Regardless of whether it’s Corona or the climate: Many actors who see themselves as liberal – above all the FDP – position themselves loudly against binding regulations on the part of politicians and instead uphold individual and entrepreneurial freedom. But that, says Philipp Staab, professor for the sociology of the future of work at the Humboldt University in Berlin, is actually deeply unliberal. Because the “risks of self-preservation” to which societies are increasingly exposed – and in this respect the corona pandemic was actually something like the little sister of the climate emergency – make it necessary to adapt to changing external conditions and to change one’s own behavior.
Of course, adjustments come with limitations. But self-preservation is the first and crucial condition of every freedom. The greatest threat to liberty is out of control self-preservation risks, so astute liberals ought to agree to adjustment efforts.
If the necessary decisions are delayed or even blocked out of misunderstood individualism, that doesn’t change the situation at all. Because reality cannot be changed. In fact, based on surveys that he conducted on how to deal with corona measures, Staab observes that the willingness of the population to submit to well-founded rules, the necessity of which is understandable, is quite high. It is possible that they will soon even demand exactly that from politicians:
We are in an era of growing resource conflicts and potential supply shortages. Wealthy societies have to learn how to deal with this, i.e. how to manage shortages. Citizens will expect exactly that from their state.