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Showing posts from April 9, 2020

Imprisoned for Life? (1)

The bruised body of an Australian actor pretending to be a Scotsman is stretched out and tortured in front of a blood thirsty crowd. Rather than recanting his opposition to the English king in order to hasten the inevitable end, he resists and then, with all his remaining energy lets out a, by then anatomically impossible, scream: “Freeee-doooom!” We are familiar with the image of someone giving up their life in order to win freedom for other people. “Freedom” is the pet ideal of Western culture. Our heroes fight to win their freedom or they die trying. What we are being asked to do now is the exact opposite of that. Perhaps this is why so many people are ignoring Government advice and social distancing laws. We are now being asked to give up our freedom because it is believed that this will save other people’s lives. It goes completely against the grain of what we are used to. Giving up freedom seems completely mundane, especially when we compare ourselves to the real heroes, t...