The New Year is a good time to take stock. So let's take stock of where we're at in terms of the cause of freedom. I suspect we're in for some epic political battles for freedom in 2024 and 2025. Obviously the outcome is far from guaranteed, but I'm hopeful and cautiously optimistic for the future. Before explaining the reasons for my optimism, it's important to underline just how serious the challenges are (I discuss these challenges in greater detail in other posts) that face those of us who care about the fate of freedom in the West:
Ireland is poised to pass one of the most draconian hate speech bills in the West, a bill that would allow police to raid your home based on your unpublished thoughts.
The European Commission has passed the Digital Services Act, which empowers it to oversee the content moderation policies of social media companies.
The EU Commission has also reached an agreement with the European Parliament on a European Digital Identity, which paves the way for a central bank digital currency, which is one of the greatest threats to freedom of our time.
The World Health Organization is pushing for amendments to the International Health Regulations to be finalized by this coming May, which would empower it to declare an international public health emergency and on top of that, make legally binding directives about how states should respond to the threat.
Climate change activists have been whether at the international and national level or local level have been working to instill fear and panic in the population, and the effect of fear is paralysis. And of course, susceptibility to manipulation and openness to “emergency” interventions.
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So these are all very real and imminent threats to our freedom in the West. And yet, I remain optimistic and hopeful for the future, for the following reasons:
First, because many governments in the West are clearly so blinded by their own hubris and perhaps their own past successes that they have completely lost touch with popular sentiment and they're just carrying on as if everything is as before and not realizing that they are progressively alienating an ever greater number of voters so they will reap the rewards of their own ignorance and their own pride. And I believe that they're sowing the seeds for rival political movements, which could include pro-freedom political parties.
Second, there is growing popular resistance to oppressive and illiberal and technocratic policies. We're seeing this in the farmers’ protests in the Netherlands and Germany, and in electoral results across Europe, which clearly are swinging towards the right. And whether you agree with all of the policies of emerging alternative parties, certainly it tends to be the case that these parties are more respectful towards civil liberties than their leftist counterparts or their centre-right counterparts.
Third, our legal systems have not yet been completely corrupted, so they still have resources within them to help us fight for the cause of freedom. The First Amendment to the United States is a very significant barrier to any kind of state sponsored censorship. And in Europe, besides our national laws and our national laws, which include some defense of civil liberties, we also have the right to freedom of expression guaranteed in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. So I, for one, fully expect the Digital Services Act to come under serious legal scrutiny in the coming months. In addition, there have been a number of significant legal victories recently in the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom on behalf of freedom of expression, freedom of movement and freedom of religion, which I find to be encouraging for the future.
A fourth reason I'm not unduly disheartened by the challenges facing freedom in the West is that I feel truly privileged and honored to be part of this epic battle for freedom. And for me, the struggle, which will continue as long as is necessary, has intrinsic value. And in a sense, the fact that we fight for our rights, the fact that we fight for our liberties, is a sign that we're alive, that we're breathing, that we're alive to the truth about our own dignity, and the day in which we throw in the towel and just submit to technocratic edicts is the day we die on the inside.
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