Taylor Dysart, a doctoral candidate at Penn, authored a column in which she claimed that the Canadian truckers' Freedom Convoy "has surprised onlookers in the United States and Canada," in large part "because the action seems to violate norms of Canadian 'politeness.'"  She then opined, "But the convoy represents the extension of a strain of Canadian history that has long masked itself behind 'peacefulness' or 'unity': settler colonialism."  Huh?

Sadly, she wasn't done.  She stated, "The history of Canadian settler colonialism and public health demonstrates how both overt white-supremacist claims and seemingly more inert nationalistic claims about 'unity' and 'freedom' both enable and erase ongoing harm to marginalized communities."  Huh?

She added, "The primarily White supporters of the Freedom Convoy argue that pandemic mandates infringe upon their constitutional rights to freedom.  The notion of 'freedom' was historically and remains intertwined with Whiteness, as historian Tyler Stovall has argued.  The belief that one's entitlement to freedom is a key component of White supremacy.  This explains why the Freedom Convoy members see themselves as entitled to freedom, no matter the public health consequences to those around them."

Yes, how dare the Freedom Convoy members think they are "entitled" to freedom?  It's not as though they have inalienable rights granted by their Creator or something!  They have only the rights that the government says they have...or don't have!  Period.  Leftists somehow believe they are entitled to determine what freedom other people have.  Revolting assumed privilege.

"Public health consequences"?  We have seen the consequences of being locked down and enslaved for all of history.  And they are despair, disease, and death.

Dysart referenced Stovall because his book, White Freedom: The Racial History of an Idea, supports her insane belief that the notion of freedom is actually racist.  The book discusses "how the Statue of Liberty — a gift from France to the United States and perhaps the most famous symbol of freedom on Earth — promised both freedom and whiteness to European immigrants."  So Lady Liberty is racist, too.  And probably sexist.  (I always suspected her.)

The assertion that one's "entitlement to freedom" is a "key component of White supremacy" seems illogical at best.  Slaves in the American South dreamed of freedom, cherished freedom, and believed they were entitled to it, and I'm pretty sure most of them weren't White supremacists.

Come to think of it, I doubt that Martin Luther King thought he was giving a shout-out to White supremacy when he joyously spoke of a day when Black people were "Free at last, free at last.  Thank God almighty we are free at last."

But, as Mark Steyn recently noted, "[p]hysical lockdown seems to have inculcated in the citizenry a psychological lockdown that will be far harder to lift."  He referenced a CBC show, Cross-Country Check-Up, to which he said "the word 'freedom'" itself "is now suspect."

According to Steyn, the host(s) of the nationwide open-line radio show opined:

As demonstrations against COVID-19 restrictions continue across Canada, the word freedom is on the lips and placards of many protesters. Often associated with protests and rallies in the United States, the term has taken hold among protesters who are part of the Freedom Convoy, which rolled into Ottawa in late January and has become entrenched in the city's downtown.

For many, freedom is a malleable term — one that's open to interpretation. That flexibility, in part, has fueled its growth among certain groups, said Barbara Perry, director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at the Oshawa-based Ontario Tech University. It's also a term that has thrived among far-right groups, said Perry, one of a number of experts who say the presence of far-right groups in Canada is growing.

Freedom is a "malleable" term or concept?  I'm pretty sure the slaves on Southern plantations and those held in German concentration camps or Japanese prisons during World War II would disagree.  

Freedom has "thrived" among "far-right" groups?  Freedom is a far-right notion?  No wonder far-right groups have grown.

It has come to this.  As George Orwell knew it could.  Freedom is fascist.  Freedom is slavery.

If freedom is now considered problematic by the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism, no one can tell me we aren't in real trouble.

But many apparently now do consider a love of freedom an example of Hate, Bias and Extremism.  For example, students and faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) have demanded that a new mask mandate be put in place after the statewide mandate was recently lifted by Nevada governor Steve Sisolak.  And various reports indicate that many Democrats don't want to relinquish their masks, don't want life to go back to normal with the waning of the coronavirus plandemic pandemic.

In urban areas of the formerly United States, particularly on both coasts, an astounding number of people seem to enjoy being masked up and locked down, seem to take pride in showing their reflexive compliance to Big Brother, seem to value being submissive and subjugated.  They seemingly revel in their subjugation and thrive on being disciplined by their sadomasochistic rulers.  They have taken subservience to a new and troubling level and elevated obedience to a virtue.  Incomprehensibly, to many in Canada — and the U.S., the land of the formerly free and erstwhile brave — freedom is out, passé, just another word for nothing left to lose.

Freedom is a "far-right concept" now, according to some.  Think about that.  Freedom is a word primarily associated with radical, right-wing extremists and white supremacy?!  How preposterous and revolting is that assertion?  What does it say about those on the left?  What does it say about those who don't purport to value (others') freedom?

Note to all the virtue-signaling wokesters out there: You have the right to prostrate yourself to anybody you like.  You can genuflect to your government, take a knee before a Karen.  You can submit to your spouse...or your dominatrix.  You can subjugate yourself to anyone or anything or any cause you like, but you have no damn right to keep the rest of us enslaved as well.  Or to even suggest that we should join you in your prostration.

Photo credit: LaszioBartucz, Pixabay License.