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Freedom, according to the RAE, is the “natural faculty that man has to act in one way or another, and not to act, so he is responsible for his actions,” according to this simple definition we should all be quite clear about what we mean when we talk about “freedom;” however, politicians and those who advocate for them, love to subjectivize the definition of freedom, apply a theoretical relativism to suit their ideologies or interests, and thus trample and destroy the true meaning of “being free.”
While most politicians do not share a true love for freedom, they all have something in common with the classical conception of such terminology: every politician, statist or aspiring to power, loves to identify with such word and use it in their speeches, especially when they have not yet come to power.
Recently Twitter revived a video of a young Trudeau talking about the benefits of Canadian freedom: “… this is a country of the right of the individuals, of freedom (…) freedom to do what you want with your body,” said the now prime minister, who apparently has radically changed his mind and no longer considers freedom a fundamental principle for the development of societies.
Thousands of truck drivers and citizens came out to protest in Canada last week against the authoritarian measures that Trudeau wants to apply, among them, forcing people to inject vaccines into their bodies in order to work and support their families; in the face of these protests, the president wanted to get out of the way by accusing the truck drivers of being violent demonstrators, and after that he hid in an unknown place to avoid facing the protests; then he appeared saying that he had contracted Covid, despite being fully vaccinated and with boosters.
In other words, in the same sequence of events, Trudeau wants to force Canadians to get vaccinated against their will to “control the virus,” insults and mistreats truck drivers who refuse to obey him, and in turn declares that he has contracted Covid despite having multiple vaccination doses in his body. And yes, I know, vaccines don’t prevent contracting it, but it’s certainly not a very convincing message.
But Trudeau, located on the left on the ideological spectrum, is not alone in having serious problems with freedom. In Australia, Scott Morrison, prime minister and member of the Liberal Party (right), has made headlines in the international media for the authoritarianism with which he has lashed his citizens in the name of Covid. Mistreatment, arbitrary arrests, restrictions and police violence against people for such silly reasons as not wearing a mask or walking in an “unauthorized” perimeter, have been evidenced in videos that have gone viral in social networks. Now according to Bloomberg, polls indicate that in May Australians would vote Morrison out of power.
In England, Boris Johnson of the Conservative Party is also paying the price for his hypocrisy. After subjecting the population to measures of confinement, distancing and the mandatory use of masks, it was leaked that he held parties in Downing Street without complying with the rules he himself had established; now a good part of the country is calling for his resignation.
And of course, in the United States, the country of liberties, Joe Biden and the Democrats have been treating Americans like sheep for two years, with strong restrictions and mandates that they themselves do not comply with, revealing their hypocrisy and authoritarianism. The latest episode involved California Governor Gavin Newson, who was photographed with former basketball player Magic Johnson at a sporting event without wearing the masks he requires all citizens under his mandate to wear.
No matter the ideological spectrum, authoritarianism is always unacceptable
Regardless of whether they are on the left or the right, all politicians who have abused their power and disrespected individual liberties under the guise of the pandemic currently face high rates of rejection in their countries, and some are even in danger of impeachment.
The bad news is that the pandemic has opened a pandora’s box that politicians want to misuse in order to implement greater authoritarianism. The good news is that the citizens of the world seem to be reacting and do not seem willing to tolerate the violation of their individual right.
The post-pandemic world will definitely not be the same. It is unpredictable what direction humanity will take after these years of confinement and authoritarianism. What is certain is that sociologically we will not be the same and after what we have experienced in this cycle there are only a few options left: citizens will wake up and understand that we cannot leave our lives in the hands of politicians, or societies will succumb to the power of new almighty States executing some kind of modern socialism.
It will be up to us to make the best or the worst of this crisis.
Emmanuel Rincón is a lawyer, writer, novelist and essayist. He has won several international literary awards. He is Editor-at-large at El American // Emmanuel Rincón es abogado, escritor, novelista y ensayista. Ganador de diversos premios literarios internacionales. Es editor-at-large en El American