Over the past year I've made an observation. Having just seen Republican congressman Jim Jordan flip out while questioning of Dr. Fauci during a congressional hearing, made me want to spend some time on this and point out the problem with the conservative mindset as I observe it, as a European living in one of the most liberal countries.
Pandemic vs Constitutional rights
The whole beef Jim Jordan claimed to have, was with the "infringement" of the human rights of his constituents, as a result of the countermeasures, put in place because of the pandemic.
The measures limit peoples freedom to gather in large groups, they're required to maintain a certain distance to eachother and wear a facemask in public places. As this means people can't go to church or have large family gatherings at home, they feel their rights are being violated, and you can argue that they are right. But, this is also where the egotism come in to play.
We're all living in a society, together. And everyone has the same rights. I always hear the conservative cry out "my rights are being violated!". Their rights. But they never look at the rights of the other people in their society. What about the people you meet in the streets or in the grocery store? Don't they have the same rights as you?
They never look at other peoples rights
Let's take the 'meeting people at the grocery store' as an example. You can say "wearing a facemask is an infringement of my freedom" so you don't wear a facemask. These Facemasks are worn, not to protect the wearer, but protect other people who the wearer encounters. If you don't wear a facemask and you don't know if you have the coronavirus, then you unknowingly infect others with it.
So, when you encounter other people in the grocerystore, while not wearing a facemask because you feel it infringes your rights, you pose a direct threat to the health of other people. You have a right to be there, they have a right to be there, you have a right to a good health, they have a right to a good health. When you don't wear a facemask, you are then willingly taking the risk of infecting them, infringing their rights.
I have had this conversation with an American before, who simply said. "Well, if they don't want to be infected, then they shouldn't go to the grocerystore or atleast not when I'm there". But this is also a violation of the other peoples rights. They have the right to be at the grocerystore as much as you have. They wear a facemask to protect you, you should then wear a facemask to protect them. This upholds the balance of rights and freedoms.
The people I've spoken with about this, all only looked at their own rights. None of them seemed to care about the other people in their society. And they don't do this just with the covid measures. Just look at the gunviolence in the USA. People have the right to not get shot. But as soon as someone says "Let's regulate gunownership", they go "You can't infringe on my 2nd Amendment rights!". Okay... Sure, you have rights. But the people who get shot also have rights. Have you looked at the infringement of their rights? No.
With freedoms & rights come responsibilities & duties
The principle is really really simple, yet, the conservative Americans do not seem to understand it. Yes, you have certain freedoms & rights. But so does everyone else. And as much as other people can not take your freedoms & rights away... YOU HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY & DUTY TO NOT TAKE AWAY OR INFRINGE ON THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS!
This last part, written in all caps, is something the conservative Americans simply don't seem to understand. Why is that? As I look at it, it's a cultural thing. The United States is the land of unlimited possibilities, or so it has been claimed. The egotism and the capitalistic opportunism has been woven in to the backbone of American culture. A certain rapper once said "Get rich or die trying". Well, it appears that killing others in an attempt to get rich is commonly accepted aswell...
In the American politics this is what we see the conservative politicians do. They only cry "our rights, out rights, our rights". They never once look at the rights of other people. They don't even seem to acknowledge that they have responsibilities & duties toward other people. They may not even acknowledge that other people have rights. In conversations with some conservative Americans this impression has most certainly been given.
This egotism is part of the problem. They only see their own rights impacted and therefor don't follow the rules if they can get away with it. Result; the rules and regulations that are put in place will take longer and a downward spiral starts, where the emotions get stronger and things may escalate. If they can rein in their egotism and follow the rules, JUST LIKE ALL OTHERS, then the situation will improve, measures will be adjusted and everyone can go and enjoy their lives.But somehow I don't think many of the conservative Americans will see it that way...
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