And some of us in law (but not many) have been worried since March about whether we can call ourselves a free society any longer. The longer this goes on, the bleaker the future of Western liberalism. https://twitter.com/drkristenw/status/1353407964858691584

Sadly, in the choice between messy freedom and promised security, even for a virus that was not "the big one", freedom didn't seem to stand a chance.

I couldn't say it better than Janet Daley has in this piece. (Excerpts below for those without access): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/23/do-people-want-free-do-prefer-security-price/

"The attraction of freedom is that it embodies hope. That is the whole point of it: the hope that people will behave well when they have choices, and that a better future can be created out of human ingenuity and endeavour."

"The longing for security, on the other hand, is based on fear: the belief that life (and other people) are so inherently threatening that only an all-powerful institution (or state) can ensure your survival."

"So it is not difficult to see how the Covid pandemic could present an opportunity for political leaders to craft a message that makes use of fear which will win out over any possible dissent."

"Fear will always be a more urgent driver of behaviour than hope, & it is much easier for gov'ts to act on. With enough enforcement & authoritarian regulation, you can deliver a reasonable degree of safety from almost any danger, and righteously suppress any contrary argument."

"Freedom, OTOH, is a much more problematic thing to defend. It needs (by definition) constant debate, examination & re-definition. It is an exhausting business that requires an enlightened populace & a gov't willing to engage in ongoing disputation of quite an abstract kind."

"Perhaps the most important thing we have learned from this deranging time in our history is that fear remains such a strong human impetus that it can easily stampede all the principles that were assumed to underpin democracy."

"Does this make it more likely that govts will close down all social interaction again in response to future crises? Almost certainly & maybe not just for disease–perhaps for crime waves, terror threats, rioting/mass unrest of any kind. After all, look how easy it was this time."