By ALLEN WOODS
As Americans, we love our freedoms. We boast about them and idealize them, relying on them to support our long-held view that the U.S. is exceptional compared to the rest of the world. We are the “land of the free and the home of the brave.”
In the 1700s, the Bill of Rights established freedoms that were exceptional in the world at the time: freedom of speech, religion, and the press; freedom to assemble and bear arms as part of a militia; freedom from housing troops and unreasonable search and seizure, etc. (Notably, it did not ensure freedom from slavery or the right for all citizens to vote.)
In recent months, with the COVID virus upending our lives, I have seen and heard frequent references to vaccination, mask, and testing mandates as moving us to a place where we are no longer a “free country.” Even our reliably moderate Republican Gov. Charlie Baker used the lightning-rod phrase in April as he responded to questions about his resistance to requiring vaccinations for some state employees: “It’s still a free country last I checked.” (He has recently reversed his position.)
But what does being “free” mean within a social and political organization as sprawling, diverse and interconnected as the United States of America? Federal, state, and local governments have always put limits on some of our most idealized freedoms.
In the U.S., people are free to speak unpopular opinions — unless they involve slander, threaten violence, or incite people to riot. The press is free to publish controversial materials — unless they involve national security or present false or misleading information.
I believe even the most diehard gun advocates don’t encourage individuals to possess tanks and nuclear weapons. People are free to assemble as long as they don’t cause a public safety problem such as blocking traffic. Privacy is assured — unless private actions assist criminal activity.
The list of limits to our freedoms is almost endless, from speed limits to noise restrictions, from airline weapons-screening to elevator capacity limits. So how are vaccinations, masking, and testing different?
Part of the problem is that the virus (especially the Delta variant) and vaccines are so new. The fight to control other deadly diseases has often required decades The vaccines are still under an FDA “emergency use” approval status.
The virus itself mutated just as we began to target the original form. Many people complain about the “moving goalposts” of public health advice (masks or no masks, safety of younger age groups, requirements for indoor and outdoor gatherings, etc.), which I see as an unavoidable function of chasing the elusive target of a mutating virus.
But in my mind, a bigger problem is our lack of national purpose and trust in our government. Although far from universal, Americans came together during the World Wars, sacrificing many of their personal freedoms to fight a common enemy and protect the broader freedom of our nation.
Today, the concept of sacrificing personal freedoms to help our country is rare. Donald Trump ridiculed personal sacrifice by proudly evading military service and demeaning fallen soldiers and war heroes that disagreed with him. Government mistrust has been partially fueled by big lies that spawned deadly, and ultimately useless, wars in Vietnam and Iraq. It’s even tough to trust government health officials who have sporadically abused our trust, with deadly consequences. (Google the Tuskegee syphilis experiment.)
One common formulation of freedom in our society is a quotation attributed to many different sources: “The freedom to swing your arm ends at the tip of my nose.”
My translation: You are free to exercise your individual rights until you endanger others.
In today’s world, with an unseen virus transmitted through droplets in the air, the quotation might read: “Your freedom to breathe out possibly infectious air ends six feet from the tip of my nose.”
In the same vein, endangering others by serving in a public sector job or frequenting public gatherings and remaining unvaccinated, unmasked, and/or untested, seems ludicrous (with the exception of true medical or religious reasons).
I wish we had complete certainty about virus transmission and immunity. Until then, all we can do is set aside the well-earned distrust in our government and follow the advice of experts acting in good faith. We need to make some sacrifices to fight a common enemy which continues to kill millions around the world and disrupt every part of our lives.
Allen Woods is a freelance writer, author of the Revolutionary-era crime novel “The Sword and Scabbard,” and Greenfield resident. His column appears monthly on a Saturday. Comments are welcome here or at awoods2846@gmail.com.