We hear a lot about freedom these days. There was, of course, the infamous freedom convoy that occupied Ottawa for three weeks and disrupted the supply chain at border crossings. There is the incessant cry from Conservative Party leadership hopeful Pierre Poilievre about wanting to make Canada the freest nation on earth. There are those who, even now (see video at the end of this post), are prancing about demanding freedom from vaccine and mask mandates, even though such mandates have been virtually eliminated.
All such demands focus on individual liberty. Kofi Hope, however, has a different perspective on what constitutes real freedom.
...the problem is our public discourse is dominated by a singular, limited view of freedom. Focused on our individual civil rights such as: the right to vote or freedom of religion. Rights regarding an individual’s ability to receive fair and equal treatment under the law, and not have government or others restrict their ability to make their own decisions.
But a free society is about everyone having a real ability to make their own life choices.
And therein lies the problem. Due to social and economic constraints, many are not and probably never will be truly free, because
freedom includes making a living wage, so you can spend time with your kids every day, not be forced to hustle between survival jobs. Freedom is being able to afford housing, without having to sacrifice groceries to make rent. Or being able to access the therapy you need to escape the cage of depression and anxiety.
An expanded notion of freedom occurred in the last century, Hope writes, reflected in a number of ways.
Immediately after Americans achieved a degree of equality under the law with the Civil Rights Act in 1964, civil rights leaders shifted their focus to amplifying work around fighting poverty. They knew Black Americans would never be truly free without economic freedom.
A few years later in 1966 the United Nations drafted a covenant on economic, social and cultural rights, outlining the other rights needed to have a free society, like the right to health care, labour rights and a basic standard of living.
And in Canada in 1964 Emmett Hall drafted a report that laid the foundations for Medicare in Canada, arguing that universal public health care including dental, pharma, mental-health and home care were critical components to a free society.
Obviously, the above reflects something much more than a commitment to individual freedom of expression and choice. Although he doesn't use the word, it seems to me that undergirding Hope's ideas is the concept of responsibility, freedom's forgotten partner in today's elevation of the ego as the purest form of liberty.
Inevitably, that forgotten partner begs the question a question: What are the duties of responsible citizenship? Do we live only for the fulfillment of ourselves and our loved ones, or does it demand the pursuit of economic and social justice/freedom for our fellow citizens? If the answer is the latter, then we must partake in and choose wisely in elections at the very least, and advocate for and support measures that will bring about greater equity in our society. And yes, that includes fair, progressive and representative taxation to help achieve that state.
So we have choices and decisions to make. We need to be humble enough to realize that freedom is hardly the absolute that some people make it out to be, an example of the latter seen in this video, posted by Caryma Sa'd at Peterburgers, a notorious eatery in Peterborough, Ontario that just reopened.
Is that the kind of 'freedom' we, as Canadians, really want to align ourselves with? Or is there something much more mature, reflective and committed that we should be devoting our energies to?
.
