France is this strange country that never stopped collaborating with various invaders before revolting with honour; a country that was at first cowardly, then always brave. Without thinking about it, as usual, she has just abandoned the motto of her ancestors, which she will no doubt soon regain with glory.
During the French Revolution, long before "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" became the motto of the Republic, this poster affirmed that these three ideals were worth more than our lives.
All political regimes, whatever they may be, have no other function than to protect their subjects or citizens from aggressions from which they cannot protect themselves. They can, in turn, limit the freedoms of their constituents, which some regimes believe they must do more than others.
Thomas Hobbes of Britain tolerated to all crimes of the state as long as it protected its subjects from the torments of the civil war he had experienced. Breaking with him, the Frenchman Montesquieu devised mechanisms to control the national interest. With him, all the builders of modern regimes considered
freedoms to be the ultimate goal of democracies.
During deadly epidemics, some regimes felt it necessary to limit or even deprive some of their constituents of their freedoms. It was accepted, until the Covid-19 epidemic, that democracies could exceptionally limit the rights of those infected, or suspected of being infected, in order to protect the healthy. It is now accepted that they may also limit the freedoms of the latter, or even place almost the entire population under house arrest.
This new standard has never been democratically discussed. It was imposed on governments in an emergency and was accepted by their constituents as a lesser evil.
In doing so, they have brought about a temporary change of political regime, since in a democracy political decisions are only legitimate if they have been debated in representative assemblies. In the light of this momentum, the exceptional regimes are now working on the design of compulsory protective clothing, which until recently prohibited the burkha. As well as mobile applications that can warn their citizens of the presence of an infected person in their vicinity.
Comment: It's ironic that, while the right wing are constantly railing against the 'socialist' Sweden dystopia, it's Sweden that managed to maintain the liberty of their citizens while the rest of the world went full police state.
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