Curfews: Everybody Out!

from Indymedia DE (Tor adress). Translated by Enough 14.

On Indymedia DE the following contribution of some anarchists from Wuppertal (Germany) appeared: On curfews in the context of the struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Curfews: Everybody Out!

Wuppertal. Germany. Statement of some anarchists on curfews in the context of the struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic and what consequences can be drawn from it.

We have absolutely no doubt that the Corona virus is dangerous. With almost 80,000 deaths in Germany, it is devastating that we even have to mention this. But when we criticize the state actions regarding Corona, we make the experience that parts of the so-called left have nothing better to do than to put people in the denier corner. This is often the level of discourse that we are experiencing now for more than a year. Unfortunately, these people forget that our rulers and the capitalist economy that serves them open the door to zoonoses like Covid-19 in the first place. Obviously these people have forgotten our emancipatory basic values. And perhaps this is not least due to the fact that they fear the loss of their privileges. A serious debate, far away from the state narrative, seems to be undesirable for many. But in view of the growing authoritarian threat, this debate is absolutely necessary.

On March 23, 2021, we published a statement about the new authoritarian Co rona measures over Easter. But already two days later Merkel had to take back these measures, even before they were implemented. Now the federal government wants to change the Infection Protection Act. We have been saying for a year now that the state will not save us. Neither at state, nor at federal level. They say “stay home”, but actually mean “keep working”.

However, these plans of the federal government include curfews, a thing we strongly oppose. Today, the crisis team of the city of Wuppertal announced that, if necessary, they will declare a curfew even without the new federal law. Curfews do not protect against the virus. Aerosol researchers found that COVID-19 spreads indoors, but statistics show that the number of outdoor infections is at an absolute minimum. We believe that curfews are actually counterproductive. Measures such as curfews will concentrate (for example) the number of people in supermarkets in a shorter time frame. The supermarkets will be closed from 9 p.m. onwards, so that people who are used to buying groceries after 9 p.m. will be forced to do so earlier.

The ruling class has been proving for years that they are not reluctant to forbid people their freedom of movement. The migrants at the European outer borders know this all too well. Unlike many others, we believe that the ruling class knows very well what it is doing. German capital has strengthened its position in the capitalist competition during and after the so-called “Euro crisis”, not least at the expense of our southern European neighbors. At the moment it looks quite clear that this will be even more the case after the so-called “Corona crisis”. This is the reason why the government measures are imposed almost exclusively in the private sphere. The euro is supposed to continue to roll. That is also the reason why schools are to be closed only starting from an incidence of 200. Parents are supposed to continue to generate profits for the corporations and that is not possible if their children are not allowed to go to school.

We have already said it a thousand times, but we think it is important to repeat it and will confirm it here one more time: The state has failed to protect people who live and (have to) work in nursing homes, homes for the elderly or mass accommodations for refugees. Not that they are not “always trying”, but the protection of human life simply does not have the same value as the maintenance of this disgusting economic system.

Since the state will not save us, we ultimately have no choice but to protect each other and to defend ourselves against this corrupt clique, which arrogates to itself paternal rule over us. Our companions of CrimethInc already stated in spring 2020: “The current situation is likely to continue for months—sudden curfews, inconsistent quarantines, increasingly desperate conditions—though it will almost certainly shift form at some point when the tensions within it boil over. To prepare for that moment, let’s protect ourselves and each other from the threat posed by the virus, think through the questions about risk and safety that the pandemic poses, and confront the disastrous consequences of a social order that was never designed to preserve our well-being in the first place.” https://crimethinc.com/2020/03/18/surviving-the-virus-an-anarchist-guide-capitalism-in-crisis-rising-totalitarianism-strategies-of-resistance

We consider a curfew as another step in the ongoing fascization of the state, and this must be fought with all necessary means.

Enough is enough!

Organize!

Everybody Out!

Some anarchists from Wuppertal (Germany)

Add new comment