The new normal: once the emergency is over, the risk of getting used to the emergency measures still in force

18 February 20222 years ago babelfish

Inexorably, we are coming to the normalization of the emergency, that is to what the experts in the permanent television service define "the new normal", as if to mimic (who knows if in a conscious or unconscious way) "The new world" of Huxley, the one in which the imposition of a presumed collective well-being supplants any individual impulse. In fact, a very bizarre phenomenon has been occurring for a few days: the infodemic with which the Italians were bombed for two years is waning precisely coinciding with the entry into force of very draconian measures such as the obligation of the super Green Pass . in the workplace for the over 50s. In short, on the one hand, the information is directed towards other matters to give the reassuring signal that "Italy is reopening and returning to normal" but, under the radar, management continues obscurantist and constitutionally highly questionable. It almost seems that this apparent contradiction hides an extremely dangerous paradigm: passing off as ordinary what is ordinary is not at all and expecting the population to get used to this state of affairs without putting up the slightest resistance, rather displaying the pass with joy and pride.

In the coming weeks, however, the green certification could become a terrain of political conflict and undermine the already shaky balance of the Draghi government, however weakened by the quirinal elections. The only proposal to abolish it in coincidence with the end of the state of emergency set for March 31 has compacted the party of the infinite emergency, which clings to the Green Pass with all its strength. As expected, the reaction of the extremist and media-exposed faction was not long in coming. For example, the statements made to Repubblica by Walter Ricciardi, a consultant to the Ministry of Health, are a cause for concern, who advocated the extension of health obligations and certifications for the whole year: "They must become the pivots of the new normal".

Beyond the fact that, with hospitalizations under control and swooping infections, those suggested by Ricciardi would be preventive measures completely incompatible with the principles of the legal system, there remains the concern caused by the lightness with which it is thought to subordinate the the life of the people is infinite with a sanitary fulfillment to be repeated over time, with the issue of the relative state seal that allows them to work, move and, in short, to live. Something so abhorrent that, if someone had proposed it before March 2020, we would have observed it with dismay and probably even an iota of commiseration. Now, however, this dystopia is the new normal advocated by some members of the CTS, always quite talkative even now that the winds of war are sweeping away the other "conflict" fought against the China virus.

Yet, the suspicion arises that a deleterious authoritarian wave has also arrived from the Far East. So, in order to digest the very bitter medicine, it is necessary to keep the tremendous narrative standing albeit by limiting the dosage compared to the recent past. With the Green Pass which has become the new divinity object of adoration, the totem to be venerated with unified networks and warheads. For example, according to Ciciliano, a member of the CTS, to Corriere della Sera "the Green Pass is the tool that has allowed the country to remain open even in the most critical phases of this latest wave". Evidently, deserted squares and streets, the restaurant business in trouble, the annihilated trade, the hotels sadly orphaned of tourists must be the result of conspiracy theories.

But, not satisfied, Dr. Ciciliano added that the Italian green card is such a formidable tool that it boasts countless attempts at imitation all over the world. Who knows in which country, given that only we are getting used to the logic of the pass and the end of the emergency.

It is sufficient to note the difficulty of people to detach from the mask even now that it is no longer mandatory outdoors. It is Ciciliano himself who informs us that he continues to wear it because he does not consider it a limitation to freedom. On the other hand, if he does not bat an eyelid on the question of the health certificate, on the contrary he supports it with fervor, how could he be upset by the walk with his face covered?

"Many have come to love it because it is like a lay burka" re-launched Professor Ammaniti again from the columns of the Corriere . It is evident that the paranoid obsession of a large part of the population with protective devices is very useful both for the power and for the media drum in support of government decisions. It certifies a mental mechanism which in psychology is defined as Stockholm syndrome. Therefore, everything is fine: even Gramellini's emphatic story about the nostalgic separation from the mask or even the shamanic ritual (“I wear it because it wears well and I don't get infected”) which would induce Italians to walk masked even on an isolated path.

This is how a society based on hypochondria and irrationality is channeled towards the acceptance of an ethical and authoritarian model of government in which Chinese-style surveillance is not overwhelming but incredibly reassuring and therefore invoked by most. All this is confirmed in a recent speech at Palazzo Madama by Senator Sandro Ruotolo, a member of LeU, the small party in which Minister Speranza also plays. "This is not the time to give in to the desire for freedom," Ruotolo warned. Probably, in this sentence there is the essence of the last two years, of the substantial theorem with which citizens have been transformed into obedient subjects: freedom is the enemy of health.

Instead, the opposite is true. Without freedom there is no health either. As evidenced by the fact that the government, among the many bonuses it grants, has taken care to establish one also for the psychological support of people annihilated by lockdowns , restrictions, obligations, prohibitions, curfews and, finally, by the detestable Green Pass which is the enemy both health and freedom. Therefore, common sense would suggest abolishing it even before March 31st. Instead, it will be the linchpin of the new normal. From here to eternity. Or, perhaps, it would be better to say the new abnormality in which rights are sacrificed, health is not guaranteed and freedom is definitively mortified.

The post The new normal: the emergency is over, the risk of addiction to the emergency measures still in force appeared first on Atlantico Quotidiano .

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL https://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/quotidiano/la-nuova-normalita-finita-lemergenza-il-rischio-assuefazione-alle-misure-emergenziali-ancora-in-vigore/ on Fri, 18 Feb 2022 03:56:00 +0000.