American1776
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- Jan 6, 2014
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One thing this pandemic has taught me is that while all individuals have natural rights to life, liberty and property (which is what John Locke's Second Treatise on Civil Government taught the founding fathers, and especially, Jefferson), our rights (and liberty) entail a set of responsibilities, both individually and collectively.
1)We all have a responsibility to be self-sufficient. That means be prepared for disasters. Store food and supplies during times of peace and plenty to ensure that your family is taken care of. The only reason the stores are empty is because all of the irresponsible spendthrifts who never planned ahead. Now that the crisis is here, they make life difficult for everyone. It's akin to buying insurance after you wrecked your vehicle.
2) We all have a responsibility to defend ourselves, our families, our communities, and our country. That means keep and bear arms safely, train with those arms, and be ready to use them if evil invades. What I witnessed in states like CA and NJ are folks who never held a gun, and who probably voted to take away ours during peaceful times, now suddenly flock to gunshops and expect to walk out with their own gun and ammo on the same day (they cannot).
3) We all have a responsibility to our fellow Americans to stay indoors and stop going out, especially in groups. The R0 of this virus is ~2.4. Every infected person spreads it to between 2 and 3 people. That's an exponential spread. What I see are people in NY, NJ, and other states getting into big crowds, attending parties, mega-churches, etc. Yes, people have a natural right to assemble. But being responsible means knowing how to when to do so. What I've learned is that many folks are going over other people's houses, going out in public for trivial reasons, and attending mass gatherings at mega churches---they are not acting with a sense of responsibility for all other Americans who will have to stay locked-down longer because of the further spread of the disease.
4) We all have natural rights enumerated in the Constitution, and explained by Locke and the founders. But if liberty is to be maintained, then a culture of individual and collective responsibility needs to be re-invigorated.
If selfish and foolish folks continue with this irresponsible behavior, they will more and more be begging for further government tyranny. And people will beg for it the more others behave irresponsibly by abusing their own liberty.
We are a nation of individuals. But we are a nation also of the motto, e pluribus unum.
That's about all.
1)We all have a responsibility to be self-sufficient. That means be prepared for disasters. Store food and supplies during times of peace and plenty to ensure that your family is taken care of. The only reason the stores are empty is because all of the irresponsible spendthrifts who never planned ahead. Now that the crisis is here, they make life difficult for everyone. It's akin to buying insurance after you wrecked your vehicle.
2) We all have a responsibility to defend ourselves, our families, our communities, and our country. That means keep and bear arms safely, train with those arms, and be ready to use them if evil invades. What I witnessed in states like CA and NJ are folks who never held a gun, and who probably voted to take away ours during peaceful times, now suddenly flock to gunshops and expect to walk out with their own gun and ammo on the same day (they cannot).
3) We all have a responsibility to our fellow Americans to stay indoors and stop going out, especially in groups. The R0 of this virus is ~2.4. Every infected person spreads it to between 2 and 3 people. That's an exponential spread. What I see are people in NY, NJ, and other states getting into big crowds, attending parties, mega-churches, etc. Yes, people have a natural right to assemble. But being responsible means knowing how to when to do so. What I've learned is that many folks are going over other people's houses, going out in public for trivial reasons, and attending mass gatherings at mega churches---they are not acting with a sense of responsibility for all other Americans who will have to stay locked-down longer because of the further spread of the disease.
4) We all have natural rights enumerated in the Constitution, and explained by Locke and the founders. But if liberty is to be maintained, then a culture of individual and collective responsibility needs to be re-invigorated.
If selfish and foolish folks continue with this irresponsible behavior, they will more and more be begging for further government tyranny. And people will beg for it the more others behave irresponsibly by abusing their own liberty.
We are a nation of individuals. But we are a nation also of the motto, e pluribus unum.
That's about all.
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