What better time to talk about freedom and liberty than Independence Day. They are foundational values of our country. They are also concepts that we do not all agree on. The role of government in our lives has produced lively discussions from the beginning of our country that continue today. Right now, religion, the right to bear arms, freedom of speech, racism, LGBTQ+, and women’s reproductive health rights are central.
A major issue is individual rights and how they relate to our collective well-being. We cannot just say or do anything we want to because it can pose a danger to ourselves, the public, and to us as a country. That is one of the reasons we have laws although they are not applied equally or equitably. Perdue Pharma is one recent example. They helped to precipitate an opiate crisis, which caused thousands of deaths, paid multi-billion dollar fine, avoided a prison sentence, and…the corporate executives and Sackler family do not have to admit to any criminal wrongdoing. This is just one of the reasons people are angry and frustrated. And it is only one of the many high profile inequities that we are confronted with each day. The rich and affluent have a different set of rules than the rest of us. And let’s not forget about two plus years of a Pandemic which has made most of us edgy, irritable, anxious, depressed and more irrational than usual.
What better time to strategically politicize masks and vaccines for personal, political and economic gain than during the pandemic creating a narrative that our rights are being violated. Let’s wind people up a bit more and point them in the direction that is politically expedient at their expense. Some media outlets, despite 90% of their employees being vaccinated and a requirement that they test daily if they were not, relentlessly perpetrated the false narrative that masks and vaccines were unnecessary. It cost lives and exacerbated the political divisions in our country. Is that the ethical thing to do? Is it the patriotic thing to do? Does it weaken our country? How’s that for a leading question?
It’s easy to misdirect people especially if you are a media outlet that millions listen to without questioning the accuracy of their reporting. But it really isn’t reporting. It’s an opinion show and they are not obligated to be truthful. Remember, freedom of speech even if that speech is intended to deceive. We have an obligation to each other and we need to demand the truth from our elected leaders and media. Without the truth our freedoms and liberties mean little as we will make our decisions based on misinformation and disinformation.
Let’s stop this process and the age old strategy of targeting “others” as the cause for our struggles. It’s not “us” versus them, constructed categories of people we should fear, those that are different than “us”. Categories that are constructed by people who maintain power by setting us against each other. My personal favorite is liberals versus conservatives, both want clean air and water, a good and meaningful job, a home, and a lot less stress.
Feel free to spend some time today reflecting on who you are as an American and who we are as a country. Find common ground and work together during what continues to be a very difficult time. We really are not that different.
For some fun here is something to consider: https://billofrightsinstitute.org/activities/franklin-roosevelt-second-bill-of-rights-1944