With 350,000 Americans dead, we may be weeks away from losing 420,000, or more than all American deaths in World War II. Will you change your ways when the number becomes 5,000 per day? What if it becomes 10,000 per day?

Freedom, an idea Ive long been a public friend and vocal supporter of, should be defined as: your right to live your life how you see fit, as long as that doesnt prevent others from doing the same. Yes, this libertarian is saying: No man is an island.

Are individual liberties and a sense of community completely at odds? Were air-raid blackouts during World War II a violation of freedom, or simply a responsibility? When faced with the strong chance that your behaviors could harm others, is it still your right to act or not act any way you please?

Not shuttering those lights, drunken driving and not taking obvious COVID-19 precautions dont necessarily injure or kill someone else. But ultimately, directly or indirectly, it will.

That isnt freedom.

Thats you valuing your own temporary comfort and convenience over the lives of others. That doesnt make you a Patriotic American, it makes you a part of the biggest threat America has faced in 100 years. That isnt written in a hyperbolic sense, but in the shortage of body bags sense.

And when this virus kills or harms someone you love or maybe even you youll have wished you could take everything back. But by then, it will be too late, as its already too late for the 350,000 dead Americans and their families.

Embarrassingly enough, it seems this denier mentality is mostly slanted to one side politically. So hear this message from one of your own: Act right now.

This is our Nations biggest test, and its being failed, badly.

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Sean Curtin of Iowa City is an advocate for conservative views including the 2nd Amendment, civil liberties and criminal justice reform.

Sean Curtin

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