We all want to feel safe, but at what price?
At the price of losing civil liberties?
At the price of the government having control over whether you can open your business or not? At the price of stopping you from crossing provincial borders?
At the price of denying children school and closing of universities – the very places where doctors and nurses train to keep you healthy?
At the price of not being able to visit family members? At the price of the government telling you how many people can come to your wedding or go to your funeral?
How long are you willing to pay such a price? A year? Two? How about forever? Are you willing to pay that price, endlessly? Because viruses are with us all the time and have been with us since time immemorial, as are countless other maladies that make us "not safe". Living life is inherently risky, now and forevermore. Therefore, governmental control and loss of basic freedoms for your "safety" forever is a legitimate ideology.
Just to be "safe" are you willing to live in a police state where the government can make any law and do anything they want, without limit and deny civil liberties all under the banner of keeping you "healthy"? To what end? To live a life of freedomless, powerlessness and a life of obeying authority telling you what is good and not good for you?
Have we forgotten the simple fact that our mortality rate for each and every one of us is 100 per cent? Have we forgotten that our death is absolute and that how we live is every bit as important as how long we live, even more so?
Emiliano Zapata said, "I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees." Yes, it was a war he was fighting and the war was against oppression and against the denial of freedom.
Benjamin Franklin said it best, "Any society that will give up a little liberty to gain a little security will gain neither and lose both."
Indeed, safety is an overall good thing, but not at any price. Giving our freedom away is a very high price to pay for questionable safety. COVID-19 has removed freedom from our lives.
I wonder what the next virus will be ...
