It occurred to me today that part of the problem is following the rules.

As I am writing this, America is single-handedly powering the global resurgence of the Coronavirus, after so many countries did so well in flattening their infection curves. Just the other day, in fact, most of the European nations decided to deny entry to American citizens because we don’t seem to be handling the business that’s in front of us.

Additionally, it’s such a shame to think of all of the work that we did back in March and April and May, quarantining and distancing and the whole nine yards. As I’m writing this, America’s worst day ever for new cases wasn’t March 29th or April 19th or May 9th; America’s worst day for new cases was yesterday, July 1st. If you don’t believe me, look it up. Then, tell a few friends about it.

The reason that we are having such a hard time with this, as a country, is simple: you can’t tell Americans what to do. The country was founded by people who were sick of being told what to do in Europe, by their respective governments, more than two centuries ago. So, they decided to come over here –a distance removed from the retaliatory power of their respective governments– so they could thumb their noses at their respective governments. This led to the war of our independence from those respective governments, and our Declaration of Independence, etc., etc..

America is a nation built on freedom, independence, and thumbing our noses at people when they try to tell us what to do. And it worked, for a while anyway; America’s love for freedom was something that powered us through the pioneering of an entire continent (whether or not the Native Americans would have something derogatory to say here; and I should know, since I’m a card-carrying member of a tribe that is still technically at war with the federal government), and then it powered us through the Industrial Age, as America rose to become a superpower in the world. And, freedom and independence and love for our country helped us to power right through the second half of the twentieth century, as the Soviets stared us down and we stared them down, missiles armed and ready.

But, unfortunately for America, and the great experiment that has been going on therein, something else was going on alongside all of these wonderful conquests that we were notching into our collective, national belt, something that would eventually allow for our nation to start to crumble. Throughout the twentieth century, as we were showing the world how powerful we were, and they were all quite impressed, according to the (American) history books, the cancer inside of us was taking form.

You see, the things about freedom is this: it goes hand in hand with responsibility –> you can’t have the one without the other.

The founding fathers weren’t fighting to create a nation where people were free to make any ol’ decision that they wanted. They were fighting to create a nation where people are free to make the right decisions, the responsible decisions. We have a responsibility to make right decisions. And, it didn’t used to be the case that people disagreed on what is right and what is wrong, but twenty-first century America has opened up every declaration of right and wrong for debate.

The great American experiment in freedom and independence is starting to fail, and it began when we ditched our responsibility for choosing rightly.

* * *

I am just now thinking about the European decision to deny access to American travelers, largely because we have failed to live up to our responsibilities. And I’m thinking about World War II (I’m working on a novel right now, and one of the main characters is a World War II vet, so that’s been on my mind a lot lately) and how America did away with a foreign policy of isolationism to enter the war. Of course, we were welcomed into the fight, as allies, to defeat the Axis powers.

As a matter of fact, we waited for more than two years to join the Allies, if you count the start of the war as Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939. To be honest, we needed to be goaded into the fight –which Japan decided to do by attacking Hawaii– otherwise, who knows if we’d have entered the war at all.

And now, almost 79 years after we were welcomed by Europe to help them in their fight, the Europeans have shut us out because we can’t go so far as to wear our masks, stay away from other people, and embrace the horror of what we look like without a haircut. The responsibility that we took in our hands, as we rose onto the international stage in 1941, ready to open up a can on those who would violate human decency, is now a responsibility that we regularly shirk because (in a whiny voice) it’s too hard.

My wife hates it when my posts end up getting negative, and I sense that things are starting to turn that way, so I should steer away.

I said earlier that you can’t tell Americans what to do. The thing is, it used to be that you didn’t have to tell Americans what to do. Until just recently, we were doing the right things, being responsible, without anyone having to tell us. I don’t know how we got from this place where we did what was right because we knew it was right, but we’ve got to get back there.

America is at its best when it is worthy of being the example that the world has historically looked up to. The example that we have been, of independence and freedom and responsibility, can be ours again, if we rededicate ourselves to being responsible, to being honest and caring and polite and loving and faithful –> those things that people all over the world recognize as noble and desirable. We can restore what our forefathers had in mind when they founded the country, if we can return to FREEDOM WITH RESPONSIBILITY.

All we’ve got to do is get back to following the right rules.