Well, we have arrived.
We are now living in the most confusing timeline any of us could have imagined. Not only are we dealing with the advent of rapidly evolving technologies such as social media, and the grip it has on our collective conscious. We are also dealing with one of the biggest moral questions that our society has never had to face. At one point does freedom become antithetical to safety? I don’t believe there is a correct, nor even a wrong answer. Every one who reads this has more than likely already ran into a friend, coworker or, dare I say, a family member in the past year who you can no longer rationalize with based on the polarity of today’s biggest issue.
To even declare an opinion on the matter is comparable to drawing a line in the sand and deciding which side you stand on. The mere social commentary we hear daily from those who share a city border, or even a local grocery store is enough to have many people on high alert. No matter who the person was before these past two years, we are having a harder and harder time looking them in the eyes when we can so easily define them as an, “other” simply because of the beliefs that they may hold. To hold each other over the proverbial fire for questioning our rationality is similar to the early mutterings of the soviet revolutionaries at the dawn of the 20th century.
The fact that we are seeing committees being established to uphold values of freedom over safety. The way we see protests and counter narratives being driven to promote safety above all. These very acts are equivalent to the rise of both the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks and the very ideas and beliefs they held dearly. My fear is that the further we go down this line of division, the more and more each other becomes lost in the plot and more committed to making sure their tribe is absolute. If the powder keg were to ignite and the “New Revolution” were to begin, I worry about either side of these extremes being the ones in charge.
Because in the end, it’s never the “well meaning” that began the revolution who end up in charge. It’s always the group that comes after. The ones that are blinded by the ideologies of the ones who were willing to take the first step. For a man to commit evil, they must first believe they are doing something good or just. As I look around the world. I see many signs of this exact behavior in every corner I see. Everybody wants a brighter and safer world, but many disagree on the way we get there. Its more than just Right vs Left, Conservative vs Liberal, Republican vs Democrat, Masked vs Unmasked, Vaxxed vs Unvaxxed. This line cuts at the very foundation of every human soul.
Freedom vs Comfort
Notice how never once did I declare a side that I stand on. For me to do so, would quickly shut out half of the people I would like to reach. This is a question bigger than myself, bigger than you the reader, bigger than any government in the history of the world. It is a question that I believe can only be answered with time and experience, and frankly we have very little of either right now.
Thank you for reading.
– The Young Fool
