Over the weekend, some street artwork appeared in the District of Calamity which raised me eyebrows. While it is not uncommon for fringe activists to paste notices of happenings on lamp posts, exposed brick walls and even some sidewalks. In a city which voted 95% for Democrats, the scrawled "Fuck Trump" graffiti was commonplace. And in response to the rioting in cities during the summer of 2020, Downtown DC even commissioned local artists to paint "Black Lives Matter" on boarded up building windows.
With that in mind, it was remarkable to see peoples' propaganda that was not progressive street art as the oeuvres satirized "Scientism" and compliance in response to COVID-19.
Even though we are bombarded by progressive platitudes that "All are welcome" and "Co-exist", as well as the notion that we are supposed to accept challenging artwork, even if it offends us, it did not take long for people to rip down "right wing" things which run contrary to their weltanschaaung.
Several years ago, conservative street artist Sabo skewered Tinseltown (a.k.a. L.A.) with some provocative posters just before the Oscars noting how political correctness is killing their box office. However, in Fantasyland on the Potomac (a.k.a. DC) the Soviet styled counter COVID agiprop really hits home, as it seems like insulated, unelected Commissars (like Fauci) have a profound effect on the US body politic. Moreover, the artwork questions the current regimes instinct to demand compliance because "it's science!", even if the underlying facts are contrary to the ukases.
What seems particularly poignant is the poster about the children. Newly inaugurated Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) fulfilled a campaign promise to prohibit mandatory masking of children in schools, even though some Northern Virginia school districts, such as Fairfax and Arlington counties, vowed to defy this executive order. There is increasing evidence that most masks are ineffective against COVID-19, even if they are properly worn (which is questionable with school children all day). This agiprop highlights that masking may not mainly be about public health concerns but indoctrination of ideology and inculcation of authoritarianism.
What may be a better barometer as to how this agiprop is received by the public may be show in the Defeat the Mandate DC rally on Sunday January 23rd on the National Mall. Of course the mainstream media will mostly ignore this gathering, like the National Right to Life March. But if this rally against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and vaccine passports is able to muster a giant crowd. it will demonstrate the unpopularity of authoritarian "answers" to a public health crisis.
H/T: @LeighWolf via Twitter
@neontaster (Noam Wolf) via Twitter
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