Open Up

When all the "what was it like?" questions about the great pandemic of 2020 are asked I wonder how many will answer with only the physical conditions and ramifications.  The mental consequences are beginning to add up now.  People are depressed.  They are beginning to talk about their mental health freely.  Simply put, there is much to be depressed about.  

Unforeseen was the fact that personal freedoms would collide so sharply with the good of the order.  There has emerged a basic misunderstanding about what exactly basic freedoms are, and how they manifest themselves in a democracy.  My first government teacher used to use the old cliche, "your rights end at the tip of your nose."  Simply put, your rights and freedoms are not absolute.  I supposed we could say that those rights end at the tip of your unmasked nose for some.

One of the first things I learned to do when I taught seniors American Government was to draw a continuum with a scale in the middle.  On one end of the continuum was order or authority, the other was labeled freedom or liberty.  A good way to teach the concept of ordered liberty, which is what our rights are all about.  The old standard of "yelling fire in a crowded theater" comes in handy here too.  People generally understand that our freedoms are not absolute and that our social contract involves modifying our behavior for the benefit of all.  

In our current policy of virtual education, this seems a good lesson to begin the school year.

We're almost 6 months into our quarantine.  What's becoming noticeable, as more and more TVs are on longer, is that commercials are adapting like sports, audience participation, panel discussions, and studio audiences disappear.  The use of the soundtrack is enjoying a renaissance.  Even commercials are digging deep to find relevant content.  

An old R&B song from 1958 is enjoying renewed air time.  Open Up That Door, by Nappy Brown is the perfect way to announce that many previously closed businesses are back in action.

So, as people begin to open up, so do the archives.  This is good news for all those who hold on to things because "you never know when you might need it.