Month #2

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What is our Next Step...

With social distancing we have comet to a conflict of values between individual rights and doing what is best for the common good.  Often these considerations are not so clear cut, but let's face it, if we learn to compromise this next step can be a smooth transition if we choose it to be.  The conflict is seen when there is an insistence for wearing personal protection while entering a place of business that requests it as part of the  establishment rules and the patron feels that this is a violation of their rights.  Personal rights have always been dependent on what is best for the greater good since this has changed over time.

Remember the overall mood after September 11, 2001 when we watched in horror as over three thousand people were taken from us in an act of terrorist.  Since that time we submit ourselves to TSA searches without a single word of protest over violation of individual rights.  We have to remove our shoes, because ten years ago a passenger tried to set off a shoe bomb.  After the attack on Pearl Harbor, American citizens were herded into internment camps all because of their Japanese national origin.  Before COVID 19, we were trying to close down the borders that included the incarceration of children at our southern borders and this was not the only instance of shutting down due to concerns of national security, but with the Corona Virus, we cannot see it and therefore it is easy to disregard as a threat.  The truth is this virus has come to us as a result of nature at work and while the death toll from this virus will reach one hundred thousand, what is out of sight is out of mind.

I can certainly understand the restlessness.  Americans are movers and shakers for the most part.  We do things and stay active.  It is part of our wonderful national character.  We like to live life to its fullest and having to shelter down is not who we are, but the fact remains many people are at risk in this Pandemic.  People like me who have health concerns.  But the flip side of our national character is taking risks.  We like to thumb our noses at Isaac Newton's law of gravity as we scale rocks, jump off of them with para gliders or even suits with wings, or get on our skateboards or other wheeled apparatus.  But while we are risk-takers, we also minimize the risks so that our ventures will not end in tragedy.  Apply that to this Pandemic.  If we take precautions we can overcome the danger presented by this virus.  If we choose not to due to our instance in maintaining  individual rights we are choosing to be reckless and disregard the safety of others as we have learned how this virus works.  

In a recent Facebook post, I talked about how I used to wear an M-1 chemical mask and ensemble in case of a chemical attack while I was stationed in Korea.  No one talked about individual rights or how the ensemble made them look "fat."  You have to look at the issues of the conflict: does wearing personal protection equipment help prevent infection?  The answer is yes it is one of the most effective ways to prevent infection along with social distancing.  What happens when we disregard these precautions?  Infection rates skyrocket and some with certain medical conditions will not survive.  

The bottom line is, yes it is time to start ending stay at home restrictions, but only if we continue with precautions.  These precautions do not restrict our individual rights, because if we do not abide by them, people will become infected due to our disregard.   

I will not address the fact that many people are saying that this virus was a result of a world wide conspiracy or that Bill Gates is profiting from the Pandemic.  Facebook can be a great source of people expressing their fear of this Pandemic in interesting ways.  The world is flat...Class of 1491...