Let me preface the following with a few statements so that my thoughts are not misconstrued or misrepresented. I fully believe the coronavirus is a global health emergency. It has and will continue to destroy lives until it either runs its course or a proper medical vaccine can be developed. It is the paramount issue facing the world’s people and their governments, requiring drastic responses only suitable for an emergency of this magnitude. I understand that, as do many of you.
How drastic the response, however, should be open to debate and met with a great amount of skepticism. There is no easy answer here. Governments must intervene and at the same time the people must restrain their intervention. Crisis moments create many paradoxes that seem to be answers and yet no answer at all.
I’m amazed at the number of people who are angry because federal and state governments haven’t taken away their rights fast enough. Every time a new restriction comes out, they celebrate the fact that non compliant citizens are being forcibly brought into line, all in the name of the greater good. It takes little in-depth historical knowledge to know that most tyrannical governments rise to power under the guise of the greater good. These leaders declare that rights must be infringed so as to promote the welfare of the state. They never come to power on their own, however. They do so with the backing of citizens who would gladly hand over their liberties in order to feel a sense of momentary security. No one ever thinks these interventions will be permanent, until they are. The person who, on a whim, will relinquish their rights and demand that others do the same is the most frightening type of individual to anyone who loves liberty. They are also the type of person who allows dictatorship and fascism to assume power.
I am thankful for government leaders who have been slow to extend the heavy arm of government. Though the media has attacked them for not acting fast enough, I appreciate their willingness to place the security of the state in the hands of the people, not in that of the government. America is uniquely designed to rely on personal responsibility in place of government intervention, even in moments of extreme crisis.
Is there a point where the government must intervene? Surely. It has infinitely more resources and expertise than the average citizen. I’m not saying the government must do nothing. I am saying that the citizens must push back at anything that resembles an overreach. It is our duty. The next few weeks or months should be a constant tug-of-war between government intervention and the people’s fight for their civil liberties. This is how America works. We’re never blindly compliant. This push and pull always exists and should be brightly illuminated in moments like these.
We can all agree that millions of deaths from this virus would be awful. Nonetheless, we can also agree that losing our freedom of self-determination would be equally awful for many generations to come.
Don’t be so quick to demand that the government take away your rights. You are foolish to think it will be as quick to give them back.