Duties, Rights, and Responsibilities
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4 responses to “Duties, Rights, and Responsibilities”
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I am reminded of the duty that so many Americans performed for their country in our many wars. My parents served in WWII. Dad served as a B-17 ground crew chief in England, North Africa, and Italy before being shipped home in late 1944 after three years of quite difficult living conditions and being shot at by German aircraft. Mom was a “Rosey-the-Riveter” worker at the Ford aircraft plant in Chicago. Both worked long hours in the war effort to make sure the world was eventually going to be free of the scourge of Nazism. Many others died or were horribly injured in battles, or lost loved ones that never came home. Mom and Dad married two weeks after his return, years after they had hoped because of Hitler’s war.
So the sacrifices we make today in the call of duty to our country and to our fellow citizens often pale in comparison to what those who have served in times of any of our wars. I get to stay home and avoid a deadly virus that would almost certainly kill me at my age and with my health conditions. Missed haircuts, no travel, restaurant dining, shopping trips, these are not sacrifices when compared to the duty that our essential workers and especially healthcare workers are performing. My duty right now is to stay healthy so I don’t become a burden on others. My duty is to avoid unknowingly infecting anyone with a virus that is often asymptomatic. I realize that my children must work and they are contributing and doing their duty while being extra careful. I realize that the economy is hurting because the warnings and actions to slow down the spread of the virus came too late. I realize that some have no choice but to work in close spaces like meat plants and grocery stores. I don’t understand, though, how anyone insists on resuming the grand opening of nonessential services so that they can exercise their freedoms to dine-in, congregate closely at venues, party with others, and not wear masks. I don’t understand why the health and safety of our citizenry should matter less than someone’s desire to enjoy his or herself with worldly pleasures that are not necessary to basic life.
It’s been only about three months of quarantine and masks. Yet we are almost 20% of the way toward the total U.S. dead in 4 years of WWII, have nearly doubled the number of U.S. Viet Nam War dead, and almost equaled the U.S. dead in the “Great War”, WWI. This pandemic is still in the early innings of a long ball game. Can we all work together to do our respective duties to end it? Or will some exercise their freedoms to live life to the fullest to the detriment or death of the lives of others?
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You’re right. It’s especially important to remember now, on Memorial Day weekend, that previous generations have sacrificed much more in response to other existential threats, World War II standing out as particularly existential.
I did just run across an interesting opinion piece from the NY Times editorial board about the fact that we are not doing so bad, overall. It’s easy to focus on the toilet paper hoarders and the frighteningly angry, but remarkably, given our divided country, most people have complied with public health advice and government orders that are, really, unenforceable. It’s worth keeping in mind, what we have accomplished together.
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Great post but what obligations do we, as a people owe our government?
Quarantine is when we restrict the movement of the sick.
Tyranny is when we restrict the movement of the healthy.I’m not a friend of our government or their decision making re our livelihood, our economy or our own personal decidion making.
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I think our duty to our government is to be reasonably informed, and to vote and encourage everyone to vote. Democracy doesn’t work as a spectator sport. It is an interesting question, though. We don’t do much by way of teaching civics any longer. More answers may lie in old curricula.
As for staying home and wearing a mask, I’m a lot more worried about my duty to my fellow citizens and my elderly mother than I am my duty to the government. This thing is so insidious with all the asymptomatic spread, and the time gap between being infectious and showing symptoms! I’d be horrified if I found out I was asymptomatic and accidentally infected people!
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