Freedom would be so sweet. If only the battle for her wasn’t so bitter.
Like Quidditch balls, the fighting terms of the Covid-19 opponents fly around your ears: “Compulsory vaccination”, “disenfranchisement”, “total surveillance”. Some see their “physical integrity” injured. The “end of free Switzerland” is here, “freedom in danger”, at least.
The feeling that our freedom is badly endangered is widespread. In addition to the emergency locks opened because of Covid, she is also allegedly affected by climate protection regulations and climate protection bans, quotas, requirements for gender-equitable speaking and the “cancel culture”.
In contrast, a lot of sharp rhetorical artillery is currently being deployed.
I want to be able to sneeze on others
But is freedom really at risk? And if so, which ones? Does freedom of expression mean the right to hurt others? To deny you recognition? Do those who despise quotas fight for the freedom to systematically keep the participation chances of others small? What freedom do corona deniers defend? The freedom to indulge in personal illusions and to be able to suppress an unpleasant reality? The freedom to infect yourself and others? And what is the freedom of mask refusers? Sneeze on others?
As for the freedom of the vaccine opponent: It is intact. Nobody is forced to get vaccinated. But if you decide against vaccination and don’t want to pay for a test, you have to accept it when the vaccinated people celebrate their parties without him and without a mask and with a certificate. The vaccinated already pay enough for the freedom of the unvaccinated. Because if we were all vaccinated, we could long ago drop masks and certificates.
Fly, fish, freedom!
The freedom to fly to New York for a weekend or to empty the seas is a freedom that comes at the expense of others and others. She has established herself in the belief that what you can pay for is yours. It deprives itself of the right not to care about the consequences or conditions of any action unless everyone does so. Individual responsibility? Let the others start with it.
What is the difference between these forms of freedom and ruthlessness? Isn’t it just lying who calls for freedom in this country? Everything will be fine.
Ursula von Arx values her freedom very much. In times of the pandemic, however, she thinks it is more problematic that joy sometimes falls short. Von Arx writes in Blick every other Monday.