My Own Private Medicine

Abstract The aim of this article is: (a) to argue that the UK governments’ authoritarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic is inciting a qualitative shift in discourse structures that are transforming xenophobia into a radically totalitarian force; and (b) to demonstrate that even ostensibly voluntarist libertarian discourse also creates conditions for the psyche that incite the same totalitarian xenophobic transformation....

http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2021/10/31/on-xenophobia-during-the-pandemic-a-lacanian-perspective/

On Xenophobia during the Pandemic – A Lacanian Perspective Abstract The aim of this article is: (a) to argue that the UK governments’ authoritarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic is inciting a qualitative shift in discourse structures that are transform…

Dear Dr. Katz, (Chair, Jewish Medical Association UK), It has come to the attention of our Interfaith group (comprised of Jews, Christians, Muslims, Palestinians, and others) through a report in the Jewish News, that a Jewish female patient made a vile false allegation against a member of NHS staff in the course of her duties which were to help this patient....

http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2021/06/05/protesting-the-israeli-genocide-the-zionist-push-back-a-letter-to-dr-katz-from-interfaith-palestine/

Protesting the Israeli Genocide: the zionist push-back, a letter to Dr Katz from interfaith Palestine Dear Dr. Katz, (Chair, Jewish Medical Association UK),  It has come to the attention of our Interfaith group (comprised of Jews, Christians, Muslims, Palestinians, and others)  through a …

Sumption in May 2020 Something in here about disavowing, or eliding: a) The increased risk for vulnerable groups of people who are not very old, the poor and BAME minorities b) The value of the lives lost ‘prematurely’ c) The power of the state to do more to alleviate the harms of lockdown d) The uncertainty about the levels of risk involved for different age groups and mortality rates,...

http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2021/01/31/lockdown-scepticism-may-have-its-roots-in-white-capitalist-supremacism/

Lockdown Scepticism may have its roots in white capitalist supremacism Sumption in May 2020 Something in here about disavowing, or eliding: a)    The increased risk for vulnerable groups of people who are not very old, the poor and BAME minorities b)&nb…

This requires a little bit of background. The Johnson PM of the UK government announced a ‘moonshot’ programme, many months ago in September 2019, in which there would be mass daily screening for C19, for the asymptomatic, at a cost of over a billion UK pounds. ... literally millions of tests processed every single day ... theatres and sports venues could test all audience members on the day and let in those with a negative result, all those who are not infectious ......

http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2021/01/22/false-reassurance-and-mass-rapid-testing-for-asymptomatic-coronavirus-infection-and-infectiousness/

False reassurance and Mass rapid testing for asymptomatic Coronavirus infection and infectiousness This requires a little bit of background. The Johnson PM of the UK government announced a ‘moonshot’ programme, many months ago in September 2019, in which there would be mass daily screening for C…

Hanaamayer (usefully but, ultimately, inadequately) draws upon Weber’s (transcendental) ethics of responsibility to challenge EBM (Evidence Based medicine) principled conviction (rules-based) to determine good medical practice in terms of a supreme good that ‘maintains life’ on the basis of primarily empirical data and mortality outcomes. The ethics of responsibility places responsibility on individual clinicians to recognise that putative patients may not place the same value on mortality as the EBM guidance....

http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2021/01/07/the-pandemic-and-an-ethics-of-responsibility/

The Pandemic and an Ethics of Responsibility Hanaamayer (usefully but, ultimately, inadequately) draws upon Weber’s (transcendental) ethics of responsibility to challenge EBM (Evidence Based medicine) principled conviction (rules-based) to de…

The Moral argument in favour of Lockdowns: why lockdowns are a 'Just War' on Covid-19

A thread ⬇️

http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2021/01/06/the-moral-argument-in-favour-of-lockdowns/

The Moral argument in favour of Lockdowns Walter Wink’s arguments against the idea of a ‘just’ war claiming what is required isn’t proof of the justification of action (war), so much as proof as to why inaction (not going to war) is …

