Opinion | What freedom really is - The Washington Post

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The March 6 Metro article about the “People’s Convoy” of truckers, "'Freedom Convoy’ spinoff rouses groups frustrated by mandates,” quoted one of the organizers, Brian Brase, as stating, “We just want freedom, freedom.” Apparently, Mr. Brase and his like-minded colleagues think public health measures such as vaccine and mask mandates to mitigate the transmission and severity of the coronavirus deprives them of their “freedom.” They demonstrate that they have no idea what freedom is, and more important, what being deprived of freedom is like.

As a retired U.S. Foreign Service officer whose first post was the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 1974 to 1976, during the height of the Cold War when Bulgaria was ruled by the communist dictator Todor Zhivkov, I know something about what it means for a population to be deprived of freedom. Bulgarians did not have free elections. Bulgarians could not travel abroad, as only the highest officials could obtain passports. Bulgarians had to get permission to travel within the country and were required to have an “internal passport” to do so. Bulgarians could only read the government newspaper filled with propaganda, and all theater, art, radio, television and cinema had to pass government censorship. Religion was suppressed. I could go on, but that conveys a sense of the lack of freedom under the regime.

The “People's Convoy” and all those in the United States who think temporary public health measures deprive them of their “freedom” show just how coddled they have been. They need to experience the world and realize how lucky they are to live in a country that does not deprive them of their freedom but does assume the responsibility of protecting the population during a pandemic by taking appropriate public health measures.

William H. Barkell, Arlington

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