What's the Big Deal About Freedom?

I complain a lot on social media. Sometimes I feel bad about it, but not that often. I've probably lost a lot of “friends” on account of my bitching, but I've likely gained some like-minded ones as well, so I guess it evens out.

All I know is that people used to argue with me more than they do now. Either that's because I used to be more controversial than I am now, or those particular people just left the building. I haven't changed, so I'm guessing it's the latter. Another possibility is that there are still people on my list that don't agree with everything I say (can you imagine?) but they just keep their mouths shut - either because they see me as some crackpot conspiracy theorist who shouldn't be engaged with, or they're just really not sure where exactly I'm wrong - only that somehow I must be. Surely in some way I must be. In either case, I guess they stick around for the show, but I genuinely do like to be challenged on the things I say because it always makes me delve deeper into why I think that way. More often than not, it makes me more convinced of my stance, but sometimes I do change my mind as well. This is what it's all about.

When I think about why I post the stuff I do and write what I write, the theme that ties everything together is Freedom (yes, with a capital F). Yeah, yeah, I know it's another overused word and it's even become a dirty word in some Canadian circles after the Freedom Convoy in February. It sorta blows my mind that the same people who have no problem calling someone a woman who is obviously a man, and are cool with dozens of new genders that require serious mental gymnastics to comprehend - these same people get all bent out of shape when a rallying cry of “FREEDOM” cramps their style because it's been “co-opted by the far right”. Some aren't even sure if they can identify with the Canadian flag after that protest. Said one Ottawa resident when asked about hanging a Canadian flag in his yard, "People could think that I'm someone with fringe ideas -- like anti-vaxxers and things like that.”

Why? Because the media told you so? Because other Canadians who are really just like you happened to take a stand for something you thought was unnecessary?

It's pretty sad when we feel we can't love the things we love simply because that love is shared by someone we don't agree with. What gives anyone the right to tell you what you should think about anything - especially about things like this?

I'm a little tired of people saying stuff like, “What's the big deal? It's not like we don't have other rules that cramp our freedoms…” and other ignorant drivel.

Really? I have to presume they're not specifically talking about rules like: don’t steal stuff from the liquor store, dont go burning your neighbor’s house down, and please stop killing people. These are rules that pretty much everyone already agrees are beneficial to us all, regardless of your station in life. What they're usually referring to is stuff like: seatbelts and other traffic rules; not letting your dog poop on the sidewalk; wearing your corrective lenses while driving; and not having that 5th shot of whisky before you head home for lunch in your pickup truck.

Yes, these rules do cramp some people's styles but evidently, so do the ones about killing people and burning their houses down...

The fact is, the vast majority of the population is absolutely fine with these laws and there are actual legitimate reasons for them that can be scientifically proven. So, I don't even want to get into the main differences between these and being forced to stick a needle in your arm. That horse has been pretty much beat to death at this point.

If you're still wondering what’s so big about Freedom, maybe when you're done reading this, you can check out The Natural State of Everything, which will explain that what we take for granted here today, wouldn't last the month without constant attention, because when you put people in charge of other people, Freedom is not the natural state.

So, when I heard that they had developed a Covid vaccine, I figured, “Great, maybe I'll get it, maybe I won't,” but I was hardly concerned about getting sick. Yeah, I'm in my early fifties, but I'm a pretty healthy guy - maybe healthier than the average fifty-year-old so I figured if I did get Covid, I'd likely recover within a week or two and I'd be fine. My wife was the one who convinced me to get it based on the fact that since I'm self-employed, we really can't afford for me to lose a week or two of work if it came to that, and I grudgingly agreed. I made this decision based on available information and on what I believed was best for me and my family.

When I then heard that the vaccine was going to be mandatory (and in case you're not aware, “mandatory” in this sense means it's impossible to live a normal life here without it) - when I heard it was going to be mandatory, I immediately had second thoughts about taking it at all. I still ended up taking it, and against every bit of decency in my soul, I also got the certificate to prove I had taken it. But every time I had to show that card (like when I wanted to go into a restaurant, which thankfully wasn't very often) I had to bite my tongue pretty damn hard so I wouldn't tear a strip off the poor schlepp who was just doing his job.

During this time, social media was full of pictures of people posing with their brand new, shiny stickers that said some version of, “I’M COVID-19 VACCINATED!” in a variety of languages, often in front of a special backdrop that the government had set up at the vaccine site.

It was the ultimate virtue-signal that also served as free advertising for the government's vaccine agenda. It was really an ingenious bit of propaganda. Those who didn't post this type of picture were instantly under suspicion simply by opting out of this obligatory selfie. By the way, I never posted such a picture, so it likely kept people guessing.