In the UK the anti-lockdown brigade (eg Hitchens of the Daily Mail) rightly see in authoritarian Lockdown measures the potential for totalitarianism and its xenophobic consequences. They point to China as an example, and as a regime to be reviled. What, I think, they fail to see, or admit, is the even more severe totalitarian potential in the kind of ultra-libertarian individualism they advocate that: a) is causing very significant excess deaths, and rising, from Covid; b) creates a mass psyche that believes it is ‘free’ whilst it is destroying itself; and c) sustains the fantasy of a caring government whose power and entitlement thrives on the cultivation of envy, and on social division....

http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2021/01/04/the-anti-lockdown-brigade-and-totalitarian-threats/

The anti-lockdown brigade and totalitarian threats In the UK the anti-lockdown brigade (eg Hitchens of the Daily Mail) rightly see in authoritarian Lockdown measures the potential for totalitarianism and its xenophobic consequences. They point to C…

Zero Covid There are voices worrying about the sacrifice of so much by so many to save so few lives (Po***ck), and there is an organization trying to measure the collateral harms of lockdowns. But is it possible to empirically calculate the cost-benefit ratio of lockdown versus no lockdown. How many lives need to be saved by lockdowns for them to be good thing?...

http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/12/22/zero-covid-strategy-and-national-lockdowns/

Zero Covid Strategy and National Lockdowns Zero Covid There are voices worrying about the sacrifice of so much by so many to save so few lives (Po***ck), and there is an organization trying to measure the collateral harms of lockdowns. But …

Freud in Totem and Taboo writes of the logic of taboo in terms of the logic of contagion, of transmission of infection with the taboo through touch. The taboo functions to bind a society according to norms that are believed to protect society’s integrity, such as, classically, the in**st taboo. When we travelled back from Palestine in March it felt as if we were, that is, embodied taboo taboo. [ 299 more words ]

http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/10/14/the-virus-as-taboo-and-xenophobia/

The virus as taboo, and xenophobia Freud in Totem and Taboo writes of the logic of taboo in terms of the logic of contagion, of transmission of infection with the taboo through touch. The taboo functions to bind a society according …

Current attempts to slow down the spread are inspired by a) the historic excess deaths already caused by the virus, shortening people’s lives - mostly the older population; and b) the recent exponential rise in the proportion tested that are positive, and hospital admissions. Nobody knows how bad the death rate and impact on hospital care will be, but the recent rises suggest we are not at a peak yet. [ 342 more words ]

http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/10/14/why-a-lockdown-is-necessary/

Why a Lockdown is necessary Current attempts to slow down the spread are inspired by a) the historic excess deaths already caused by the virus, shortening people’s lives – mostly the older population; and b) the recent …

On the one hand the community clap began as and, we can assume for the sake of argument, was felt to be a good faith gesture by those who genuinely feel grateful. But, at the same time, it is not entirely their, individual, or our’s, the people’s, gesture - it is a gesture that was instigated by an other (a woman in South London), and was then rapidly appropriated by the media, politicians and celebrities - and it began to be imbued with moral exegesis, it became normative - and morphed into a kind of political religious ritual as a paen to the sacrifice others make for our lives, in the name of the NHS, the remnants of a tattered welfare state. [ 339 more words ]

http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/10/10/clapping-for-carers-is-clapping-for-totalitarianism/

Clapping for Carers is Clapping for totalitarianism On the one hand the community clap began as and, we can assume for the sake of argument, was felt to be a good faith gesture by those who genuinely feel grateful. But, at the same time, it is not e…

The term fascism is emotive, gets people’s backs up and obscures the essential features necessary for progress and debate. Here I distinguish between left and right wing, as economic polarities that seeks to redistribute wealth (left) or seeks to maintain wealth inequality (sometimes arguing that it is envy that is needed to motivate people to be productive and this is progressive. [ 381 more words ]

http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/10/06/avoid-the-term-fascism/

