A challenge that liberals are facing right now.
I’ve seen myself as a radical liberal for quite some time now. Doing “The political test” for example, I end up in the extreme left-liberal corner, which in practice to me means that I want societies to have direct democracy, and community based help.
I’ve sympathised with the general liberals, who are generally much more economically centred in their liberalism, quite a lot over the past years. Mainly, I sympathise with the urge to make the individual free in as many ways possible.
Right now, I think we’re seeing a lot of previously called liberals going not only further right in their political views, but also a lot more authoritarian. In fact, almost everyone I read are showing a lot more authoritarian views in response to the corona pandemic. It’s even more prominent in Sweden, where the response to the pandemic from the government hasn’t really been that harsh or authoritarian. We’re not in quarantine, bars aren’t closed and we can still go to some movie theatres for example.
Now, I see a lot of people who’ve been talking about the liberty of the individual complain about the response, saying we need a lot more restrictions imposed on our society. Mainly as a reaction to other people still living their lives as per usual, still actually going to bars and cafés.
To their point, people are being stupid and careless by doing those things.
But the leap from far liberal to wanting someone else to impose things on a society is a pretty far one to me. As well as it’s completely understandable.
When people don’t do as we think they should, we often label them stupid or ignorant. And that’s exactly what the liberals turned facist in Sweden are seeing right now. They’re seeing a lot of people still hanging out in bars although the authorities have suggested them not to. They’re seeing people going to the grocery store despite showing obvious sickness symptoms, even though we’ve all been advised not to. And so on.
The foundation of liberalism is the belief in the individual. That we as individual people will do what’s right and sound. That the market is going to be regulated by people. And that if someone needs care, they’re going to take care of that themselves.
Now we’re seeing a lot of people who seemingly aren’t thinking of these things. Acting, at least in regards of the recommendations of a lot of experts, pretty recklessly.
What I think a lot of liberal people are asking themselves right now is “How far am I prepared to go in my belief in the individual?”
My conclusion, at least for the moment, is that we’re still on the right line in Sweden. I don’t think we should have any restrictions imposed by the government. I think we all should educate ourselves, and then I believe that the rest of the people in this society are going to make a decision as good as they can based on the information they have, their worldview, values and feelings.
With that said, according to that ideology, it is just as well my responsibility to speak my mind as a citizen. And with that I want to urge whoever’s reading this to be careful. To practice social distancing, and isolate themselves physically to the extent it’s possible. To not go to have a beer with a couple of friends because the sun’s out. To not travel apart from when it’s absolutely, meaning in my world close to life threatening, necessary.
I believe all of this because of the society I want to have, and the society I see before me if this is the way we all behaved, not only in crises situation but in every single day.