I herald from Italy, basically Ground Zero of the Western impact with the COVID-19 pandemic, so maybe my view is somewhat biased (though I saw it from afar, as

I herald from Italy, basically Ground Zero of the Western impact with the COVID-19 pandemic, so maybe my view is somewhat biased (though I saw it from afar, as I am currently in nearby Malta). I honestly think it’s way too early to fret about lost freedom. There are very valid reasons why certain behaviours must at the present time be enforced or curtailed. The loss of freedom will only become visible if, once the emergency subsides, the prior ways are prevented from being reinstated. Certainly, some concern is... understandable, at this moment in time, but it’s far from a done deal. I think the right way of framing it is in terms of what (for example) the British endured during World War II: blackouts meant you were not allowed to illuminate anything outdoors during night-time, so as to avoid giving bombers any aid to navigation, and rationing meant that simply having money to spend didn’t necessarily suffice to buy what you wanted — both notions that would make latter-day people bristle. And yet that phase came and went, because it was mandated by circumstances, and ultimately the governments of the day had no nefarious reason to deprive their citizens (subjects, actually, in the cause of Britain, but I digress) from the freedoms that they had enjoyed previously once the reason for suspending those freedoms had passed. Not to mention freedom of the press... So, yes, I can see why people are worked-up about this. But I think the “jury is still out”on these issues. After all, we’re in a totally extraordinary circumstance.