Now and then, we need to discuss our duties and reactions as citizens. Current events compel us to take a look at what’s going on and respond as Americans.
The situation: Spray-painted messages appeared all over Kinnick Stadium at the University of Iowa. Same graffiti appeared on the University of Iowa Hospitals property, where employees’ and patients’ cars were vandalized. Keep in mind, the hospital is treating COVID patients. The employees in those units may be working 12-hour shifts.
The response: “Insurance will cover graffiti removal and car repairs.”
There was no concern for employees who may have worked a 12 -hour shift coming out to the parking area to find their cars vandalized. No concern that patients who have just incurred a big hospital bill (and no, insurance doesn’t cover all of it) and are in a weakened state, would come out to a graffiti- laced car.
The American response: We have an individual first amendment right to protest peacefully. The words “PEACEABLY assemble” are in the said amendment. The health, safety, and security of all Americans is a priority. If any one of these is violated, we PEACEABLY protest. We petition our government for a redress of our grievances. Americans vote. We examine our motives and reject those assigned to us if they are false. We support and act on the tenet of “Liberty and Justice for All.”
The truth: You and I cannot assume that insurance will pay for anything when we steal, kill, and destroy to make a point. Mature Americans know and understand the cost of insurance policies and don’t assume automatically that a claim will be of no additional cost to them.
America is not designed for anarchy. We are free-born individuals with goals, dreams, and aspirations. The opportunity to achieve is available to all. We choose our paths in life. We work for what we desire. If the opportunity to learn and work is not open to all, that is a reason to protest peacefully. We individually pursue our best and highest aspirations. We support the right for every American to pursue their personal goals, dreams, and aspirations lawfully. We understand the meaning of “individual responsibility.”
Another situation: Lockdowns continue due to COVID19.
The response: It varies, depending on your Governor.
We are now daily seeing how lockdowns apply to faith, family, and personal events but not to thousands gathered in the streets to protest. Lockdowns apply to some occupations, but not others.
The American response: We have a Bill of Rights, not a Bill of Safety. Americans regard their right to work as a means to achieve their personal and family goals, dreams, and aspirations. Americans are capable people. We take our temperature, wash our hands, and keep clean. We “get it.” Americans also take their faith, family, and personal lives seriously in the light of their unalienable rights and act accordingly to keep those rights.
The truth: Americans can detect what is real from what is opportunism. Mature Americans act on what they know to be true. They resist groupthink, no matter who promotes it- the politician, the professor, or the press.
This is Common Sense Civics and Citizenship. ??
