Jon Reisman

Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose – Kris Kristofferson, Me and Bobby McGee
Freedom, oh Freedom…that’s just some people talking – Glenn Frey, Desperado
Freedom is Slavery – George Orwell, 1984

Freedom is a key component of White supremacy- Taylor Dysart, a PhD candidate in the department of history and sociology of science at the University of Pennsylvania, where her research examines the intertwined worlds of healing, science, indigeneity and settler colonialism in the Amazon in a Washington Post op-ed attacking the Canadian Freedom Truckers as racist white supremacists.

The Statue of Liberty – a gift from France to the United States and perhaps the most famous symbol of freedom on Earth – promised both freedom and whiteness to European immigrants – Tyler Stovall, White Freedom: the Racial History of an Idea.

(The Freedom Truckers are a) “fringe minority” holding “unacceptable opinions”…. Freedom of expression, assembly, and association, are cornerstones of democracy. But Nazi symbolism, racist imagery, and desecration of war memorials are not. It’s an insult to memory and truth – Canadian Dictator Justin Trudeau smears the Freedom Truckers prior to declaring martial law in Canada and suspending civil rights and due process for his political opponents.

I chose “Freedom Studies” as the overall title for my weekly columns for two reasons. First, Freedom is my central organizing value (I did not know it was racist white supremacy at the time). Second, I could not resist tweaking my left of center academic colleagues who are heavily invested in gender, women’s, colonial, LGBQT and other assorted victim / quasi -Marxist / social justice / America sucks / woke “Studies” disciplines. They and their student disciples are free to study whatever they please, and to contemplate the student debt and employment prospects associated with extensive immersion in critical theory and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Studies. To be fair, there are plenty of jobs in the various woke sectors of the economy that generously reward virtue signaling, whining, and grievance mongering, while offering ample opportunity to bash heterosexual white males, capitalism and freedom. Glen Frey was right- Freedom? That is just some (racist white supremacist homophobic) people talking.

I never imagined that three British Commonwealth countries, cultural inheritors on the Magna Carta, would willingly toss away their freedoms to fear and Fauci, but Australia, New Zealand and Canada have done exactly that. It is not surprising that leftist politicians would seize and abuse power (David Horowitz famously stated, “Inside every liberal is a Totalitarian screaming to get out”), but the speed at which Canada went from democracy to fascism under “Mooselini” Trudeau is amazing, and with the support and apparent approval of a majority of the populace. The late Charles Krauthammer compared his native Canada to his adopted America as follows: “In America the national motto is ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,’ and in Canada it is ‘Peace, Order, and Good Government.’” I very much doubt our neighbors will have any under their dictator, although the trucks may run on time if they can do so with robot drivers, as the truckers are placed in financial prisons and reeducation camps.

Jon Reisman is an associate professor of economics and public policy at the University of Maine at Machias. His views are his own. Mr. Reisman welcomes comments as letters to the editor here, or to him directly via email at [email protected].