Almost inevitably, people who refuse to wear masks, or get vaccinated against COVID, claim personal freedom as their reason and will stridently point to their “constitutional rights” as justification for their cries of independence from community responsibility.
It’s strange. It’s almost as if these people have never read to the Constitution given that it’s their one-note defense for each of their absurdities. At least they seem to forget the most memorable lines: those of the preamble. Granted, most of the articles in the Constitution can confuse the common man, and it is – at times – very dry reading. But the preamble…. It is very well known and easy to understand. There’s even a very catchy Schoolhouse Rock episode about it.
So, let’s look at what the preamble says. The most well-known part of the Constitution and an introduction to the entire treatise, it sets the tone for the entire document.
“We the people of the United States”. That’s how the Constitution begins. Not, “me the individual”, but “we the people”. In its first words, the preamble establishes the Constitution as about the American community, not a collection of individuals. It is an instrument meant to bring us together as a people, not to give us license to divide into anarchy-seeking tribes. Notably, people of the Unites States. Unity. That is the essence of the Constitution.
“In order to form a more perfect union”. Union: something that is made one: something formed by a combining or coalition of parts or members (at least according the Merriam-Webster dictionary. If you don’t like that definition, look it up yourself). The purpose of the Constitution was to unite us as Americans, not divide us. “More perfect”, not perfect. Our Nation is a work in progress. We must strive – together – to make it more perfect. When we turn our backs on our common goal by claiming individual freedoms at the expense of the whole, we turn our backs on the very idea of America and what it means to be an American.
“Establish justice”. It’s hard to establish justice if every individual has their own idea of what is justified. The common good drives what is justifiable. When we choose to define our own standards of right and wrong, we tear at the fabric of a “United States”.
“Ensure domestic tranquility”. It seems to me that domestic tranquility would be better served by not fearing that your neighbor is sabotaging the ability of the country to overcome the scourge of the COVID pandemic. Also, the shrill declarations that serve only to politicize the health and lives of our citizens are the antithesis of ensuring tranquility. In fact, they only serve to make us angry, and set us against our fellow Americans.
“Provide for the common defense”. A healthy armed force is in the best interest of the common defense. Lies, misinformation, and politicized rhetoric work against the ability to provide for the common defense. Unfortunately, the politization of COVID mitigation measures and of vaccines is making us as a Nation weaker, not stronger.
“Promote the general welfare”. Well, it’s hard to find any other part of the Constitution that is more harmed by anti-vaxxers than this. The general welfare cannot be promoted if the propagation of a deadly disease is encouraged by poorly informed individuals claiming that their right to inflict harm on their neighbors is enshrined in the Constitution. It is not. The Constitution was never meant to be a suicide pact.
“And secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity”. The blessings of liberty are not a license for every individual to do whatever they wish. Liberty is indivisibly associated with freedom for the nation as a whole. The common welfare, the United States, the liberty of the Nation from foreign influences. That’s what the Constitution is about. Not the presumed ability of every individual to be a sovereign in their own right. And what about our posterity? What about our children and their children? The actions of the selfish are condemning our posterity to sickness and death.
The survival of the Nation is inextricably linked to the duty of American citizens to do what is best for the Union; for the common good; for America. It’s time for those who claim to uphold the values enshrined in the Constitution to recognize their duty to the whole, not the individual.