“Hey Doc … so should I get the booster or what?”
He had just recovered from COVID — for him, a mild flu in a fully vaccinated man. Public Health advises boosters. Docs have been warned to avoid saying otherwise.
The average person is smarter on many things than most elites allow. Patients know vaccine mandates make less sense at the end of the pandemic than they may have at the beginning.
Good today, Bad Tomorrow
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau praised truckers at the beginning of the pandemic and encouraged all Canadians to do the same. Now he calls truckers a “small fringe minority” with “unacceptable views.”
Stop for a minute.
This sounds like a dream come true. Trudeau should cheer. Welcome the fringe. Get them to the capital, ASAP. Show the world the nonsense of their fringe views.
“Fringe” Views vs. traditional liberalism
JS Mill argued we should welcome views we oppose. Let people speak — they will prove the stupidity of their position without you having to say a word.
But Trudeau is not a traditional liberal. He is a modern man, intolerant of those with whom he disagrees. His ideas are true and righteous. Others are fringe, ignorant, or maleficent — “unacceptable”.
The illiberal elite slice society into good and bad, sheep and goats. Intolerance is just. We must not tolerate evil. Herbert Marcuse, philosopher, called it “repressive tolerance.”
Masks and Mandates
“Excuse me, Dr. Whatley. Should we wear N95 masks for this patient.”
Of course. Yes!
We need gown, gloves, goggles, and N95 masks. This patient may have been in contact with someone who just tested positive!
But so could any of the last ten patients.
We wore regular masks for them. Many of the those patients — all potential ‘contacts’ — wore cloth masks … or surgical masks soaked through with dirt, snot, and who knows what.
Reason and Fury
For almost two years, a crowd of doctors have pounded the COVID drums. Their fury swells as severity wanes. They alone are right. They are protectors of healthcare. Do not talk about cancelled surgeries — COVID counts are all that matter.
Reason fails in the face of illiberalism.
Indeed, liberalism depends on reason too much. It forgets about emotion.
“Once at the center of the study of politics, emotions have led a shadow existence for the last three decades [since 1970], with no place in the rationalistic, structural, and organizational models that dominate academic political analysis.”
(see Passionate Politics – Emotions and Social Movements)
Truckers Freedom Convoy
Sunlight improves almost everything. The best way to keep something festering is to cover it up.
Letting people talk has been an essential ingredient to the success of parliamentary democracy.
Absolutely, it has been messy and confusing. But it has delivered incomparable human flourishing. No other approach comes close.
Canadians are finally speaking up. Smiling. Waving flags. Joining together.
If the truckers freedom convoy is wrong and misguided, the error will show through immediately. There is no reason to worry. No need to be upset or irritated with them. Truth will prevail.
But if this movement has a point to make, we should listen. Even if we disagree, we should tolerate the difference in opinion. Silencing difference never turns out well.
I hope the truckers freedom convoy brings out the best in what it means to live in a free, parliamentary democracy. Society is only as good as those who get involved.
Photo credits: Freedom Convoy, Snopes: Did it set a world record?