Avoid the term fascism The term fascism is emotive, gets people’s backs up and obscures the essential features necessary for progress and debate. Here I distinguish between left and right wing, as economic polarities tha…

Totalitarianism One way of thinking about totalitarianism is as a social and political system that worships omnipotent power for power’s sake. It is important for everybody to recognize totalitarianism and its thr…

One way of thinking about totalitarianism is a social and political system that worships omnipotent power for power’s sake. It is important for everybody to recognize totalitarianism and its threats when they exist or threaten. Make no mistake totalitarian states have existed before: N**i Germany and Stalinist Soviet Union, being the most well known recent examples. Surely we can learn enough to recognize a resurgence of another totalitarian regime. [ 327 more words ]

http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/10/02/totalitarianism/

Totalitarianism One way of thinking about totalitarianism is a social and political system that worships omnipotent power for power’s sake. It is important for everybody to recognize totalitarianism and its threat…

As Phil Hearse states, at the moment, September 2020, the hard conservative right (Patel et al) is ramping up anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric; it appears as if some more moderate conservatives and some right wingers (such as IDS) are resisting lockdown; and it also appears as if Johnson and Cummings are resisting lockdown too. However, the apparent resistance to lockdown by the hard right may be an illusion. [ 339 more words ]

http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/09/29/emergence-of-a-fully-fledged-fascist-uk-state/

Emergence of a fully fledged fascist UK state As Phil Hearse states, at the moment, September 2020, the hard conservative right (Patel et al) is ramping up anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric; it appears as if some more moderate conservatives a…

The C19 virus reveals the failure of scientific knowledge as a guide to action - and even pragmatic neoliberal capitalism isn’t sure whether to preserve consumer lives and maximize anti-viral commodity production or to focus on keeping businesses open and sacrifice lives. In the UK the government errs, currently anyway, on sacrificing the lives of the vulnerable (the unwell, older people and care workers for example) whilst handing out lucrative contracts to the already wealthy such as Serco (even though these fail to produce the goods). [ 303 more words ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/09/19/the-totalitarian-end-game/

The Totalitarian End Game The C19 virus reveals the failure of scientific knowledge as a guide to action – and even pragmatic neoliberal capitalism isn’t sure whether to preserve consumer lives and maximize anti-viral…

As most will know, since before 1948, the indigenous peoples of Palestine have been, and still are, the victims of an ongoing systematic regime of terror and displacement by the State of Israel and its zionist politics. This is being carried out under the guise of creating, securing and expanding a Jewish state, at the expense of the lives of the indigenous Palestinian Arabs, and in reality uses a manufactured fear of Arab terrorism to justify th ethnic cleansing, permanent war and profits for the military industrial complex. [ 610 more words ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/09/09/highland-palestines-boycott-divestment-and-sanctions-campaign/

Highland Palestine’s Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign As most will know, since before 1948, the indigenous peoples of Palestine have been, and still are, the victims of an ongoing systematic regime of terror and displacement by the State of Israel and…

Today, a discourse that has the effect of driving us deeper into the fascist global quagmire. The UK government has openly stated in parliament that it is going to renege on an international legal arrangement covering the passage if trade between northern Ireland the the rest of the UK. In itself this may end up being a danger to the Northern Ireland peace process. [ 274 more words ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/09/09/sept-2020-the-uks-totalitarian-move/

Sept 2020 – the UK’s totalitarian move Today, a discourse that has the effect of driving us deeper into the fascist global quagmire. The UK government has openly stated in parliament that it is going to renege on an international legal …

Creeping fascism and disavowal The basic idea here is that in order to form an identity, we have to identify with certain beliefs, and this requires the exclusion or disavowal of other beliefs or knowledge or truths. The beliefs we identify with may, for example, be patriotic, nationalist, racist, and may be reinforced by faith in the omnipotence of national leadership figures. [ 362 more words ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/08/26/creeping-fascism-and-the-concept-of-disavowal/

