Wednesday, April 17, 2024
The BRATS movement
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The BRATS movement
An attempt to identify the movement that arose out of the dissatisfaction with the covid-19 shutdown in 2020 - 2021.
The movement naturally lost momentum as society reopened over 2021 and 2022, but it did not disappear. It was as if the whole society had changed and everyone was finding it difficult to get back into their old ways after the shutdown years.
Those who had come together in the resistance against the shutdowns and the vaccination program had gained a completely new view of society and of the things that went on behind the scenes in society both locally and globally.
The movement found new areas of focus, but it was the same impulse and the same realization that supported the people who had come together in it.
The 1 May event in Fælledparken tries to draw a portrait of this movement. To give a picture of what characterizes it.
What is the BRATS movement?
BRATS stands for "Betrayal Recognizing And Truth Seeking" which in Danish becomes "Bedrags Erkendende og Sandhedsøgende". BRATS is also the English word for "brats" and it is also the name of a legendary Danish punk band from the late seventies.
The abbreviation BRATS was created in an attempt to give a name to a movement that took shape during the Covid-19 shutdowns all over the world.
The BRATS movement is a movement made up of people who, based on the covid interventions in society, have become aware that we in the west are exposed to extensive and coordinated propaganda.
A propaganda that has crept into every corner of our society without us noticing.
A propaganda that can be compared nicely with the propaganda that is so well described from the defunct Soviet Union, where everything from the general news coverage to the school's history education was twisted and angled to influence - and shape the population's perception of reality.
There has been a tendency in the press and in the public debate to portray the people who participated in demonstrations against the Covid-19 shutdowns as delusional and angry delusional cultivators. Often linked together with words like radical, violent and far-right.
That representation does not correspond to reality. In fact, the BRATS movement does not differ significantly from other communities of opinion in society.
The movement is just as concerned with finding workable solutions to current problems as other communities of opinion are.
The movement reflects a fundamental doubt about the real intentions of the authorities, about their credibility and about the truth value of the stories brought by the mainstream media.
The movement is on the trail of the underlying agenda. It has become aware that we are being exposed to a coordinated manipulation emanating from the authorities and mainstream media, but what is the purpose of this propaganda and what is the underlying agenda?
The BRATS movement questions pretty much everything we thought we knew.
It can be very anxiety-provoking to question the notions that constitute our perception of reality, but it is legitimate to do so and therefore there should also be room for the BRATS movement on an equal footing with the other communities of opinion on 1 May in Fælledparken.
Test your knowledge of the BRATS movement
It's a name I came up with in an attempt to characterize the movement that emerged as a rather significant subculture both at home and abroad in the spring of 2020, when most countries in the world shut down and introduced strict restrictions in connection with the procla- increased Covid-19 pandemic.
A subculture that questioned the truth value of the narrative put forward by politicians, experts and the media as justification for the restrictions. A subculture that took to the streets and demonstrated and made its mark on social media all over the world. A subculture that did not disappear even after all countries had lifted their restrictions.
I would venture the claim that this subculture is on the rise all over the world today. Its ideas are becoming more and more widespread in the wider society.
The guide here is intended for people who have not themselves been part of this movement. People who have viewed it from the outside as a trend of the times.
The guide has been written in a sincere attempt to reflect the movement's values and framework of understanding by a person who has himself been part of the movement right from the start.
The guide goes through 19 widespread ideas about the movement that arose out of the Covid-19 shutdowns and briefly tries to elaborate, nuance, confirm or deny them.
The BRATS movement is a varied and complex movement and the values I extract/mention here will not cover everyone. It is an attempt to reflect some ongoing trends.
Here you can test your knowledge of the BRATS movement:
1. BRATS er "flat earthers"!
There is actually a proportion of the BRATS movement who believe that the earth is flat. However, it is not the majority, perhaps 10 - 15 percent of the movement.
2. BRATS are anti-Semitic!
It is wrong. There abounds in the BRATS movement a sea of different frameworks of understanding which involve some Jewish conspiracies concerning Ashkenazi Judaism, Musat and Israel. However, there is no consensus on these different theories and in general one cannot speak of anti-Semitism in the movement. There are actually quite a few Jews who are an active part of the movement.
3. BRATS believes that Onkel Reje (famous Danish kids TV host) grooms children in to Satanism.
At least some in the brads movement do. Most people in the movement probably agree that Onkel Reje is an expression of an unhealthy trend in children's television.
4. BRATS are racists!
This is also a misunderstanding. Many BRATS are skeptical of immigration because they see it as part of an agenda that is about moving people around, creating chaos and breaking down the national identity, but this cannot be equated with a racist attitude.
