Freedom doesn’t taste like champagne
Dear Readers,
It seems inevitable that the Coronavirus lockdown that united Americans in experience would, in the end, make clear how divided we are in our thinking. In some parts of the country, people are bursting out of their confinement to cheer in exhilaration, demonstrating their right to freedom from lockdown. Many others sit at home, watching in horror.
Americans want to be free. We value freedom so much we will die for it - and some of these people may, in fact, die for this choice. But what freedom looks like is yet another thing we disagree on.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that we have differed on our definitions of freedom. Picking apart what freedom is largely depends on where one is sitting. Understanding where one is sitting is largely dependent on understanding what is happening around us.
In the beginning of the 20th century, when the price of cars dropped due to innovations at the Ford Motor Plant, everyday people were thrilled over their newfound freedom of mobility. The average middle class worker could now hop in their car to drive the family wherever they pleased. But when journalist Upton Sinclair wrote a book exposing the working conditions that made cheaper cars possible, it became apparent that one person’s freedom came at the cost of workers whose jobs were increasingly automated, dehumanizing, and exhausting.
The philosopher Albert Camus said “Freedom is not a reward or a decoration that you toast in champagne. On the contrary, it's hard graft and a long-distance run, all alone, very exhausting.”
The freedom to do one’s nails, congregate with friends, or go back to work after sitting at home watching a bank account balance evaporate feels euphoric in the moment. Like a toast of champagne, even.
But as pockets of America are championing their freedom from a public health policy they find oppressive, there are other freedoms being threatened -- for one, the freedom of the press. Fighting to preserve this freedom, after three years of a Trump presidency, feels like nothing if not a long-distance run. In Camus’ words: Very exhausting.
Beyond the president making misleading and incorrect claims about the pandemic, the White House is now also increasingly hindering CDC employees from speaking to the press and the public. Journalists who once had access to direct conversation with CDC scientists are now being routed through public information officers, and all media conversations must be held with handlers.
The Coronavirus crisis has exposed other vulnerabilities in our society, too. Whistleblowers who speak out for safe working conditions have been fired, aid packages passed by Congress have made their way to large corporations rather than to those who need help most. The work of the press made us aware of these wrongs, showing us just how much journalism is the foundation of a country that understands itself enough to ensure a just, safe, and free country for all.
In the end, Upton Sinclair’s work was a key factor that led Ford to agree to a collective bargaining agreement with auto workers a few years after the publication of his book.
Fighting for freedom of the press, the rights of our fellow workers, or a safety net to protect the most vulnerable among us might not feel as energizing as taking a breath of fresh air after six weeks shut up at home. But for any American who cares about freedom, this is a long-distance run we cannot let up on.
There may not be champagne or decorations, and really, this battle may never end. But we can’t let anything deter us, if we want a truly free society - not just the euphoric freedom of marching into a nail salon demanding a manicure (which euphoria, of course, I get).
-Amber, Senior Writer at Lioness
What we’re reading this week...
Over the course of the Coronavirus pandemic, artists have in many ways lightened the load of our isolation - from Instagram Live art classes, concerts broadcast online by musicians from their homes, and children’s dance class teachers sending their lessons via Youtube video. Long ago, during another national crisis, artists were employed by the government to create murals, design posters, or teach art classes. Read about what our country might look like today if we still valued art enough to provide financial support our artists, as we did back then.
Conspiracy theories are, by their very nature, not that different from viruses. As Coronavirus has swept the world, so has misinformation. Find out how one conspiracy theory was born, and went on to evolve, mutate and spread -- ultimately surviving to conspire to destroy the life of one mother-of-two who found herself in the wrong place (Wuhan) at the wrong time.
That’s all for this week. We love hearing from you, too — shoot us a note with your thoughts on freedom in pandemic times, and we may just feature it in next week’s newsletter! In the meantime, follow us on Twitter for more up-to-the minute stories, and if you or anyone you know has an unsung story you think needs to be heard, get in touch with us by replying to this email.
Until next time!
-Lioness