Many would have relished Novak Djokovic’s loss today in the semi-final of the Australian Open. I’ve never understood the hate for the man.
Generations in the future will look upon him as a hero. Not for his sublime tennis, but for his principled stance on personal freedom.
There’s a fascinating moment in a BBC interview in February of 2022, not long after Djokovic was deported and therefore unable to play in the Australian Open, where he is asked directly ‘if he’s prepared to forego the chance to be the greatest player that ever picked up a racquet’ because of his vaccine stance.
Djokovic answers definitively, ‘Yes.’
The interviewer then leans forward and asks with incredulity, ‘But why Novak, why?’
Djokovic’s response was telling, ‘Because the principles of decision making on my body are more important than any title.’
Think of your family, friends, neighbours, and colleagues, who else would be willing to sacrifice so much for personal principle? Would you?
The bewilderment of the interviewer speaks volumes to the moral vacuum we’re living in, as does the rarity of Novak’s ethical answer.
Many proponents of social justice feel strongly they are living ethically rich righteous lives, but they are very much mistaken. They have simply sublet out their morality to an aggressive cabal who tells them how to think. And groupthink is at odds with principled beliefs that are the hard-won product of deep self-reflection and personal responsibility.
Perhaps Novak is disliked because he forces people to confront their behaviour, and worse, think for themselves. As Bertrand Russell famously said, ‘Most people would die sooner than think – in fact, they do so.’ It’s easier to pass on this responsibility and acquiesce.
Everything that surrounded Djokovic in the summer of 2022 was emblematic of a slow strangulation of personal liberty. Indeed civil rights groups were alarmed at the government’s Djokovic case stating that it was ‘Dangerous in a democracy’.
We’re living in an era where freedom is being equated with right-wing extremism. How did this happen?
The media, as well as Dan Andrews himself, described the protesters in Melbourne as ‘far-right extremists’ when in truth they were mostly normal Melbournites, families, and grannies – all had simply had enough.
Notice how whenever there’s a rally in support of freedom it’s put in patronising quote marks, referred to as a ‘freedom’ rally. As if freedom is something to scoff at, instead of cherish.
Many of us were happy to handcuff neighbours throughout Covid lockdowns. Shamefully, we turned into a nation of dibber dobbers. As it turned out, lockdowns were drastically unnecessary. Sweden proved this.
Our creeping loss of freedom extended to speech. Even uttering scepticism about the vaccine was enough to earn ire amongst colleagues and suffer strikes on social media. As Djokovic said, ‘The politically correct forces us to give up expressing our ideas with respect, without hatred, but with freedom. Freedom of speech for me today is just an illusion.’
Then there’s the vaccine itself.
I can almost hear the shriek, ‘Anti-Vaxxer!’ Well, no. However, I do believe that the vaccine should only have been administered to those with relevant pre-existing conditions or compromised immune systems.
And this was echoed very early on by the world’s most respected infectious disease epidemiologists in The Great Barrington Declaration which states, ‘We have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing Covid policies.’ It currently has over 939,000 signatures. Shockingly, any mention of it in social media was termed misinformation.
Doctors warned that mass dissemination of the vaccine would result in a proliferation of variance, which it did.
Related to this is a meta-analysis published in the Lancet that describes the level of protection provided by infection thanks to the immune system as ‘high’. This amplifies the farcical nature of Djokovic’s deportation as he was infected in December 2021, prior to his arrival in Australia.
Many Australian doctors were sceptical of the Covid vaccine, and remain so. Among those who urged caution is Dr Christopher Neil, cardiologist and lecturer at the University of Melbourne, and president of the Australian Medical Professionals’ Society (AMPS). Dr Neil stated that the recommendation of a fifth Covid booster shot was made ‘despite unprecedented signals of harm and a stifling of debate’.
Then there’s a suspected higher risk of myocarditis. One study found 133 times higher amongst teenage boys. The New York Times reported on a new analysis examining deaths in Britain that showed AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine may have posed a higher heart risk for young women. The same product was restricted in 2021 across the UK and the European Union in part due to concerns of a potential risk of blood clotting.
Covid mRNA vaccines have been associated with an excess risk of serious adverse events, including coagulation disorders, acute cardiac injuries, Bell’s Palsy, and encephalitis. Another study suggested increased acute cardiac arrests following vaccination. Another assessed the risk and found evidence of increased risk of cardiovascular disease. There are many more adverse findings for anyone who cares to look.
So, was it unreasonable for an elite athlete to exhibit caution about what he puts into his body?
By the summer of 2021, it was clear that people who were vaccinated were still able to catch and transmit the virus. This compounds the madness surrounding Djokovic’s deportation because all following mandates were medically unethical. It can only be medically necessary to force someone to have a vaccine if it helps a third party, and it has been proven that the vaccine had little to no efficacy in stopping the transmission of Covid.
When you’re living through a tangled moment in history like Covid it can be difficult to navigate and ascertain who’s right. But the so-called ‘progressive’ seem convinced they are on ‘the right side of history’ every time. I wonder whether history will look fondly on those who cheered as our liberties were stripped, or smile on those who stood up for freedom in spite of the hate.
Many heroes throughout history were regarded as heretics at the time. Novak ignored the haters. We all should.
