The Freedom Convoy & The Protests In China Are Both Manifestations Of The Human Desire For Freedom

OpinionSpencerFernando

Acknowledging differences between the situation in Canada and China doesn’t change the underlying similarity.

As people in China continue to bravely speak out against the horrifically dystopian ‘zero-covid’ policies imposed by Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party, we are seeing many people rightfully praise the courage of the protesters.

Yet, many of those who are praising China were critical of the Freedom Convoy.

Now, some people will see those two things as completely unrelated.

They will say that the situation in Canada wasn’t comparable to the situation in China.

And China is certainly far more dystopian and authoritarian than Canada.

But as we know, what people tend to notice the most is the direction of things.

For example, if a country doubles their GDP in 10 years, and then falls into a severe downturn where GDP falls by 25% in a year, nobody will be satisfied by hearing “well, we’re still doing better than 10 years ago!”

For people in China, they have watched as their already massively-restricted remaining freedoms were completely erased by ‘zero-covid’ authoritarianism.

Dystopian drones flying around checking QR codes, massive quarantine camps, total surveillance and control on freedom of movement all represented a worsening of the situation in that country.

In Canada, people watched as freedom of travel, the freedom to work, the freedom to own a business, and the freedom to see family members were restricted. The vaccine mandate on truckers and months of demonizing of unvaccinated people was the final straw for many Canadians, leading to the Freedom Convoy.

So, while both situations are different, both protests are animated by the human desire for freedom.

History shows that this desire for freedom is deeply ingrained in many of us. It manifest in different ways and at different times, but it never goes away.

Human beings have an inherent instinct to resist those who infringe on our rights and restrict our freedom of movement.

And when human being push back against those who are trying to move in a more authoritarian direction, we should recognize that the need for freedom is universal and should be praised.

Those who desire power over others have sought to make ‘freedom’ into a controversial or divisive word, but whether here in Canada, or in China, Iran, and elsewhere in the world, we see that Freedom remains a word that inspires hope, resistance, and courage.

Spencer Fernando

Photo – Twitter

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