5. BRATS belongs to the far right!
That is not correct. BRATS generally comes from many different political orientations and cannot be divided on a simple right-left scale. Having said that, there is a tendency in the movement to look back towards more traditional values, which are, after all, values that are most often represented by the political right wing. However, this does not apply to the royal house, which most BRATS are skeptical about.
6. BRATS are preppers!
I think you can say yes to that. Most BRATS prepare in different ways for different crisis scenarios.
7. BRATS think the royals are "reptilian".
No. The reptile theory, which David Icke, among others, has put forward is not particularly widespread in the BRATS environment.
8. BRATS are Qanons!
There can be no doubt that the ideas shared in the American Qanon movement have had a great influence on the BRATS environment. However, there is also great skepticism towards Qanon and it is my assessment that there are virtually no declared Qanons in the Danish BRATS movement.
9. BRATS are "antivaxers"!
I think you can say yes to that. It is not certain that they are against all vaccines, but they are all very critical of the Covid-19 vaccines.
10. BRATS are climate deniers!
I think I dare say yes to that too. Most BRATS do not believe the widespread stories about the greenhouse effect and man-made climate change.
11. BRATS are paranoid!
That is not correct. During the Covid shutdown, the BRATS movement was precisely characterized by being fearless in relation to the risk of being infected with Covid-19. They walked around without protective equipment, they physically met many people and gave each other big, long hugs. You can talk about BRATS being concerned about some other things than those mainstream culture is concerned about, but you can't say that they are generally paranoid.
12. BRATS is ready for violence!
There is a strong anger in large parts of the BRATS movement towards the authorities, media people, civil servants and politicians who are believed to have exposed the population to deception and manipulation which has cost division, pain, sorrow, death and destruction. However, the BRATS movement cannot be described as a violent movement. It is first and foremost an information movement. The participants in the movement hope to be able to "wake up" their fellow human beings so that they "speak out" against the destructive measures emanating from the media and authorities.
13. BRATS are Trump supporters!
Donald Trump seems to be a person who divides the waters above all. This is also the case in the BRATS milieu. You certainly cannot generalize the BRATS community as Trump supporters even if there are Trump supporters in the movement.
14. BRATS are Putin supporters!
It is true that most people in the BRATS environment are very skeptical of the Western media's portrayal of the war in Ukraine and the portrayal of Putin as a supervillain. However, there is also skepticism towards Putin in large parts of the BRATS environment and it would be misleading to generally understand BRATS as Putinists.
15. BRATS are anti-authority extremists!
The police intelligence service PET has invented the term anti-authority extremists and associates this term with the BRATS movement. It is absolutely true that in the BRATS environment there is a great deal of skepticism towards the authorities. It is also true that in large parts of the environment there is great anger towards both the authorities, the media, banks and large business conglomerates. But BRATS, as previously mentioned, are generally not violent. It is an enlightenment movement. The key words are recognition and dissemination. The movement wants to warn about manipulation and hidden agendas.
16. BRATS is a menace to society!
Most BRATS want what they see as a deeply corrupt power system to go away, but they are not interested in this happening through a violent takeover. They want an "awakening". They want the general population to realize that they have been led astray and that, on that basis, a process is initiated against the corrupt power system. Nor do they want a comprehensive destabilization of society. On the contrary, they want to secure infrastructures and supply lines, so no, BRATS does not pose a threat to society - they warn of a threat to society.
17. BRATS love conspiracy theories. Everything has interest just as long as it is wild and deviates from the official explanation!
The perception of reality that the BRATS movement is aiming for is so fundamentally different compared to the mainstream perception that it can look as if BRATS cultivated conspiracy theories for the sake of conspiracy theories. However, this is not the case. BRATS generally tries to create a more realistic picture of reality. The theories that seem to be relevant to this project are open to the environment. But there is also a large critical review of the material that is shared. There are very few BRATS who live up to the myth of a person who cannot accommodate the realities of life and therefore seeks refuge in imaginative theories of every kind that they find on the Internet.
18. BRATS does not believe in the moon landing!
It is true. Most people in the BRATS movement believe that the moon landing in 1969 was fake.
19. BRATS are transphobic and homophobic!
Funnily enough, the movement contains some prominent homosexuals, transgenders and cross-dressers. Professor Jordan Petersen from Howard University in the USA speaks for the fact that the modern "woke" Culture has replaced the concept of gender and the concept of identity in an unfortunate way, and this is probably an attitude shared by most of the BRATS movement.
