Tony Hovater: Plague and Struggle

*Reprinted from National-Justice with the consent of Tony Hovater and the tacit consent my friend Eric Striker

It’s been a long time since I’ve had an essay published on a dissident platform. For the better part of the last two years, I’ve been working to grow the irl groups that I, and many other men have been building. Most of my written work has been confined to some of the private groups I host with smaller thoughts being shared on our favorite temporary social media platform, Twitter. Now it appears that a self, and possibly eventual mandatory quarantine is in the cards, I’ll have more time to go more in-depth about what I feel is facing us as a country and a movement.

This will truly show us who is serious about building community and helping our cause, and who has been using dissident circles as a social group to blow off steam and share memes. This is a real test for our networks, our media, and our outreach. The usual tests we’ve had in the past have mainly been of the ideological piss variety. This time it counts. There are a number of people, groups, and organizations out there that talk about how much ‘important’ work they’re doing, how influential they are, etc but now there is something more than clout at stake. The choices we all make in the next couple of weeks could very well affect our friends, loved ones, and comrades for the rest of their lives.

What we choose to do with our remaining time before things get difficult will be remembered. Instead of wasting this time defending the honor of someone like Harvey Weinstein online, and live streaming video games-we need to be getting prepared. You have an opportunity to reach out to those in our cause that need you. It’s inexcusable that some are worried about their niche brand of post-ironic internet racism when many young men and women are directionless. This is poor leadership in a time of crisis plain and simple. If you are someone with any amount of influence, make the effort to contact people and provide guidance. This is a time when those with strong ethnic networks will thrive and we have to rise to the challenge.

The Curve is a Cope
American and European governments have been rolling out plans to “flatten the curve” of infections from the Coronavirus. This means the goal is to keep community spread to a minimum, while encouraging self-quarantine and social distancing, as a means to keep hospitalizations to a minimum. This is about the only strategy to take considering our circumstances but it is most certainly a cope. Not only is it a cope, but a cover for the horrendous response from the Federal government. Relying on unenforced self-quarantine, and hoping that frightened people make logical decisions comes off as a half-assed plan from a government that has failed you. Its what you do when something has gotten out of hand and you’re hoping for the best. It never had to happen. If we lived in a real country, luxury cruises would have been canceled. Flights would have been grounded and mandatory screenings for quarantines would have been happening for people returning to this country. We wouldn’t be talking about flattening the curve. We’d be celebrating how we STOPPED the curve.

Socialism in America: Not For Acting Men 
 Please remember this point in America’s history the next time you hear a conservative championing the virtues of the free market and the power of the “invisible hand”. When you hear someone explaining how there “just isn’t enough money to overhaul our healthcare system or to forgive student loan debt” think of March 2020. If a fedora tipping Randian is getting red in the face about the evils of socialism, remind them of what’s happening right now. Ask them what exactly Trump propping up the stock market to the tune of 1.5 trillion dollars would be considered. I’m curious if they are so principled that they will refuse to cash their proposed emergency UBI checks if it comes to that.

This is perhaps the biggest slap in the face I’ve ever seen to working American men and women. The populace is worried and urging their rulers to protect them from a virus. One that will likely disrupt their way of life for the years to come. What is done instead? A massive hand out is given to the most powerful banking, tech, and industrial firms on the planet. You will be expected to fend for yourself while the most wealthy will be given freebies. It’s such a cut and dry example of corruption and the excess of the global capitalist order, it sounds like an Eric Striker fever dream.

As Trump is doing press conference after press conference stating how we’re in this together and our prayers go out to everyone all over the world, there is something purely evil flying under the radar. Trump is still applying a ‘maximum sanction pressure policy’ towards Iran. Even though it is one of the countries hit hardest by covid-19. This is an unnecessary and cruel move even for our militantly pro-Israel policymakers and will lead to further spread in the middle east and elsewhere.

The Federal government had months to do the right thing. Instead of closing our borders, canceling large gatherings, and stocking up on medical supplies the Trump administration elected to go for “its just the flu bro” messaging during the most critical time. Before apologists even start with the “Trump was probably doing more behind the scenes” garbage take a look at this: An order for 500,000,000 masks being ordered on March 4th. It took until March for them to even begin stockpiling. The level of irresponsibility has been something to behold.

Who Is To Blame 
 There is a concerted effort by the GOP and their talking heads to try and place all the blame for this on China. This is designed to divert your attention from their late and meager response. They’re hoping they can stave off the anger that people are going to feel in the coming weeks and redirect it both outward (China), and laterally (‘panic shoppers’). Of course, some have been buying critical goods in an attempt to gouge families. These people are rightly seen as the pariahs they are. But to try and deflect anxiety onto regular people, who for decades have been being told that America is exceptional and that nothing bad can ever happen to them, would be depraved. Most ‘panic shoppers’ are normal people who believed their president when he was telling them everything was fine and they had nothing to worry about only a week ago. They just want to make sure their family is safe at a time when they’ve been failed by their leaders.
 In closing, please be conscious of the fact that every week wasted by the feds not preparing the country for what will likely happen should earn them a lifetime of shame. Every hour wasted will have changed tens of thousands of lives for the worse. It will mean the difference between a child getting to know a grandparent, or their memory only being a vague name their parents occasionally mention. Older couples that would have otherwise had twenty more years together after a lifetime of working will have that stolen from them. We may never be able to calculate the levels of economic and human suffering this inaction will cause, but we must never forget who is responsible and, more importantly, we will demand they be held accountable.

Read more of Tony Hovater and Eric Striker’s tremendous work @ https://national-justice.com