CONSTITUTIONAL CONVERSATIONS
Vanilla Beane
by
M. E. Boyd, Esq., “Miss Constitution”
#twill #tcot #maga #leadright #constitution #sbalich
Miss Constitution intended to write the last of the series on the American economic system but has decided that the national emergency we are in deserves a special column. She will complete the economic series at another time.
There is a very successful hat maker in Washington, DC who, as a young woman, was an elevator operator in a building with a hat shop. She decided that she wanted to have a shop that makes hats and eventually accomplished her personal goal. She is now nationally renowned even though ladies do not wear hats as much as they used to. This wonderful woman epitomizes what is possible in America and this little saying was her guide:
Love many; trust few; learn to paddle your own canoe.
How quintessentially American with its emphasis on the development of the person enshrined in the Liberty Ethic, as Miss Constitution calls it, that is part of both the mission and the success of the American system. That ethic that we so treasure has, as does all things, an inherent flaw. How does it work in a national emergency when we require that the good of the whole — that is the American people — come before the Liberty of the person? We see it fraying a bit; we see the hat not on quite straight; we see the tension between individualism and direction from authority that seems to bring out both the best and the worst of human inclination. China does not have this problem. If you don’t wear the mask you are supposed to wear during the current Coronavirus epidemic you simply disappear. You are not an individual in a Communist totalitarian regime. When certain brave individuals try and warn the world, they, too, disappear.
America has always had to rely on an inherently virtuous person to make the whole thing work and avoid the suppression of the individual and the rise of authoritarianism. Yes, one has Liberty in America, but it is tethered to responsibility, to social justice, to sacrifice for the greater good. We ask that you re-cycle; we ask that you do not litter; we ask that you wipe down the sink when finished so that it will be clean for the next person; we ask that you pick up your pet’s waste; we ask that you do not start camp fires during certain hot and windy seasons; we ask that you follow detour directions around accidents; tribal councils ask that you not bring alcohol onto tribal property. And so forth and so on.
In this national emergency, where the emphasis must be on the group, not the person, leaders, both political and scientific, have asked that you stay home; they have asked that you work from home if possible; they have asked that if you have a cold or any allergies that would cause sneezing or coughing that you stay home; they have asked that, although you feel okay, that you not gather in groups of more than ten persons, or hang out at bars, or gamble, or travel; or visit nursing homes, or movie theaters; they have asked that you go out for essentials only and that you not conduct what is a normal life for yourself as the gift you give to the nation in this time of great strain and trial.
The nation, your fellow citizens, have asked that you not sweep all the toilet paper off the shelves but leave some for others; they have asked that you don’t go to the store and buy up all the hand sanitizer but leave some for others; they have asked that you not go to the emergency room when you do not feel well but call your physician instead; they have asked that you not demand for yourself (elective surgery) when it is not necessary but leave precious services for those who are more at risk. They ask that you willingly and lovingly and honorably change what you would normally do for good of the whole. They ask that you be creative about your time and cheerful and optimistic with others so that fear is lessened. In other words, the nation is asking all its people, young and old, male and female, challenged and unchallenged, to help with this national emergency that has overwhelmed our systems.
We do not have a health care system that can withstand a sudden and tsunamic wave of people 30 feet high. Health care providers are doing the best they can. Manufacturers are trying to produce emergency products the best they can. Hospitals are trying to staff extra need the best they can while trying to preserve the health of the very providers needed for care. The President is doing the best he can; Congress is doing the best it can; churches are doing the best they can; grocery stores and drug stores are doing the best they can. The military will be called upon to do the best it can. And what are we asking of you? We are asking that you set a moral example for others whether you are personally at risk or not. We are asking that you lead by example; we are asking that you put aside your personal liberty and think how your behavior is seen by the whole. We are asking that you forgo Spring Break and stay off the Florida beaches not because you are infectious but because you are moral. So little is being asked of you. In China those beaches would be cleared in a heartbeat and the spoiled and arrogant simply disappear.
Copyright©2020 M. E. Boyd, Esq., “Miss Constitution”
APPLES OF GOLD—Voices from the Past that Speak to us Now by M. E. Boyd is available at www.amazon.com
