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Stigmatizing Freedom
It’s become increasingly obvious — especially since March 2020 — that leftism/progressivism is an authoritarian ideology with zero tolerance for dissent or unapproved non-conformity. The left has gotten so comfortable in their disdain for individual freedom that they’re just coming out and saying it: “Why the word ‘freedom’ is such a useful rallying cry for protesters. The word has become common among far-right groups, experts say.”
* Note: “Experts say” is journalistic code for “this is what the reporter thinks so she sought out some academics who agree with her.” And “Far Right” is journalistic code for “Anyone to the right of Xi Jinping.”)
Evan Balgord, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, says the way many protesters frame their calls for freedom renders the word meaningless — and what they’re really asking for is a shift in government policy that could potentially have a negative impact on others.
“When they’re yelling they care so much about their freedom, they’re taking freedoms away from other people who don’t have the same kind of agency and choice that they do,” he said.
The expert goes on to not say what freedoms they are taking away from other people, and the reporter doesn’t ask. Also, if you believe in freedom, you’re a racist.
“On the far right, [individual freedom] is often translated into somebody who refuses to be bound by norms of equality, treating all people equally or norms to remedy inequality, whether that’s trying to remedy racial discrimination or gender discrimination.”
Even though this article is Canadian, the sentiment against freedom is international. On the US side, here’s former Republican Joe Scarborough railing against freedom on his MSNBC show.
“Hyperindividualism. Do what you want to do. No common good. Nothing that’s spelled out even in — in — in — in — in — in the — the preamble of the Constitution … I have my right to do what I want to do. I don’t give a damn about anybody else’s”
And he’s not talking about an individual asserting a freedom to loot a business or burn down a police station. (Those are okay.) He’s talking about an individual who objects to being forced by the Government to be injected with a largely ineffective vaccine with unknown side effects because of hysteria over a respiratory infection with a 99& survival rate. (Higher if you haven’t already exceeded normal human life expectancy despite multiple co-morbidities.)
Published in General
Just another example of how corrupted our language has become in the hands of the Left. To say that freedom is really selfish and discriminating against others is abhorrent. Hail, Freedom!
So true . . .
These people should spend some time watching old World War II movies when “One for all and all for one” dominated American life.
It’s not one or the other. It’s both. And it works. It’s always been the strength of our country. People around the world have never understood us.
This has been the terrible price of globalization–a globalization of the most widely held belief system. In the global election of ideas that are acceptable to be held, ours has lost just by sheer numbers alone.
It hasn’t been gone too long from the United States (it never existed meaningfully anywhere else). Perhaps we can get it back somehow.
Hate. def. The belief that governments have no business coercing citizens into medical procedures to which they object.
“[N]orms to remedy inequality.” Tremble.
Victor Tango: “The left has gotten so comfortable in their disdain for individual freedom that they’re just coming out and saying it”
That is what is so amazing. Either that the Left thinks they can get away with it and/or that so many people go along with their nonsense.
Great post. I think the real issue is hypocrisy. In the US we saw cities (and people) burn and a lot of the mainstream media public intellectuals essentially excused it or just ignored it for unprincipled reasons (they wanted to achieve certain political goals). Now, suddenly, they are very concerned that the exercise of rights and liberties does come with externalities, and they are deploying arguments– which do have an element of truth to them– in a way that is very hypocritical and ignore any sense of proportion because they disagree with the politics. That isn’t to say there aren’t real psychological and philosophical differences in how people who are generally conservative and generally liberal approach the subject, but we don’t need even go there yet because its a plainly hypocritical argumentative move that we are seeing on TV/Twitter with respect to the truckers, on the one hand, and say, the riots, on the other.
At least they didn’t say slavery is freedom.
Just you wait.
Reminder: The left didn’t hate freedom, until they became the Establishment.
Not yet anyway.
They are sure saying Freedom is slavery
Contrast this with Roosevelt’s 4 freedoms speech, in which he appropriated the language of the Founding for progressive ends. Now the left sees words like freedom as tribal markers of the outgroup.
Never forget that the CBC receives over C$1.3 billion from the taxpayers every year, and private news media who pass their Trudeaupian loyalty exams share over C$600 million in subsidies. That’s a whole lot of reasons for them to cheer for the Trudeaupians.
“ You will have nothing, and be happy” comes close🤔
Freedom is all well and good as an ideal, just like body autonomy and unrestricted speech, but a society must be ever vigilant to ensure that the direction is correct. Freedom to act incorrectly only brings woe to all.
For example: some convoy protestors defaced a statue.
This was the term the media used: defaced. A cap was placed on the head, a flag draped around the body, a sign placed it its hand.
This is disrespectful of the things that bind all, and cannot be allowed.
This, on the other hand, is eminently correct.
Just another right-wing extremist screaming whatsamattayouisms.
I agree with every bit of this post, but before we get too excited thumping our chests, conservatives are not universally lovers of freedom, either. Rick Santorum would be my Exhibit A. He believes you should have the freedom to live as God wants you to live and Santorum will be happy to explain what God wants if you have any questions. Marco Rubio used to be OK until he found “common good capitalism.”
Nearly everyone will say that they are pro-freedom. But not that freedom or that one. You know, the freedoms I approve of, not your weird ideas.
I am pretty anti libertarian on most libertarian policy, but I am 100 percent for the freedom to be wrong.
Change that to totalitarian ideology, because there is no part of life that the left does not want to control–even micro-control.
Corporate media looks likes Pravda circa 1970