Opinion | Also stand up for those you disagree with

Our democracy is in crisis. Many agree on this, but what that crisis consists of causes the greatest possible division. Various issues – such as the environment, the corona measures or the election results – led to calls from different angles to protect our fundamental rights. That’s nice, but little attention seems to be paid to an important threat: almost no one is willing to stand up for the rights of people they disagree with.

For both the left and the right of the political spectrum, defending democracy increasingly means that only one’s own group must be protected against a ‘dangerous’ other. The left, in the name of democracy, alludes to banning political parties that they consider a threat. On the right, freedom is increasingly focused on protecting the individual from one’s own group, even if this excludes others. The idea that freedom of expression should be restricted to protect against online ‘disinformation’ is widely supported on both the left and the right. There are people on both sides of the political spectrum who have no problem with restricting the rights of unvaccinated fellow citizens.

Double standards

The inconsistent way in which we defend fundamental rights is particularly evident with the right to demonstrate. Many politicians, journalists and civil society organizations defend the actions of Extinction Rebellion (XR). We completely agree with that, but two years ago the same people and organizations looked away when peaceful demonstrations against corona measures took place. were broken up by the police.

Conversely, the arrest of XR members rarely led to controversy among corona critics. And many who have stood up for the right to protest in recent years are now putting those ideals aside when it comes to demonstrations for Palestine.

In short, we apply double standards: we support the restriction of rights if it serves our political goals, and call the other ‘fascist’ if he does the same. If someone does stand up for the freedom of expression of a political opponent, he or she is quickly accused of sympathizing with the substantive views.

Also read
The judge usually approves of violating fundamental rights because of corona

Freedom under pressure

Anyone who does not stand up for fundamental rights for everyone is not standing up for fundamental rights but for their own interests. Freedom and democracy are empty terms if we are not prepared to defend the rights of our opponents. And there are real threats on the horizon; players who like to use our divisions to further restrict our freedom.

We are at the beginning of a digitalization that is driven by companies for which profit and not our values ​​are leading. If we do not pay close attention, our right to privacy will disappear permanently.

At the same time, we are losing control over political decision-making. More and more policies come from Brussels, where our voice is poorly represented, as became apparent when the cabinet refused to implement House of Representatives motions regarding the digital euro and the European digital identity. Economic difficulties and reform of our vulnerable financial system offer opportunities for bankers and international investment funds to further enrich themselves, but at the expense of ordinary citizens.

Democracy and fundamental rights are not a natural phenomenon, they are hard won and easy to lose. Protecting the free rule of law requires active citizenship, every day. Instead of coming together to defend our rights and shared values, we have become opportunistic. We are happy with the short-term gain when an opponent is silenced, but we are in danger of forgetting that the more freedom of expression is restricted, the easier it will happen again next time. Ultimately, an attack on the freedom of one part of the population is an attack on the freedom of us all. Let us never forget that and truly defend our democracy again in 2024.

To share





Email the editor