Many commentators refer to the coronavirus as an existential threat to life. It also threatens liberty and the constitutional rule of law. Albert Camus, a Nobel Prize-winning existentialist, penned words that fit our tumultuous times: “The first progressive step for a mind overwhelmed by the strangeness of things is to realize that his feelings of strangeness are shared with all men and that human reality, in its entirety, suffers from the distance which separates it from the rest of the universe.” He concluded, “I rebel — therefore we exist,” rebelling against the emptiness of existential theory and opting to find meaning in our shared experiences, even in the darkest of times.
In turn, Draco, one of Athens’ great lawgivers, was known for the severity of his laws designed to maintain order and community. For his part, James Madison, America’s great lawmaker, acknowledged that men are not always angels, but he struck a different balance. He feared tyranny and opted for ordered liberty rather than community secured by harsh laws.
If we opt for the totalitarian and efficiency model, we face a lasting existential threat not just to our lives but to our very way of life.
Today, there are those who praise the efficiency of totalitarian regimes designed to protect the community against natural calamities and their fellow beings. If we opt for the totalitarian and efficiency model, we face a lasting existential threat not just to our lives but to our very way of life.
As we observe the totalitarian model at work, it is evident that despots can force their subjects to do what they believe to be in the best interests of the community. Sometimes it appears to work, at least in the short term. The Chinese government, for example, directed the details of the lives of their people to preserve order in their community. They claim they saved lives and established the strength of their form of government.
The liberty envisioned by America’s framers is a bit messy and a lot less efficient than totalitarian model of governance, but it is preferable. If we opt for the totalitarian model, we jeopardize the constitutional rule of law and liberty, threatening the very core of human dignity. If we do so, we will sadly teach the rising generation a horrific lesson, setting a precedent for governmentally imposed draconian limitations on liberty in times of crisis.
Examined closely, the totalitarian model of the Chinese government was a major part of the problem. As the coronavirus began to spread, rather than being forced to be transparent by a free press, the Chinese government sought to cover up the crisis. In doing so they contributed to the spread of a pandemic. In a nation like ours, however, we turn first to ordered liberty, including a free press and individual responsibility.
Sadly, there is another pernicious threat to ordered liberty, secured by the values of the First Amendment, that is gaining a foothold in America. Leaders on the left and the right seem to take delight, from time to time, in declaring our free press to be “fake news” designed to be deliberately misleading.
As one who has watched all the major networks and cable stations during the current crisis, it is clear that the commentators sometimes naturally incline toward their own bias and occasionally feed the angry appetites of their viewers to maintain market share to “feather their own nests” of pride and avarice. Nevertheless, thanks to many able journalists and experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci, who are consummate professionals and appear regularly on all the networks, the American people have access to the truth in ways citizens in a totalitarian regime do not.
Most Americans see the coronavirus as a threat and not a hoax and are choosing to exercise their liberty in responsible ways. They view that liberty as a treasure, in some instances even heavenly gift that can bind rather than divide a free people who understand that human dignity and respect for the rights of others are the bulwark of a free society.
Religious leaders like the Most Rev. Oscar Solis, bishop of the Catholic Dioceses of Salt Lake City have also exercised their First Amendment rights as religious leaders, calling for calm, urging their flocks to sacrifice for the good of others. Bishop Solis wisely noted, “In our little and humble way, we can contribute to helping in this time of crisis by temporarily depriving ourselves of the Holy Mass. (But we must continue) to pray and practice our faith.” Their call for sacrifice and the responsible exercise of liberty is inspiring.
What of the outliers, however, who fail to understand that ordered liberty requires that we exercise our freedom responsibly? The medical and the legal answer is the same — exercise “social distancing” and the tools of persuasion that are the essence of a free press and society.
Rodney K. Smith directs the Center for Constitutional Studies at Utah Valley University and is the author of “James Madison: The Father of Religious Liberty” and “Dolley and James Madison: An Unlikely Love Story that Saved America.”