Jan Oberg: Is Democracy Gone Forever In Italy? On the Politics of Covid Responses

Jan Oberg

December 1, 2021

This article is based on observations sent to me by an academic friend living in Italy who wants to be anonymous, given the views it expresses in this situation.

The reason we publish it here with a few comments, videos and links is that it is obviously a very serious situation in and of itself but also an example of how democracy can quickly be undermined and how nonviolent demonstrations are squeezed out, framed as neo-Fascists and de-legitimated – as is the entire peace discourse in Western democracies (if we can still call them that).

It’s an illustration of how far democratic governments seem ready to go in the direction of authoritarianism in the name of protecting their citizens – without giving those same citizens a chance to express themselves as part of the decision-making process.

There is a huge risk that the fear of the pandemic is exploited to clamp down on people’s rights and control citizens’ behaviour like in times of war.

It is true that there are many political and moral dilemmas in this complex issue and that societies are operating in unchartered territory – including, for instance, how to react responsibly and also take the common good for the majority into account.

But we must also ask: What is it reasonable and proportionate to do in response to a particular virus without undermining basic freedoms and human rights in democracies? What can be decided by whom? And should decrees under any circumstance replace democratic debates and decision-making in peacetime?

There cannot be only one single correct or truthful science base and policy when societies face such a surprising and complex phenomenon.

We believe that the best decisions will be made on the basis of a diversity of inputs and a lively debate throughout society – and not by elites belonging to what one may call the BigPharma-Media-Political Complex, BMPC. In short, by means of a vibrant, innovative democratic process.

What’s happening these months simply isn’t compatible with democracy and human rights and could – therefore – turn out to have devastating consequences in the future. The Covid problem is serious but it is manageable. We must not permit governments to undermine or destroy essential values or whole sectors of society.

The brave people who now take to the streets – as you see below – do the right thing.

This is the second article from the mentioned friend. Read the first one too: “This is what is happening in Italy to human rights and democracy that you haven’t heard about”. We have updated that article with a series of videos from various parts of Italy, all showing the peaceful demonstrating citizens.

This article also ends with a series of videos and links. It will be updated as this story unfolds. We do not pretend that they are collected systematically or cover all aspects and viewpoints. They are intended to stimulate your curiosity for more knowledge.

We would like to emphasize that TFF and its Associates are not experts in medicine, vaccines or pandemics. None of it. But – whether or not you like/agree or strongly dislike/disagree with any of the personalities you’ll meet there, they have an indisputable right to voice their knowledge and views and not be cancelled like Kennedy Jr. and Julie Ponesse.

•

“Under the Conte government before and now under Prime Minister Mario Draghi (who was not elected to his position but was appointed by the Italian President), Italy is seeing democratic principles quashed and the national constitution ignored in the name of counteracting the covid pandemic.

Despite the fact that the Green Pass was destined to be used solely to facilitate movement between countries in the European Union, Draghi seems intent on utilizing this document as a tool to suppress the Italian population and deny basic human rights in the country.

Since 15 October 2021, thanks to the Draghi government, the Italian population has already been forced to obtain a “basic” Green Pass in order to work and access places of social and cultural interest (as reported in a previous TFF article).

The “basic” Green Pass is obtained if a person has received a covid “vaccine” (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson), or has recovered recently from covid or has received a negative result from a covid PCR test performed 48–72 hours earlier.

This means that people who do not want to be “vaccinated” have had to do a PCR test 2–3 times a week, at their own expense, in order to be able to work!

As if all this were not enough, the Draghi government has now invented a so-called “reinforced” Green Pass, which restricts fundamental liberties even more than the “basic” Green Pass. The “reinforced” Green Pass will only be issued to people who have received one of the covid “vaccines” cited earlier, or who have recovered recently from covid. [Whether or not these serums are actually “vaccines” and should be allowed to be marketed as such is beyond the scope of this article but is a question of utmost importance.]

Despite growing evidence to the contrary and clear statements by the vaccine manufacturers themselves, the Draghi government continues to propagate the lie that people “vaccinated” with the covid serums do not get infected with SARS-COV 2, do not get covid and do not infect other people.

The truth is somewhat different (as reported also by The Lancet), and each day cases are coming to light around the world that show that vaccinated people can indeed contract covid and pass on the infection.

Despite this growing body of evidence, as of 6 December 2021 the Draghi government is utilizing the “reinforced” Green Pass to force obligatory vaccination on all people who work in the education and healthcare sectors, including administration staff, and all police and military personnel.

Furthermore, first-line health sector workers who were already forced to vaccinate to be able to exercise their profession, are now required to either get a third dose of vaccine or to lose their jobs.

In addition, as of December 15, 2021, only people who have a “reinforced” Green Pass i.e. vaccinated people or people who have recovered recently from covid, will be allowed to go to restaurants, bars, cinemas, gyms, and to attend public events and ceremonies. Unvaccinated people, who previously were allowed to frequent these kinds of social places if they had received a negative result using a covid PCR test within 48–72 hours, are now no longer “authorized” to do so because they are not eligible for the “reinforced” Green Pass.

Let’s be clear on this: a non-vaccinated person with a PCR test result that indicates that he/she does not have covid will no longer be allowed to go out for dinner, to have a glass of wine in a bar, to watch a film at a cinema or to work out in a gym.

On the basis of what scientific evidence are these authoritarian measures being implemented? According to which legal basis?

Let us not forget that these “vaccines” are experimental drugs, which have gone through very limited trials in the name of the state of emergency. Despite the fact that some doctors in Italy have successfully cured people of covid since the very start of the pandemic, their protocols – which use already existing pharmaceuticals (that cost very little money) – have been totally ignored by both the Conte and Draghi governments.