Creeping fascism and the concept of disavowal Creeping fascism and disavowal The basic idea here is that in order to form an identity, we have to identify with certain beliefs, and this requires the exclusion or disavowal of other beliefs or k…

Do the elite despise and want to destroy the poor? How can we explain political choices, such as the recent UK economic policies of austerity that stagnates growth and increases unemployment, due to cuts in public services and welfare benefits (especially championed by welfare chauvinist Ian Duncan-Smith). This policy doesn’t seem to maximize profit extraction from the masses which one would expect a neoliberally minded elite to do, or try to do. [ 779 more words ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/04/30/the-capitalist-unconscious-is-a-fascist-unconscious-a-brief-introduction/

The capitalist unconscious is a fascist unconscious – a brief introduction Do the elite despise and want to destroy the poor? How can we explain political choices, such as the recent UK economic policies of austerity that stagnates growth and increases unemployment, due t…

A short personal reflection of time spent on team with CPT in Hebron, Palestine, February to March 2020 Both uplifting and over-powering at the same time, being on team with CPT in Hebron is intense and relentless, requiring genuine teamwork, mutual support and quality leadership. My partner, Louise, and I, are CPT reservists based in the UK, we had been to the occupied Palestinian territories (oPts) before, and had completed CPT training in 2018. [ 1,786 more word ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/04/19/reflection-on-time-with-cpt-in-hebron-palestine/

Reflection on time with CPT in Hebron, Palestine A short personal reflection of time spent on team with CPT in Hebron, Palestine, February to March 2020 Both uplifting and over-powering at the same time, being on team with CPT in Hebron is intens…

Very important reasons not to over react to this epidemic

How deadly is coronavirus? It's still far from clear There is room for different interpretations of the data

Land day Palestine - The day in 1976 when Israel resumed the theft of Palestinian Arabs’ land stealing thousands of acres killing several and injuring hundreds of Arab protestors. These thefts are continuing to this day. The world remains silent.

Land day in Palestine 🇵🇸

Covid-19 and lockdown in the UK 24th March 2020. Louise and I in an odd predicament - not long back from militarized oppression in Hebron in the West Bank, we’re in Brighton, UK. Tomorrow we head back towards Elgin, Moray. We can’t go straight there because our house sitters are there. Until the end of April. 5 weeks away. We had to come back early to the UK because our work in Hebron became impossible after the Covid-19 pandemic broke and schools were closed right across the West Bank around the 7th March. [ 1,264 more word ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/03/24/a-covidyssey-ermeticist-poetry-in-a-time-of-crisis/

A Covidyssey: Ermeticist poetry in a time of crisis Covid-19 and lockdown in the UK 24th March 2020. Louise and I in an odd predicament – not long back from militarized oppression in Hebron in the West Bank, we’re in Brighton, UK. Tomorrow we …

There are now articles, e.g. see here even by political leftists crying out for authoritarianism, at its most stark representing a shift towards Stalinism - a perfect fascist storm; the stories being written start by describing the harms of politicians scapegoating the other (currently - the ‘ordinary person in the street’) apparently to deflect criticism, as the virus spreads, from the government’s failings due to, or so the stories claim, the lack of diktat, rules and authoritative ‘action’ to enforce social distancing and… [ 700 more words ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/03/25/coronavirus-and-scapegoating-the-ordinary-person/

Coronavirus and scapegoating the ordinary person There are now articles, e.g. see here even by political leftists crying out for authoritarianism, at its most stark representing a shift towards Stalinism – a perfect fascist storm; the stori…

The double-bind facing capitalist society Fascism and bio-politics (corona); Sotiris discusses the possibility that community reactions to the coronavirus pandemic may occur through non-coercive democratic decision making and not necessarily through apparently successful totalitarian decisions that are creating Agamben’s states of exception necessitating increasingly coercive surveillance and securitisation. I just note here that Netanyahu in Israel has just announced that cyber-tracking of people’s movement will be used to ensure inefficiency to quarantine restrictions and that the loss of personal freedom to privacy is a ‘worthwhile sacrifice’. [ 996 more words ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/03/16/coronavirus-love-and-capitalism-a-recipe-for-fascism/

