Freedom?

Watching the news today. It was about the anti-COVID-restriction protests in France and Australia. Also about the anti-vaxxers in the US, and the conservative excuse for not vaccinationg ... freedom. Think Ted Cruz at CPAC ...



Yuck! What these people don't consider is that their idea of freedom ... the ability to do whatever you want irregardless of how it affects others ... is only possible in complete social isolation. Every relationship you have, from personal to societal, will infringe on that freedom. Most people accept this because of the benefits of being in community.

It's ok with me if anti-vaxxers choose to die of COVID, but the problem is that they are dragging everyone else down with them. They don't exist in some state of nature, and being part of our community and reaping those benefits, they don't have the moral right to doom the rest of us.

Having said all that, I don't really believe this anti-vax movement is about personal freedom at all. These same right-wing conservatives are rabid to take away a woman's personal bodily freedom to get an abortion.

I think what all this is instead about is something else ... power. The power to say no, the power to stand in the way, the power to ruin.