Fortunately because of where we live, we all have the freedom to rally and protest, to fight for what's best for our children, our communities, ourselves. But unless you want anarchy, it has to be freedom within reason.
People are fighting for their freedoms. That is great. But what freedoms are they fighting for? Are they fighting for everyone's freedoms - or just their own?
I’d like to be free to have a polar bear and a pit filled with C4 explosives in my backyard (In separate areas, of course). That, to me, is freedom. I’d also like to be able to lose HGTV without losing HBO on my Telus TV package selection — but that’s just pure fantasy.
All that stuff about polar bears, explosives and HBO is silly, right? But it proves a point about the trouble with wanting freedoms; they have to be within reason. Can freedoms be limited? Are they still freedoms then? Who decides what freedoms we get? Are they freedoms if someone decides which ones? What if our freedoms impact the freedoms of other people?
There's a lot to unpack, but the biggest question might be, how far will it go? "As far as it has to!" I’m sure many of you are screaming through bullhorns or social media pages geared to like-minded associates.
So what’s next? If it’s “Freedom within Reason” we agree on today, will there be future rallies to protest levels of that reason? “Reason Rallies" — it has a nice ring to it. And then what? Are “Perception Protests” the natural next battle-cry for possible-freedoms lost?
Freedom is a slippery slope. Once you get some, you want more. And that works great — as long as everyone wants the same freedoms. But as we are seeing in recent weeks with blockades of supply routes and in civic centres, the more you get, the less others get.
It's a direct road to conflict. Which brings us to the big point; In addition to the polar bear and explosives, my daughter needs to learn to ride her bike … right now.
She should be free to learn to ride her bicycle on a main highway, in the winter, at lunch-time, because my tax dollars go towards the upkeep of that road, and she gets a 45-minute lunch break at school. She can’t ride it in winter in our neighbourhood because I’m free not to shovel my driveway and my neighbour is free to dump all of his driveway snow in the middle of the road. So highway riding lessons on the nice, clear roadway it is. Now the only way this is going to be a problem is if you — and your freedom to drive as fast as you want while being free to check text messages and facebook posts — come around the corner and collide with her and her freedom to be there.
Sounds extreme and far-fetched. Maybe even stupid. Sure it does. But we seem to be living at a time where the absurd is possible. After-all, who would have thought two years ago that citizens who don't like health-related, government-imposed shutdowns would this month think it made sense to block hundreds of millions of dollars in goods and services along the county's economic travel routes ... as a way to encourage economic growth?
Feel free to argue.
