Thought For the Day

I had to look it up. It’s not a joke. This is the CBC article:
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/checkup/what-s-your-reaction-to-the-ottawa-standoff-and-the-border-blockades-1.6349636/why-the-word-freedom-is-such-a-useful-rallying-cry-for-protesters-1.6349865

Title:
Why the word ‘freedom’ is such a useful rallying cry for protesters
Subheading:
The word has become common among far-right groups, experts say
Opening Paragraphs:

As demonstrations against COVID-19 restrictions continue across Canada, the word freedom is on the lips and placards of many protesters.

Often associated with protests and rallies in the United States, the term has taken hold among protesters who are part of the Freedom Convoy, which rolled into Ottawa in late January and has become entrenched in the city’s downtown.

For many, freedom is a malleable term — one that’s open to interpretation.

That flexibility, in part, has fuelled its growth among certain groups, said Barbara Perry, director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at the Oshawa-based Ontario Tech University.

“It is a term that has resonated…. You can define it and understand it and sort of manipulate it in a way that makes sense to you and is useful to you, depending on your perspective,” she told Cross Country Checkup.

It’s also a term that has thrived among far-right groups, said Perry, one of a number of experts who say the presence of far-right groups in Canada is growing.

The word “freedom” has been incoherent in modern usage for decades now. Ultimately it is a relative term, since you can only have freedom with respect to some hindrance, not freedom generally (since no one is free from all hindrances.)

For the first century or two of our history there was a shared background that made clear how “freedom” was meant to be interpreted. But now that is gone and it can mean anything.

Take for example “free speech?” Does this mean that you can say anything you want at any time? Obviously not, and it has never been interpreted as such. For example, free speech is not freedom to commit libel and slander or to lie about the dangers of the product that you are selling. But now there is a generation who think that it is equally obvious that free speech should not allow “hate speech” or “misinformation that disagrees with the experts.” So the term becomes incoherent.

Nevertheless it has been a useful rallying cry because each side was able to use it as they wanted. But now the left has a problem: they have bent it so far that what they are doing can no longer be classified as promoting any sense of “freedom.” If they say “you must constantly take shots, and be tracked at all times, and only say things from this list of fact checked narratives, and all this is necessary for you to be free” then no one can believe it. It’s many bridges too far. So they can no longer work with their own definition of “freedom” and thus the only option left is to attack the word itself.