观点/评论：渥太华抗议者是在为谁争取自由？

自由车队抗议者呼鱼贯涌入首都渥太华，愤怒地占领了这座城市。一排排卡车在街道上盘旋，通过响彻国会山庄数英里外的刺耳的汽笛喇叭转达他们要求自由并摆脱新冠病毒限制措施的呼声。这些抗议者干扰额那些在疫情中饱受重创的小商小户，并危及老年人的身心健康，充分显示出他们对他人，特别是那些弱势和边缘化群体的漠视态度。他们的自由高于一切！抗议者的行为表明，他们不是在为民主社会赋予的自由而战，而是打着自由的旗号，宣扬和鼓吹自我利益为中心的主张和价值观。

Freedom Convoy protestors have poured into our national capital, occupying the city in rage. Lines of trucks circled on streets, blasting air horns that echoed miles away from Parliament Hill, declaring their demand for liberty and freedom from Covid restrictions. They disrupted the pandemic battered small businesses and intimidated senior residents, sending a message that they don't care about the lives of others –including the vulnerable and marginalized groups and that their freedom outweighs anything else. The protestors' behaviors have shown that they are not fighting for democratic rights and freedom but rather asserting their egocentric entitlement under the disguise of the freedom mantra.

疫情限制措施和疫苗接种规定挽救了数百万人的生命。 2020 年 6 月的一项研究表明，封城措施在11 个欧洲国家内降低了病毒的传播率，使数百万人避免了死亡的厄运。世卫组织的一项研究估计，Covid 19 疫苗接种明显地降低了整个欧洲地区 60 岁以上老年人的死亡率。但抗议者却要拒绝一切限制了他们的生活和自由的防疫措施，声称他们不能忍受那些大家都能忍受的防疫措施所造成的任何不便。抗议者的主张是将自身利益置于集体利益之上，将自己的自由置于他人之上。

Pandemic protocols and vaccination mandates have helped avoid millions of lives lost. A June 2020 study has shown that lockdown measures in 11 European countries had significantly reduced the infection's reproductive rate, saving millions of lives. A WHO research estimated that Covid 19 vaccinations dramatically lowered the death rates among the 60-year-old and older across the European region. Protestors demand to refuse public health rules that may curtail their livelihood and limit their freedom, claiming they could not endure the restrictive impacts like the rest of us do. They prioritize their self-interest over the common good of the public, putting their liberty above that of others.

对无家可归人士的收容所所进行的骚扰，袭击和恐吓充分显示了抗议者的这种自我为中心的心态。一些抗议者来到渥太华的好望收容所，向为吃不上饭的贫困人士提供饭菜的厨房索要食物。他们的无理要求导致长达数小时争执，在难解难分之际，一名抗议者将怒火撒向无辜的贫困人士，将一名神经失常的病患推向卡车。在抗议者霸道行为的骚扰下，收容所在晚餐时分遭围困，使那些食不果腹，无家可归的人士吃不到晚餐。这一事件凸显出抗议者的冷酷无情以及为满足自身利益而置最弱势群体而不顾的真实面孔。

The self-serving motives of the protestors were in full display when they harassed, assaulted, and intimidated a homeless shelter, demanding free food from the soup kitchen that served meals to the most disadvantaged group of people. The demand led to hours-long verbal altercations at the facility. At the height of the commotion, the protestors targeted innocent shelter users, pushing a mentally ill man against the truck. The reckless intrusion kept the shelter under siege over dinner, preventing the starved homeless people from using the service. The incidents highlighted the protestors' cold-heartedness and willingness to serve their self-interest at the expense of the most vulnerable people.

脸书上疯狂传送的一张显示一渥太华老妇站在一排慢慢行走的卡车面前拦住其去路的照片，将示威者“我的自由高于一切”的心态完全被暴露在镁光灯之下。大白天的喇叭叫嚣声，晚上的醉汉的喊叫声，居民阳台下小便，堵住了紧急出口的卡车，这一切激怒了当地居民，让他们忍无可忍。56 岁的玛丽卡·莫里斯和她的邻居站在占领了她们街区的车队前面，与车队司机持续了数分钟的对峙。但莫里斯女士的白发和居民的反抗都没有起到任何作用。冷酷、自私、自以为是的卡车司机仍开着卡车前行，在手无寸铁和倍感绝望的居民面前地盘旋，倍显其强加于自身的自由和权利。

The demonstrators' "my-freedom-above-all" mentality is under intense spotlights as a Facebook picture showing an Ottawa's Centertown resident standing in front of a line of moving trucks went viral online. The loud honking during the day, the drunk yelling at night, the defecating under residents' balconies, and the trucks blocking the emergency exit has angered the residents and that they've decided they had enough. 56-year old Marika Morris and her neighbors stood in front of the convoy that took over their neighborhood, engaging in a standoff that lasted a few minutes long. But neither Ms. Morris' grey hair nor the residents' defiant act made a difference. The callous, self-absorbed and narcissistic truck drivers kept circling, demonstrating their entitled freedom in front of the powerless and desperate residents.  

挤兑公共场所和商场而迫使店铺关门，口出种族言论以威胁大众安全，在公共土地和私人财产上随意大小便等剥夺了企业、消费者和居民的权利和自由。对加拿大国家纪念馆的亵渎凸显出抗议者们实际上在践踏他们欲索取的，几代加拿大人为之而奋斗和争取的民主自由。这些抗议者哭喊着要争取自由，但他们的行为却侵犯了民主国家最宝贵的普通民众的自由。他们劫持了自由的口头禅，目的只有一个，满足自身的利益。

Overrunning malls and shops that forced many stores to shut down, uttering racists to threaten public safety, and defecating in public land and private property denied the business, consumers, and residents' freedom. The desecration of Canada's National Memorial highlighted the protestors' attempt to trample on the very freedom that they demanded and that generations of Canadians had fought for. Protestors rallied to cry for liberty, but their action has infringed on ordinary people's freedom crucial to our democratic fabric. They hijacked the freedom mantra to serve the interest of no one else but their own.