Freedom Day

While the war in Ukraine rages, headlines in Germany address the exploding energy prices.

But what is really exploding are Corona incidence rates in Europe, breaking new records every day in Germany.

Everything seemed normal when the fourth wave came down at the beginning of March. But since then, incidence rates have been on the rise again, while the government had planned to ease Corana restrictions on March 20, a date some people erroneously named Freedom Day.

There is something strange with the word freedom. Remember Freedom Fries instead of Frech fries when the French and the Germans in 2003 refused to join Operation Iraqi Freedom?

Poor Colin Powell, when he tried to justify the toppling of Saddam Hussein by playing at the UN Security Council with some test tubes allegedly containing a poisonous substance. The victorious war and Saddam's demise created a power vacuum in the region that led to widespread civil war between the Shias and Sunnis.

Given the flaming energy prices, our Liberal finance minister and head of the Free Democratic Party, Christian Lindner, called solar and wind-energies Freedom Energies. They free Germany from dependence on Russian gas.

And there are those anti-vaxxers who demonstrate in Freiburg every Saturday trying yesterday to advance the "Freedom Day "date to March 19.

©BZ/Rita Rggenstein

They were only 1000 at the Square of the Old Synagogue when the organizer told the crowd that there would be no procession through the city center, "We have music, and the weather is nice." Then he called on the applauding protesters to remove their masks, "We're moving up our Freedom Day by one day."

Although the police protect any announced demonstration in Germany, this action was against the still existing regulations. The police repeatedly appealed to the rally participants to pull up their masks. Without response. After the third announcement, the police declared the gathering over, "You have fifteen minutes to leave the Square of the Old Synagogue."

But a hardcore remained, chanting and drumming incessantly. "שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם (Shalom aleichem, i.e., Peace be with you)" and "We shall overcome." The police loosely surrounded the small group - those who wanted to could leave without any problems. Still, not everyone left the square voluntarily.

The freedom of the anti-vaxxers is an individual and thus egoistic freedom. It restricts the freedom of the large community of the vaccinated (75% of the people living in Germany).

I do not want to bother you again with Goethe's citation from his drama Egmont:

"Freedom is a beautiful word. Who understands it correctly?"

Here is a poem by Max von Schenkendorf instead:

©Wikipedia

Freedom that I mean,
That fills my heart,
Come with your glow
Sweet angel image.
Don't you never like to show yourself to the hard-pressed world?
Do you lead your dance only among the stars?

Schenkendorf wrote this patriotic poem in 1813 under the impression of the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon, in which he took an active part.

Did the concept of freedom become any more apparent to you now?

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