Penny Thoughts: Freedom Plagues America

Since the murder of George Floyd, we have witnessed the great destruction of many large cities in America through the violent, vicious, and wanton disrespect for personal property and individual protection by those who seek to eliminate “systemic racism” along with police brutality. At the same time, their actions have renewed efforts of the anti-gun lobby to take away one of our liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights – the “right to bear arms”, the Second Amendment.

For many years I have lectured to my classes in ethics about the dangers of “freedom” in America, which essentially involves our lack of personal responsibility when it comes to freedom as opposed to the largesse of those who would have “complete” freedom, resulting in moral anarchy.

Here is where the basic dichotomy of the American notion of freedom comes into contrast with the realities of a truly free society.

While we want to be free, we want that fact protected and guaranteed by an entity greater than those who would or could limit or eradicate our “freedom” – and that is the plague of American freedom. 

On the one hand we want to be able to move about and act with freedom under the protection of laws to ensure that freedom, and, on the other hand, in many instances those laws limit our concept and practice of freedom.

In effect, how much freedom are we willing to surrender to more and more “law” designed and intended to protect our freedom in the name of security? This is just the argument held by those opposed to laws and actions taken to protect our  society in the name of “health” safety, an opposition particularly aimed at the arbitrary and capricious mandates declared by governors in some of our States.

We have been told that it is the “science”, but we have found that the “science” has changed constantly and precipitously. Yet, our governmental overseers have deferred to these “researchers”, who have reached NO consistent consensus. These governments have made decisions about our social behaviors, our gatherings, and even our economy by cherry picking which “science” happened to fit their narrative at the time.

In practice, the rush to gain “control” over the spread of this virus has resulted in the “control” of the citizens who have relied on the protections, which were supposed to be ensured by the citizens’ governments.

Those of us who love to be “free” do not believe that “freedom” can be guaranteed by more laws or edicts.

What this has to do with COVID-19 is not so much imbued with specific applicability, rather, it comes as a result of the plethora of mandates rooted in the quest to guarantee freedom for our safety. The cumulative effect when not checked has become devastating, as can be attested to by no less than 40,000,000 people out of work.

And the question still goes unanswered even today. I am no antagonist of the law or of executive orders designed to protect us from those who would take advantage of our freedoms and our free society to control us – even attempt to bring us down. Judge Richard A. Posner, 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, wrote in 2006, “The Constitution was never meant to be a suicide pact.” In effect, just because our Founders revered freedom as the basis for the law of the land, the law they established did not grant an implicit license to do just anything anyone wished to do in its name. Thus, my right to swing my fist ends at the tip of your nose.

We constantly seek to balance our individual rights with the concept that it is better to belong to a society which will protect those rights, but, which, at the same time, requires us to curb some of that “freedom” in the name of protecting that societal entity.

For almost two and half centuries now this fledgling and still evolving republic steeped in democratic principles designed to protect the individual has successfully walked the tight rope between personal freedom and societal regulation. Sometimes we fail, as in the instances we are now suffering as the result of mandates prompted by COVID-19, but, for the vast majority of the time we succeed.

That is both the beauty and the danger of the plague of freedom in America.

Still, these two concepts of individual freedom and societal requisite is engrained deeply enough in the true heart of America such that we always seem to know when it is time to step back, check where we are, then proceed with actions which will preserve both.

In trying times such as these, the real Soul of America always emerges AND reclaims its foundation in freedom.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of The West Alabama Watchman.