Here's the lesson in tribalism I took during this time:

1. People love being part of a special club and will shout it to whomever will listen.

2. People who are part of a special club also love it when they can point out those who are not part of their club.

3. People in special clubs love team merch like shiny stickers and certificates with their names on them.

The whole time this was going on, I wanted to just rip my hair out, and if I actually had any, I probably would have. It was such an obvious overstep by our government, but still the majority of people seemed perfectly alright with it. In fact, way too many of them joined in the mob that was started by our own Prime Minister in “denouncing” and “calling out” those “anti-vaxxers” in our midst. Of course the vast majority of these people weren't anti-vaxxers at all, but simply citizens who were not convinced that taking a hastily produced vaccine was wise, or even needed, let alone something that should be made mandatory.

Most of the "discussion" that happened around this topic was (and likely still is) completely missing the point, in my opinion. My gut feeling and my general demeanor was, and still is basically this:

I really don't give a rat's ass if Justin Trudeau has the frickin' Fountain of Youth flowing out of Parliament Hill. They can offer it to me and I'll drink it if I want to, or I'll choose not to. But if they want to force me to drink it and I'm not ready to, they can kiss my ass.

This was my standard reply to anyone who dared ask my opinion at the time, and it's likely responsible for at least one de-friending. Oh well.

It's a little sad that many of these people who were at first "vaccine hesitant" became totally opposed to the Covid vaccine as soon as it became mandatory. But to me this is such a perfect example of just how little emphasis we put on the importance of making our own decisions until that ability is taken from us. It's also pretty good evidence of what happens when our government oversteps it's authority. This is even more striking when you consider that a good portion of these vaccine hesitant people are well educated, many with PhDs, regardless of how the media attempted to portray them.

So, after almost two years of lockdown after lockdown, ridiculous rules and what seemed like a deliberate attempt by the government to destroy thousands of small businesses, and very little pushback from the general populace, the stage was set for the Freedom Convoy.

Personally, I think a big part of what helped set this stage was the fact that it seemed like no one was willing to speak out against the obvious bullshit, and those who did were shouted into submission or maligned online. That was the most maddening thing of all to me.

In light of all of this, it's easy to see why two thirds of Canadians polled approved of the Emergencies Act at the time. They simply were people who were either completely taken in by the media narrative or they were just totally disengaged. By the way, that number is much smaller now and is poised to get a whole lot smaller yet over the next month or two while the Emergencies Act Inquiry is going on. You won't want to miss that.

So anyway, after the preceding two years, the prospect of a couple weeks of draconian war measures was nothing if it meant getting rid of those nasty racists and misogynists trying to overthrow the government with bouncy castle fortresses. Obviously, government propaganda and the CBC as a willing accomplice played a huge role in this.

As much as “progressives” trumpet the virtue of “tolerance”, the obvious state of North America right now is anything but. In fact, it is a distinct lack of tolerance that typifies most of this part of the world. So it's no surprise that as our collective tolerance decreases, so does our willingness to allow what’s required for freedom.

Mark Manson said it very well in his excellent book, “Everything is F*cked”:

Freedom itself demands discomfort. It demands dissatisfaction. Because the freer a society becomes, the more each person will be forced to reckon and compromise with views and lifestyles and ideas that conflict with their own.

Yeah, no shit. If you can't even handle someone innocently asking where you're from or unintentionally using the wrong pronoun to describe you when you're not even in the room, how in the hell would you tolerate anything in this country that was even remotely different from your sheltered little group with its pathetic little echo chamber? How can you advocate for any kind of freedom at all if all you care about is yourself?

Freedom is a scary thing, because it carries with it the inherent risk that our freedoms may impinge on someone else's freedom, or at the very least inconvenience or offend someone else. If you're not even willing to take that chance, for the very low price of a little bit of tolerance, then you don't deserve to reap any of its benefits either.

As I said, freedom is scary because you just can't be sure what your neighbor is going to do tomorrow. He might decide to paint his house pink and purple, or maybe even put up a Canadian flag - who knows? The good news is that you can paint your house any damn colour you want too, and also put up almost any kind of flag you want. Like, which country would you rather live in? Pick one and put its flag in your window. You can even move there if you want.

Thankfully, as scary as this concept is, it's been proven over and over again in every single part of the world that it's well worth the effort and it's well worth the risk. And most people in this world can only dream of what we have here.

That's the big deal about Freedom, and as I said, it's hardly the natural state, so perhaps we ought to be keeping a better eye on it.

More from BloOfKen:

There is No Freedom Without Freedom of Speech

What Will it Take to Recover from Our Pandemic Response?

Canada's Vaccine Passport Policy Backed by Misinformation and Fraudulent Study