Coronavirus, love and capitalism : a recipe for fascism The double-bind facing capitalist society Fascism and bio-politics (corona); Sotiris discusses the possibility that community reactions to the coronavirus pandemic may occur through non-coercive de…

On March 4, CPTers were at Salaymeh 160 checkpoint monitoring the children leaving schools for home. One soldier, claiming to be "special forces", was seen running, chasing young children unprovoked, aged 6/7yrs old through the streets. Additionally, the soldier continually harrased other Palestinian community members. At one point, he aggresively brandished his firearm in a threatening manner at a Palestinian man who was carrying about 5 bags of onions. [ 403 more words ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/03/12/the-bullying-behaviour-of-the-iof-and-the-immoral-ideology-behind-it/

The bullying behaviour of the IOF and the immoral ideology behind it On March 4, CPTers were at Salaymeh 160 checkpoint monitoring the children leaving schools for home. One soldier, claiming to be “special forces”, was seen running, chasing young childr…

“Can 21st century fascism resolve the capitalist crisis?” In this chapter I draw from some points made by William Robinson in his article in March 2020, which argues that a global police state and 21st century fascism are the responses of an international ruling class to the crisis of the world capitalist system. I argue that there is truth in this, and point out that, in particular Israel is both an exception so far because of the dominance of Zionism ideology at the state political level and is also an important global player because it facilitates permanent war - one mechanism for sustaining outlets for profitable transnational investment for over-accumulated capital, through its nationalist and expansionist polyvalent blend of secular right-wing and religious (Christian as well as Jewish) fundamental fear-mongering and myth-reliant xenophobia. [ 705 more words ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/03/09/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism-in-the-21st-century-part-11-the-crisis-of-global-transnational-capitalism-and-nationalism/

The Mass Psychology of Fascism in the 21st Century – part 11 – the crisis of global transnational capitalism and nationalism “Can 21st century fascism resolve the capitalist crisis?” In this chapter I draw from some points made by William Robinson in his article in March 2020, which argues that a global police state and …

“In the Gaza Strip there are 8,000 permanently disabled young men as a result of the snipers’ actions. Some are leg amputees, and the shooters are very proud of that. None of the snipers interviewed for Hilo Glazer’s frightening story in Haaretz (March 6) has any regrets. If they are feeling at all apologetic it’s because they didn’t spill more blood.” [ 439 more words ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/03/08/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism-in-the-21st-century-part-10-the-israeli-sniper-has-no-moral-compass/

The Mass Psychology of Fascism in the 21st Century – part 10 – the Israeli sniper has no moral compass “In the Gaza Strip there are 8,000 permanently disabled young men as a result of the snipers’ actions. Some are leg amputees, and the shooters are very proud of that. None of the snipers interviewe…

2/3/2020 A blog on the Old Testamenf as ur- or proto-fascist. Lacanian analysis - the quest for surplus grace, embodied in the agitated gait of the neurotic religious fundamentalist. The Name of the (God)Father - to suffer violence is good because you are a sinner, your sin makes you vulnerable to envy of others, makes you seek identity in a kind of nationalist-ethnic holy congregation, and this identity of precarity/security also demands surplus grace and surplus security through ever more devotion, more sacrifice, and more militarisation and attacks against the enemy - which is justified by imagining the other always as enemy - the other ethnicity, arbitrary or convenient, that is imagined to seek your total destruction. [ 1,128 more word ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/03/04/the-old-testament-is-a-blueprint-for-ur-fascism/

The Old Testament is a blueprint for ur-fascism 2/3/2020 A blog on the Old Testamenf as ur- or proto-fascist. Lacanian analysis – the quest for surplus grace, embodied in the agitated gait of the neurotic religious fundamentalist. The Name…

