What happens to our political leanings when a pandemic comes to town? Blurred lines appear in between. Leftists start leaning right, and vice versa. Strange to watch from the sidelines. However, when this phenomenon is coupled with people incessantly talking and talking and talking on Facebook, it gets interesting. The event which was observed consisted of people softening their stances on some things, arguing for the opposing side on accident, and the usual misleading from mainstream medias. Luckily, I am here to point out a few discrepancies that others may be missing.
The first, and most obvious in this writer’s opinion, is the argument for the rights of businesses to pick and choose who they serve. Welcome to conservatism! This idea has been a large part of the right’s stance, and for good reason. Private businesses should be able to freely choose who they allow in the doors, and they should at the same time feel the full consequences of their decisions. No one wants a business to be discriminating customers based on color, ethnicity, religion, and so on, but if they do, they should be met with equal repercussions. Loss of business, perhaps? Of course, this idea was shamed upon by many on the left…until COVID-19 came around and people wanted (and still want) masks. Before businesses were forced into mask mandates, they could elect to not serve customers who were not wearing masks, and that was A-OK. Now, with this in mind, consider the plight of the cake baker and a gay couple.
Another quirk, which is the funniest in this writer’s opinion, is the cry from leftists saying that the government has failed them in regards to more COVID-related stimulus. As if the government could be trusted to begin with! The right has been right about this as well. Government should be trusted with very little. That’s one of the big deals about this country. Listen here folks, if you NEED a stimulus, you need to be more responsible with your money. Period. We cannot hold our breath that the government will help, especially in the times we are living in. These sentiments are not new, either. We need to reduce the power of the government, while also promoting the power of private citizens to act like grown-ups and make a living.
The interesting part about these two examples is the fact that they show one thing: the want for conditional freedom. Conditional freedom is an oxymoron. The last “Identity Crisis” article mentioned something of the sort, but from a different perspective. Whereas in that article, it was people on the left wanting to control minorities, in this perspective it is people who want to make their own freedom conditional. They want to expand freedom to private businesses, which in turn would increase their freedom of choice (guess what—you already have freedom of choice in whose business you patronize). Yet, they are afraid of financial freedom (see reliance on stimulus checks and support for Marxism and socialism). Confusing, isn’t it?
The confusion amongst people is almost understandable. The most abhorrent aspect of all this is the double standards being put forth. It’s hard to seem perfect when you actually have convictions. It’s easy to make yourself look like the good guy if you just pick the “right” side, with out arguing on behalf of principles. Our principles should be strongly held. We should be using these principles to pull ourselves away from discussing issues from a position of emotion. When we detach ourselves from the emotional aspects of major issues and look from a principled perspective, we can find better, effective solutions. With such discourse, we can make actual progress.
Bayou Observant 