An Orwellian View of Freedom

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently announced a proposal for a state law to permanently prohibit vaccine passports, forbid businesses from requiring masks, and prohibit “employers from hiring or firing based mRNA stabs.” In making the announcement, DeSantis said that during the pandemic Florida has served “strongly as freedom’s linchpin.” DeSantis has an Orwellian view of freedom.

Freedom is not a license to do whatever one desires. Nor is it a permission to force others to do one’s bidding. Freedom is the absence of government coercion. It means that one may act as one deems best without interference from government. However, one may not interfere with the freedom of others to act as they deem best.

DeSantis doesn’t want businesses and employers to be free to act as they think best. He wants to tell them what they can and cannot do. That he calls this freedom is straight out of George Orwell’s 1984. In the novel, words are used to represent their opposite, such as “War is Peace.” In DeSantis’ world, coercion is freedom.

If an employer decides that requiring masks, using vaccines as a hiring or firing criteria, or voting for Ron DeSantis is best for him and his business, he has a moral right to establish such requirements. Employees and customers are free to accept or reject his requirements. But DeSantis doesn’t want to allow such freedom. He wants businesses to act as he thinks appropriate, and he is willing to use coercion to achieve that goal.

A true advocate of freedom would recognize the fact that others will make choices with which he disagrees. He will respect their freedom to act on those choices. He will live and let live. DeSantis doesn’t want others to be free to act on choices with which he disagrees. That he thinks prohibiting them from acting on those choices is freedom illustrates his Orwellian view of freedom.

This dangerous view is infecting conservatives and the Republican party. They are becoming as antagonistic towards freedom as Leftists and the Democrat party. The two parties are offering a false alternative founded on the same flawed premise. Both believe that individuals exist to serve others. Both believe that using coercion to achieve that servitude is appropriate and proper.

Freedom is not about serving others, and it certainly isn’t about being forced to do so. If we want to truly experience freedom, to be able to live as we choose, then we must reject this Owellian view of freedom.