In short, the current Italian government under Mario Draghi is bypassing Parliamentary debate, trampling on the European Convention on Human Rights, and flying in the face of the Nuremberg Code by coercing the Italian population to accept an experimental “vaccine” in order to be able to live a “free” life.

Welcome to modern-day Italy!”

Useful links and videos – not limited to Italy

• A. Israel writes in The British Medical Journal, November 25, 2021
Elapsed time since BNT162b2 vaccine and risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection
This survey based on a population of over 80 000 people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine concludes: “In this retrospective large cohort study, performed in individuals who received two doses of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine, protection seemed to decrease over time, and the risk of breakthrough infection by SARS-CoV-2 increased progressively compared with the protection provided during the initial 90 days. Interpretation of the findings of the study is limited by the observational design, but the results suggest that consideration of a third vaccine dose might be warranted.”

• Günter Kampf writes in The Lancet, November 20, 2021
COVID-19: stigmatising the unvaccinated is not justified
“People who are vaccinated have a lower risk of severe disease but are still a relevant part of the pandemic. It is therefore wrong and dangerous to speak of a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Historically, both the USA and Germany have engendered negative experiences by stigmatising parts of the population for their skin colour or religion. I call on high-level officials and scientists to stop the inappropriate stigmatisation of unvaccinated people, who include our patients, colleagues, and other fellow citizens, and to put extra effort into bringing society together.”

• Il Paragone, November 27, 2021
In ospedale più vaccinati che non vaccinati: è la prima volta. Il nuovo report dell’Iss
In the hospital more vaccinated than unvaccinated: it is the first time. The new ISS report

• Europarliamentarian Francesca Donato, November 24, 2021
In Nome di Dio, Fermiamo Questa Pazzia – In the name of God, stop this madness
“The question today must not be “how to vaccinate the world”, but “why” should we do it. We all call “vaccines” some experimental mRNA or DNA gene therapies that do not immunize – as those who receive them can be infected with Covid and infect other people – and only partially and for a few months reduce the probability of a serious course of the disease.”

• Michel Chossudovsky, Center for Research On Globalization, Canada
The Covid-19 Pandemic Does Not Exist

• The U.S. National Library of Medicine, December 30, 2020
Multifaceted highly targeted sequential multidrug treatment of early ambulatory high-risk SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19)
What this specialist text actually states is this: Dr. McCullough and 57 colleagues published a study in December of 2020 in a dedicated issue of Reviews In Cardiovascular Medicine. The article, “Multifaceted highly targeted sequential multidrug treatment of early ambulatory high-risk SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19),” described a marvelous breadth of effective drugs that these physicians had, by then, developed. Meaning that the vaccines we hear about are not the only options.

• Daily Mail, November 24, 2021
Inside the town with the world’s strictest lockdown where residents are bundled into vans, driven to a quarantine camp and banned from going for a WALK or buying food – as Indigenous elders issue a frightening warning

• Peter Maybarduk, November 17, 2021 – In interview with FAIR
‘Moderna Is Trying to Turn This People’s Vaccine Into a Rich People’s Vaccine’

• Stephen Buranyi in The Straits Times, December 22, 2020
The vaccine news is great, but Big Pharma is still fooling us

• Robert Kennedy’ Jr. – Tucker Carlson Today, November 18, 2021

More about and how to get the book on which he bases his arguments – “The Real Anthony Fauci. Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health” – here.

• MEPs fighting for freedom in the EU. Defending peoples’ rights against Mandatory Digital Certificate:

• Dr Julie Ponesse, professor of philosophy, Canada November 1, 2021:

Please see this 4 minutes statement to the end
Rome, November 20, 2021
Genoa, Italy, November 20, 2021
Australia – demonstrations in Perth, Sidney, Brisbane and Melbourne, November 20, 2021
Tblisi, Georgia, November 20, 2021
Zagreb, Croatia, November 20, 2021
Glasgow, November 20, 2021
Rome, November 27, 2021
Padova, Italy, November 27, 2021
Bologna, Italy, November 2021
Berlin, November 2021, police demonstrates in favour of the right of people to decide for themselves
Vaccinated hairdressers offering haircuts to non-vaccinated clients – and doing so outside the Parliament in Melbourne. Brilliant nonviolent demonstration!

Unlike our mainstream adversaries, warmongering propagandists and other destructive forces, TFF has no source of state, corporate or institutional finance whatsoever. Such are the conditions for truly independent peace research in these time. Everything peace has been cancelled. But we are still here – and we will be.
The foundation and this homepage runs entirely on voluntary support from people like you. We who produce it, are all volunteers. To support TFF, you don’t need to agree with every argument or article, only to welcome alternative voices, research-based knowledge and dialogue about important matters. Thanks for you help!

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Below are TFF-related media mentions, comments, videos and social media posts published elsewhere but not on this homepage. We happen to catch and list only a fraction. Regarding video comments and debates, we recommend that you go to the TFF Video Channel on Substack where many of them are reproduced. Jan Oberg is a contributor to China Daily – 52 million daily clicks – and Global Times, CGTN and CCTV (the national television), China Investment, Xinhua News Agency and several others. Articles and videos on these media very often multiply into countless Chinese (and Western media) that re-post them from these main media. Thanks to The China Academy, his analyses, interviews and comments are frequently posted on YouTube channels such as Thinkers Forum and Wave Media. These videos are often re-posted on Bilibili (China’s YouTube), the China Content Center on TikTok, and on the Chinese edition of TikTok, Douyin.com. This means reaching hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide over a year. While there are too many to catch on all these...