As you pull into the Target or Walmart parking lot, you finally see what, you believe to be, an empty parking space. You do not take your eyes off the space and hope to get there before someone else takes the spot. As you wheel into the presumed space, you abruptly apply your brakes because there sits a shopping cart. Over-and-over we are confronted with the inability of individuals to accept some modicum or responsibility and place the damn shopping cart in one of the areas provided throughout the parking lot. Why has it become so difficult for so many to “do the right thing?” Why have we become a society so fixated on being self-serving and selfish? Why has “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” become a vestige of the past? Why do we not care about the possible results of our “:me-only” actions?
Not placing a shopping cart into the proper place is one thing but putting the lives of countless thousands into jeopardy is a whole other matter. According to an article in Forbes magazine, why are approximately 40 percent of adults, who identify themselves as Republicans, adamantly refusing to get vaccinated? Why do they not seem to have the slightest concern for the welfare of others by their reckless decision-making? It has been stated by those who are refusing to be vaccinated that they have the freedom to make that decision and cannot be forced to do otherwise. Indeed, there are many freedoms that we enjoy. Freedom, by definition, is to have the ability and/or power to act or think as we desire without being hindered or restrained. We certainly have the freedom to vote, worship, work, play, etc. as we wish, but freedom does not give license to encroach upon the freedoms and rights of others. A current candidate for the U.S. senate seat in Alabama, Katie Britt, has been quoted as saying that “freedom is the solution, not the problem.” That plays well in ultra-conservative Alabama, but I would question the validity of the statement. Freedoms are controlled and limited through a variety of means.
For example, you do not have the freedom to drive your car at a speed exceeding one hundred miles per hour in a school zone where the limit is twenty-five miles per hour. If you choose to do so, you may suffer the consequences as well as put others in danger. There are traffic laws that we are all expected to obey for the common good. Further, if you are a parent, you do not have the freedom to chain your child to a tree for hours on end. If you do such a heinous thing, you will pay the consequences. There are laws to protect children from such actions. You do have the freedom of speech, but that does not extend to infringing on the rights of others. You do not have the freedom to yell “fire” in a crowded theater if there is no evidence of a fire. You do have the freedom to assemble with other like-minded individuals, but not if your intent is to riot, burn, demolish, shoot, and steal at others expense. You do have the freedom to worship as you choose, but not if your worship includes sacrificial rituals that endanger the lives of children. You do have the freedom to own guns, but you do not have the freedom to sit in a hotel room and shoot and kill those attending a concert in the area below your room’s window.
The point is that freedom is not an absolute. There are circumstances, conditions, rules, laws, and regulations that place boundaries around the very concept. In the above definition of freedom, it was noted that everyone makes his or her own decision as to how they act and think about what they can do and what they will do. Yet, if there is a can do, there is also a cannot do and it is at this juncture that differences arise. Although a person may have the freedom not to wear a mask, social distance, or get vaccinated that freedom is not sacrosanct. I also have the freedom to do those things and it is my belief that those in authority have the freedom to impose controls and limitations on freedom when the common good outweighs the individual freedom. There is precedent for such action. Children cannot attend school unless they show proof of having received certain vaccinations. There was a period in the history of the United States when individuals who were sick with tuberculosis were placed in government-operated sanitoriums. They did not have the freedom to refuse to go. As noted, speed on the highways is controlled by law enforcement. Riding in a car requires everyone to wear a seat belt. Children are to be placed in child safety restraints in cars. Pets are to be feed and cared for by their owners.
There must be a measure of controls and limitations established by a society for there to be a semblance of organization and adherence to a common goal. Everyone cannot be left to their own devices or chaos will reign. Let us hope that common sense will prevail and that more individuals will come to realize that their current stance is foolish and deadly. As I have mentioned, to go beyond societally imposed controls and limits can have consequences. Those who continue to flaunt their “freedom” about Covid, and the vaccines may well pay the ultimate price as may those around them.