The 2022 Truckers' Protest (also called the Freedom Convoy or Trucker Convoy) is an ongoing protest movement and blockade being carried out mostly by truckers in response to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.[1] It has since grown to represent opposition to COVID-19 restrictions in general, not just vaccine mandates.
Reactions
From the left
Various left wing voices have criticized the convoy for its class character being aligned with small businesses and owner-operators, as well as the political content of the convoy lacking in correct analysis about the real root cause of alienation felt by the truckers; namely the trend of declining real wages and working conditions.[2]
The class character has been further called into question as journalists have investigated the sources of donations, which tend to be wealthy conservatives.[3]
From the liberal-bourgeois center
The convoy has received criticism from the capitalist bourgeois press for opposing vaccine mandates.
The accusations of right-wing reactionary thought are prevalent among the capitalist class, which has sought to rebrand itself as "socially liberal" and "woke" while still maintaining the capitalist system of exploitation which drives workers into anger at the status quo.
From the right
The right wing has been a primary supporter of the movement, seeing the opportunity afforded to them to expand their influence due to the fact that the left wing socialist parties have very little influence among the working class in Canada.[4]
References
- ↑ "‘Freedom Convoy’: Who Is behind It and Why Does the Media Attack Them? – RT RELATED". RT.
- ↑ Adam King (2022-02-04). "The Trucker Convoy Is Not A Workers’ Revolt" Passage. Archived from the original.
- ↑ @BenjaminNorton "As was obvious from the beginning, there is more and more proof that the right-wing so-called "freedom convoy" in Canada is funded by rich conservatives in the US: "The richer an American community was, the more likely residents there were to donate"" (Needs archive link)
- ↑ Oliver Darcy (2022-02-09). "Right-wing media offers fawning coverage of Canadian truckers as it encourages similar protest in US" CNN. Archived from the original.