of whether they are actually connected to initiatives of the same name. Finally, "the lateral thinkers" (who is that exactly?) are then branded as tending towards the extreme right, so that one does not have to deal with their arguments.

Personally, I don't feel politically represented by the initiatives that call themselves "lateral thinkers". This also applies to some other actors in the criticism of the Corona policy. On the one hand, my personal opinion is not the measure of all things. On the other hand, individual radical figures must not be used to denigrate a broad movement of critics and thus shield one's own politics.

The scaremongering about Corona is currently being fueled again by some actors. This is unacceptable – firstly because there is no credible data base that would allow a repetition of the destructive lockdown and mask policy, since the collection of such key data is denied in order to maintain a state of “ignorance”. On the other hand, because the current “warnings about the number of infections in autumn” are intended to suggest that “the number of infections” from last autumn could have justified restrictions on fundamental rights. That's not the case. The processing of the scandalous Corona period is also currently being hindered because such an investigation would presumably rule out a repetition of the Corona policy as unjustified, inappropriate and ineffective.

Strengthening the judiciary in the fight against right-wing extremism

Right-wing extremism is an urgent problem that must be countered with police resources, research into the causes and socio-political impulses. But the blanket linking of the term with protests against the destructive corona policy is propaganda. The instrumentalization of the term against critics of the Corona policy also damages the important fight against right-wing extremism, because the impression could arise that a good thing is being instrumentalized here in order to be able to generally devalue the content of critics in completely different fields.

Tough and decisive action must be taken against right-wing extremist crimes. There is already a set of tools for this, but there is a lack of staff in the police and judiciary to implement it. A policy that on the one hand cuts back on the judiciary and on the other extends the concept of extremism to more and more citizens should be viewed with great skepticism. Tendencies to censor the communication of citizens (partly by private actors) as "radical" because different opinions are represented here are undemocratic. The hysteria about right-wing critics of the Corona policy (or citizens who “march in step” with them) also forms a sharp contrast to the tolerance towards right-wing extremists when they act in Ukraine, for example.

Citizens must end it

The current official actions are probably intended to justify actions in the past and at the same time curb future protests against a return of the Corona measures. In the article "The Corona ghosts must be driven out by the citizens - others will not do it" the NachDenkseiten wrote:

"There will only be a real end to the pandemic policy when the citizens demand the final and complete end of the pandemic policy and rule out a repetition. Otherwise - as all experience shows - a state of emergency is kept simmering in the background: After a deceptive phase of the summer "goodwill" of the hygiene state, a renewed fear campaign against a virus variant can continue to stabilize corona policy."

Critical citizens are now "enemies of democracy" | Tobias Riegel | NDS Podcast

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