I don’t think we feel secure

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Debates over the 2nd Amendment often hinge on phrases from the text, “shall not be infringed,” or “a well regulated militia.”

Maybe there’s something we’re missing in the part between those phrases? If this is about security and freedom, do we feel more secure and free today with the proliferation of guns? It seems the list of places we don’t feel secure just keeps growing with each mass shooting.

Yes, this is mostly a semantics point and has no real legal basis. But, perhaps to feel more secure we need to stop this idolatry of guns as the key to freedom. Because it doesn’t seem to be working.

Freedom and Rights, but for Whom?

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As we start the Fourth of July weekend, I reflect on the promise of America and what we see happening today.

“All men are created equal.” That’s the promise. And we still struggle to live up to that, with more restrictions being pushed on LGBTQ people, promotion of Christian theocratic norms, women’s body autonomy vanishing overnight in many places, voting laws that discriminate based on systemic racial issues, immigrants made to feel like they’re not wanted, and more.

As a financially secure, straight, cisgender, white male, it’s not me that these discriminatory laws and practices and hatred are after- but lots of people I love.

“Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” America is set up to be majority role with rights of the minorities protected. But we’re losing both of those. The majority of Americans disagree with many recent rulings and laws. Yet the system has been rigged to ram through minority opinions. And the minority rights that are supposed to be protected are being eroded.

Minority rule without protecting rights- that’s fascism. A word thrown about so much lately that’s it’s lost its impact.

I truly love America. I love the promise of what it should be. That’s why we keep pushing to make it better.

So as you think about or celebrate America’s birthday this year, ponder: is America what it should be? If not, what am I going to do about it?

The Cost of “Freedom”?

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Someday, Americans who refused to follow simple preventative steps to slow the spread of COVID and reduce the death toll will be forced to look at the price of their actions.

Currently, the US is seeing over 2,000 people die from COVID each day. The cartoon below does around 2,000 stick figures. Each of those represents an American person who died from COVID yesterday. The vast majority of these deaths would have been prevented with simple and readily available protective measures (vaccines, boosters, and masks).

The share of Americans who have been killed by the coronavirus is at least 63% higher than in any of the other large, wealthy nations. Estimates show that 45% of Americans aged 65 and older have not received a booster shot.