By Andrej Nikolaidis, CdM columnist
One of the conspiracy theories about the coronavirus says: the Chinese created the virus in order to rule the world.
The other one says: the Americans created it in order to prevent the inevitable – China to become the most powerful country in the world.
Both narratives are echoes of stories that weren’t just said but actually happened (or, to be more precise: they didn’t just happen, but were told as well).
The first is a variation of the plague story that arrived in Genoa from China, via the Silk Road.
The second is a version of a story about a virus, a biological weapon that enabled Westerners to conquer the US.
The latter is less known so we’ll elaborate on it.
It’s 12 October 1492. Columbus landed on the coast of San Salvador. Members of the Taino people bring him gifts wanting to say: we welcome you in peace, we hope you come in peace.
By 1548, only 500 living Taino natives remained. When Columbus arrived, according to some sources, several million of them lived there. They were killed by the flu and smallpox.
These were gifts that a man to whom they handed parrots, jewelry and fabrics brought to them.
In April 1520, Spanish soldiers brought smallpox to Mexico. Only two months later, Cortez’s troops triumphantly entered the Aztec capital. The city had no one to defend. The bodies of sick defenders laid in the streets.
Cortez was greeted in his chambers by the Aztec ruler, not at all ceremoniously, alone and dead.
New world, old death.
The Montenegrin variant of the story about the disease, death and infections is somewhat different from the aforementioned.
Yes, the disease was necessary for Montenegro to fall. Two diseases, actually. One caused by a virus. And the other which causes rot, from which the caste that ruled the country became ill. What Lacan noticed as a feature of the phallus – powerful but hollow – was totally valid for their governance. So hollow that when Amfilohije kicked, it rolled into the past like an empty can of Campbell’s soup.
However, in order for Montenegro to fall, in addition to the rot of its reluctant defenders, who fled in front of Amfilohije’s army at a speed only slightly lower than the one with which the Afghan army dispersed in front of the Taliban, a perfect storm was needed. The virus, Trump, Vucic, Russia, the dormant, but therefore no less imperial EU and, finally, the disastrous tourism season in a perfect synergy. All this so that the Montenegrin government could be defeated in the election, which, to be frank, looked more like humus than anything solid. All this, so that the rot would lose the elections for only one seat.
When the “liberators” began to butcher the country, they realized that the “defenders” had left them little work: whatever they wanted to destroy, their predecessors had already done it.
However, the virus “worked” in favor of the new ones and against the old rulers. That was clear to the leaders of the winning blocs: it’s why they spread the virus whenever and as much as they could, gathering their men in religious processions, then sending them to spread the virus across the country. All the way to victory.
They conquered the country, but could not get rid of the virus.
Therefore, they decided to ignore it.
In the beginning, the strategy paid off: the summer attracted tourists, that is, the money.
Tourists are now leaving and locals stay, and hundreds of them are waiting to be tested for the virus. In Ulcinj, a hometown of the happiest of winners, every 20 and likely every 10 residents is being infected.
People are dying: many people are dying. No one pays attention: you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs, they say.
What distinguishes the Montenegrin story about the virus as a weapon of enslavement from others? The virus, as a bioweapon, is basically used to attack the enemy. In Montenegro, it was used against its own population. In Montenegro, its own population is treated as an enemy.
When Dritan Abazovic said yesterday that the Sea Dance festival – which is going to leave hundreds and thousands struggling with the infection – would be the crown of the season, he didn’t lie.
Dehumanized rhythms of a software algorithm, synthetic drugs, light effects that block the cognitive function of the brain: this whole hi-tech tribal gathering is a colossal celebration of a simple principle: people don’t matter.
The virus rules Montenegro.