February 23rd 2020 Two very disturbing images in Hebron today. The most disturbing by far is the apartheid checkpoint at checkpoint 160, or Salaymeh; the second, less disturbing but pretty strange was this goat. After the school run we had a call to say that soldiers had invaded a house in the Old City in order to gain access to the roof. [ 179 more words ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/02/23/disturbing-hebron-february-2020/

Disturbing Hebron February 2020 February 23rd 2020 Two very disturbing images in Hebron today. The most disturbing by far is the apartheid checkpoint at checkpoint 160, or Salaymeh; the second, less disturbing but pretty strange …

This, the weekly settler tour, is a confusing experience for us, foreigners from the UK, here in Hebron, Palestine. We are new to this, working for CPT (Christian Peacemaker Teams), and struggle to make sense of this place and these events. Each week, the IDF (Israeli Defense Force .. the most moral army in the world according to the Israeli State, and note that we distinguish between the Israeli state and the Israeli people), the IDF gather and emerge from their camps and bases behind the checkpoints to 'es**rt' guard, and enable, an invasion by an uninvited, and un-permitted group of Jewish people. [ 570 more words ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/02/22/monitoring-the-settler-tour-hebron-february-2020-palestine/

Monitoring the settler tour Hebron, February 2020, Palestine This, the weekly settler tour, is a confusing experience for us, foreigners from the UK, here in Hebron, Palestine. We are new to this, working for CPT (Christian Peacemaker Teams), and struggle to…

Opinion In Endorsement of Fascist Billboards, Nave Dromi Showed Her True Face. And That of Israel Billboard in Tel Aviv reading 'Peace is made only with defeated enemies.' This billboard depicts: ... billboards we hung that showed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas defeated. according to Nave Dromi the head of the Israel Victory Project, a project of the Middle East Forum-Israel. [ 340 more words ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/02/21/what-fascism-looks-like-2-israel/

What fascism looks like – 2 – Israel Opinion In Endorsement of Fascist Billboards, Nave Dromi Showed Her True Face. And That of Israel Billboard in Tel Aviv reading ‘Peace is made only with defeated enemies.’ This billboar…

The Old City of Hebron (see map above) is one of the places where Israel's military invasion of the land of Greater Palestine is most visible and materially experienced, in all its inhumane brutality. This brutality includes severe restrictions on freedom of movement, body and bag searches - of Palestinians (but not, of course, of the Jewish settlers who have colonised Hebron's H2 High Security Zone (H2 HSZ). [ 683 more words ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/02/20/what-does-fascism-look-like-photos-from-the-mosque-check-point-hebron/

What does fascism look like – photos from the mosque check point Hebron The Old City of Hebron (see map above) is one of the places where Israel’s military invasion of the land of Greater Palestine is most visible and materially experienced, in all its inhumane b…

This is a perspective from a CPT white male reservist from the UK, so bear in mind that this is through a lens of passport, white and male 'privilege'. In other words bear in mind I cannot know what Palestinians feel about these issues. I have deliberately chosen a day without extreme violence or clashes etc. to emphasise the routine and everyday structural violence of the occupation and settler colonisation. [ 1,032 more word ]
http://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/02/14/a-day-on-call-with-cpt-in-hebron-palestine-february-2020/

A day on call with CPT in Hebron, Palestine – February 2020 This is a perspective from a CPT white male reservist from the UK, so bear in mind that this is through a lens of passport, white and male ‘privilege’. In other words bear in mind I can…

The sense of place of Hebron is being poisoned by Zionist nationalism and xenophobia - Arab identity is threatened and this is generating more anger.
https://myownprivatemedicine.com/2020/02/06/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism-in-the-21st-century-part-6-the-sense-of-place-and-identity-in-hebron/

The Mass Psychology of Fascism in the 21st Century – part 6 : The Sense of Place and Identity in Hebron Fascism is racist, and settler colonisation with ethnic cleansing breeds hatred and more racism. This is one of the features indicative of fascism. In Hebron a city of 200 000 there is the Old City…