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Staying Free

Freedom in America in the time of pandemic is about making choices people are deeply divided about. As the author of this article, a professor of constitutional law opines: 

The COVID-19 constitutional balance is hard because the things being balanced are both vitally important: stopping the spread of the coronavirus is a matter of life and death; but many lives have also been lost over the past 232 years fighting to protect the rights guaranteed to all Americans in the Constitution. The examples above shed light on whether any particular COVID-19 order is constitutional. If that order takes away constitutional rights—such as the right to travel, the right to assemble, or freedom of religion—then ask if the government can achieve the same COVID-19 health goal in some other way that does not take away those rights or involves materially less interference with those rights. If the answer is no, then the law may well be constitutional, but if the answer is yes, then the balance may tip in favor of protecting our constitutional rights and striking down the order

There is the other side of the story. Health-care workers who are paying a personal price for everyone's right to freedom - people who think wearing a mask is a choice or even a political statement, people who want to travel because it is summer and that's what they have always done never mind the virus, people who want to gather in large numbers and party because they are stir crazy from sheltering at home and need a break, people who think for some reason they are invincible or this whole thing is a hoax. It seems a little bit of empathy for people around us could go a long way. This is not about loss of personal freedom but about seeing actions through a lens of collective responsibility. 

What happens if I don't party with a dozen people I have not seen in months, what happens if I postpone that summer trip to next year, how hard is it to put on a mask when inside a grocery store or generally in a place where there are many people in close quarters. The fact that a person is so lucky in these times to even have the ability to ask such questions is a big deal. There are those who have no choice but to physically show up to work each day and put themselves and their families at risk. They can't choose to be free.
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