What’s Best Medicine 4 Covid? Choice Or Coercion?

In 1939’s “Escape From Freedom” anti-Nazi shrink Erich Fromm suggested there’s those who would die for their freedom to choose & those who need to follow anyone who makes them feel safe, even if it kills others. Does that premise jive with WSJ’s “Coercion Made Pandemic Worse” as some today refuse to obey Big Brother’s Covid orders?

The authors, David Henderson & Charles Hooper, note that while “Freedom is the central component of the best problem-solving system ever devised,” our progressive leaders have fallen back on totalitarian techniques in the futile effort to “stamp out” the pandemic. Might they just as well order Mother Nature to take a hike? Mind you, the duo are no anti-vaxxers as both “strongly favor vaccination against Covid-19”. BUT, they add, “we strongly oppose government vaccine mandates.”

Why? “Coercive solutions deprive us of freedom and the responsibility that goes with it” and contradicts the very foundation upon which the USA was built. “Free choice,” on the other hand, “relies on persuasion.” The biggest problem with “authoritarian governments”, they suggest, is that “they typically [address problems with] with one-size-fits-all solutions like travel bans & mask mandates.” And once Big Brother takes the Road To Coercion with coercive policies, “power hungry bureaucrats often spout an official party line & suppress dissent, no matter the evidence.” Moreover, they conclude, “once coercion is set in motion, it’s hard to backtrack.” Sound familiar? Think back to Barabas in “King of Kings” who kept demanding “FREEDOM” even though it meant he'd be crucified for opposing Roman rule because, well, they gave him no choice.

Davd Soul