The costs of lockdowns do not depend on the reasons behind them. There is in a lockdown a sudden and arbitrary interruption of individual plans. Our cessation of movements and relationships causes psychological harm.
You need to recognize the importance of your choices and behavior.
Some things are beyond your control. Keep laughing. Enjoy your hobbies. Consider yourself part of a larger cause. Love freedom, respect life, and personal property.
Today in America we are in danger of becoming or having our kids become captives to doublethink. Many repeat official lies and myths. They do so not because it was the right thing to do, but because it is the safe thing to do. Is American courage increasingly in short supply? Or do we now lack a thirst for freedom?
Is there value in the study of representations of Biblical scenes? Are history and reason being supplanted with political dogma and propaganda? We should understand life in a dictatorship offers two choices. You either overcome your fear and stand for truth, or you remain a slave to fear. What is happening in America today? No matter your titles, no matter how big your house it isn’t possible to escape yourself or your conscience.
Most of us share concerns of our lives. We struggle with our identity and freedom. Those things really are and maybe should be fused. A free life in a free society is essential. It satisfies a human yearning to choose one’s path and to pursue one’s goals.
Freedom broadens possibilities and provides an opportunity for self-advancement. Identity, a life of commitment, is essential. It satisfies a human longing to become part of something bigger than oneself. It adds layers of meaning to our lives and deepens the human experience. Freedom offers a choice. Identity provides direction.
We need to distinguish between free society and fear society. The structural elements that enable democratic societies to respect human rights are independent courts, the rule of law, a free press, a freely elected government, meaningful opposition parties, and human rights organizations. These things are all absent in fear societies.
America today needs a refresher course in the lessons in courage, freedom, justice, belonging, and hope. We should reflect on freedom and identity, liberty and tribe. These things are not just compatible but codependent. To have a full, interesting, meaningful life you have to figure out how to be connected enough to defend your freedom and free enough to protect your identity.
Today that puzzle confronts America and its citizens. Benefiting from the best of liberalism and the best of nationalism, together we can champion the joint mission. That mission is to belong and to be free as both are central to human happiness.
Governments establish the conditions of liberty. But identity must come from the individual. The most positive and enduring sources of identity are not found in politics. They are located in civil society. The institutions of family, faith, and community tell us who we are, what we want, where we should turn.
People come before the government. Governments are not devices of philanthropy. Governments must remain small and secondary to the people they serve. They must remain so if democracy is to survive.