None of these people will be relinquishing power; Covid is their power. It's their permanent solution to rigging the system.
There is no going back.
Honestly, these people - and people like them - have been trying to find a solution to the problem democracy represents for them since the 1970s. They've finally, it seems, hit on the key to unlock this particular puzzle. For now. Now it's down to how quickly they can entrench this new feudalism and ultimately how fast the older generations can be removed from public discourse - too slow, and the younger generations might even learn the feudalism is not the only type of government.
Honestly, these people - and people like them - have been trying to find a solution to the problem democracy represents for them since the 1970s. They've finally, it seems, hit on the key to unlock this particular puzzle. For now. Now it's down to how quickly they can entrench this new feudalism and ultimately how fast the older generations can be removed from public discourse - too slow, and the younger generations might even learn the feudalism is not the only type of government.