What If This is Your Last Day of Freedom?

What if today is your last day of freedom? As Americans, we rarely ask ourselves such a question because we are so used to charting our own destiny and speaking our minds that we never consider the possibility of not having freedom. What prompted me to think about this question initially was what happened to 47 pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. 

The Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Legco) is the city's de facto legislature. It is made up of 70 members, 35of whom are directly elected through five geographical constituencies. The election of those 35 seats was supposed to take place last year. Citing the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse, Beijing-appointed Hong Kong chief Carrie Lam postponed Hong Kong's legislative election for a year.

The pro-democracy camp organized an unofficial primary last summer to identify candidates for the upcoming election. About 47 candidates, including sitting legislators, participated, and more than 600,000 Hong Kong residents cast votes. For any democr…