My writings - and those of others.
What Freedom Means
We don’t have a line in our national anthem such as “the land of the free and the home of the brave” as our neighbors to the south have. But it is certainly causing more problems in America than in Canada over the right to be free from vaccinations. After a slow start, Canadians are now ahead with nearly 60% fully vaccinated and 71% with one dose according to Covid-19 Tracker Canada. 26,601 have died since the beginning of the pandemic as opposed to 613,000 in the US. Ours is roughly a tenth of the US population.
Yes, we have unvaccinated people - some who oppose for supposedly religious reasons, some with difficulty of access. But generally people have been supportive and appreciative of the opportunity to contribute to their own health and that of others. When restrictions are lifted quickly, some are quick to object to the speed of it.
Contrast that with Florida where 10,000 are currently in the hospital. Its governor insists that “the left are coming for your freedom” if anyone thinks that regulations should be tighter. Freedom is about personal choice.
Sometimes of course we are highly selective about personal choice. The Canadian government more than a hundred years ago thought that it could convert its first nations population to its own cultural values and exerted its privilege. It’s taken us a long time to realize that was wrong. We can argue about the size of government, but in some circumstances we recognize a responsibility to introduce policies that protect the majority of people. As Paul Krugman observes in a column in the New York Times this morning:
“Well, driving drunk is also a personal choice. But almost everyone understands that it’s a personal choice that endangers others; 97 percent of the public considers driving while impaired by alcohol a serious problem. Why don’t we have the same kind of unanimity on refusing to get vaccinated, a choice that helps perpetuate the pandemic and puts others at risk?”
It appears that carrots - like $100 for laggards - are not working - and the previous compliant ones don’t see why their tax dollars should support such practice. What does seem to have an effect are sticks like consequences. You can be as unvaccinated as you want, but expect that to affect your ability to come to work, to enter a theatre, bar or arena, or avoid being tested a couple of times a week with an unpleasant procedure. It’s not only freedom lovers who get to make the rules.
Krugman goes on to say that “freedom” often just means “privilege” for people who are also white, male and sometimes Christian. Freedom can never be divorced from responsibility or consequence.