Freedom.
What does this mean to you?
I see more + more people + posts shouting that their freedom is being infringed upon. That their right to do what they want is being taken away. Most specifically because people are being asked + required to wear masks when going into public spaces +/or stores.
@Costco You have hit a new low… you are an American corporation with an obligation to support our American values, dictating face mask for your workers is one thing but forcing this on your loyal members who paid for a membership is a complete abuse of power. #boycottcostco
— Eric Torres May 6, 2020
And here we go…. I guess I won’t be shopping at Costco. It is MY choice to wear or not wear a face mask. You restrict my freedom, I stay out of your store. Deuces…. ✌️
— Marc Benton April 30, 2020
In essence, it echoes the same sentiment from people who think vaccinations aren’t necessary. Or that gun control is basically the devil. “I am a free person, + if you tell me what to do, you are oppressing my freedoms as an individual.”
So what does freedom even mean?
Does it mean you should have the right to do what you want, when you want, to whomever you want? Where is the line between what your right to freedom is as an individual, + those of your neighbour?
It seems like people have misunderstood what ‘freedom’ actually means. Or how we can live out our freedoms today. If people believe they have the right to do whatever they want, whenever they want, no matter the cost to their neighbour…that’s not freedom, that’s anarchy.
Yes, freedom should be freedom from oppression, freedom to pursue happiness, to have + express your thoughts as an individual, freedom to have your human rights intact. There are many people in the world who are so far from that kind of freedom. + this is complicated + nuanced + more complex than I can capture.
But what I wanted to express is that freedom…it comes with the cost of a social contract. Because we do not live in anarchy. In order to live together in a free + peaceable society, we have agreed to live together under a set of laws, guidelines, + understandings, that take our neighbours’ best interests into account too.
Our freedom may not come at the cost of another’s. + I know this is not the reality for so many. Black people. Indigenous people. Marginalized people. Globally we are not ‘free’, because the least of us is not ‘free’.
It seems that the struggles + achievements + developments of past generations, most specifically for white people, have created this sense of safety, + entitlement for individual pursuit. We should be safe. So many aren’t. We should be able to pursue personal happiness. So many aren’t able to. + pursuing happiness, feeling/being safe, doesn’t get to come at the cost of another’s wellbeing. But that’s what ‘freedom’ has seemingly come to mean.
“I don’t have to wear a mask because I am free. I don’t have to believe prevailing science, because I am free. I don’t have to take, not just another’s actual wellbeing or safety into account, but even their perceived sense of wellbeing + safety, because I am free. I can speak whatever words I want without consideration to the consequence of those words, because I am free.”
What am I trying to say…when we agree + decide to live together in a group. A community. A city. A province or state. A country. We agree to live together. We agree to abide by the set of guidelines created to enable living together. Yes, we should always be aware, critical, vocal towards abuses made by those who are responsible for upholding those guidelines. That is a necessary part of our agreement to live together. Sometimes upholding those agreements requires physical resistance + protest when those enforcing our agreed guidelines abuse that privilege + responsibility. But if you’re fighting, protesting, using intimidation for your right to not wear a mask, + to be able to go + do whatever you want, whenever you want…+ you’re not fighting against police violence towards BIPOC, or for clean drinking water for marginalized communities, Indigenous communities, or access to healthcare for all, you’re not fighting for freedom. You’re just being a spoiled motherfucker who only wants to think of yourself + forget your socially contractual obligations to your neighbour.
It’s a crazy time. Information + what we base our decisions on is changing rapidly. It is easy to act out of fear. So easy. Particularly when what eases fear is togetherness + community, + right now we don’t have that in the same way. It’s easy to target that fear on others. On a system. On our leaders +/or politicians. I often feel + see many correlations to our community together reflected in the way relationships play out in a family, our family. When my son is scared + unsure, + doesn’t know what to expect, is being told what to do, he lashes out, he’s emotional. What he needs is reassurance. Consistency. A safe place. To feel like things aren’t out of control. Ultimately my husband + I are responsible for his wellbeing + safety, + we base how we act out our responsibility based on our beliefs + values. When our son is old enough, he will have input into those beliefs + values, + how those are acted out in our family. But my husband + I will still be ultimately responsible for his safety + wellbeing. + sometimes we will make decisions that he won’t like + will resist. That doesn’t mean we give in to that. Because ultimately, we are responsible for his safety + wellbeing. The hardest balance is holding that responsibility, but also empowering our son to feel that his individual personhood is seen, understood, + has agency.
I would like to believe that when people are lashing out about their rights to not wear a mask, toting guns around a place of government, believing that all scientists are pawns of the elite…they’re lashing out because they’re scared. I can understand they feel that their perceived sense of individual personhood is losing agency. But two things…consider the consequences of what those scenes of protest would look like if the protesters were black. + also, this is an extraordinary time, + what we’re being asked to do by simply wearing a mask is not extraordinary in the context of another’s wellbeing + safety.
Freedom has never been, + will never be, the ability to do whatever we want whenever we want. Freedom means agreeing to take on the cost of our neighbours’ wellbeing, that we may live together peaceably.