I am beginning to sound like a broken record with this current rant.
For those too young to understand, a record is a vinyl disc with grooves, well, one groove – one groove that a diamond tipped stylus rides in and transmits vibrations that are then converted into an electromagnetic signal that is sent to magnets surrounded by paper cones and converted once again into sound waves. These audible sound waves are called music.I have borrowed an ultra liberal phrase, “My body, My choice” as my mantra with this current lockdown.
I ride my motorcycle without a helmet. Many close to me ask me to wear a helmet when riding. They say, and truthfully so, that in the case of a motor vehicle accident, my head with hit the macadam at 100 miles per hour, and crush like a watermelon dropped onto concrete from a two story building.
Personally, if I am in a high speed crash on two wheels I will prefer instant death to a life of debilitating paralysis.
I have friends that jump out of perfectly good airplanes with nothing more than a backpack filled with a piece of nylon. There is absolutely no reason to jump out of a flight worthy airplane.
I love to hike the Superstition wilderness. Every year we lose dozens of people in the wilderness. Some due to stupidity such as not having enough water with them, hiking in flip flops, or dying of a heart condition. Some take a wrong turn, and die of exposure. Some fall down the side of a steep slope and are crippled.
I take risks daily driving to work. On the 60 this past week, driving with the flow of traffic at 70 MPH, a truck in front of me lost two ladders that the moron had failed to secure to his truck. I had to swerve to miss one ladder in the passing lane. Every day we see news reports of deadly accidents on our highways.
Some risks we take because we have to; we all have to commute to work. Some risks we take because we want to. I like to ride motorcycles. Some people like to jump out of perfectly good airplanes. Life is full of risks.
We currently have a crisis of constitutional proportions. People are being quarantined for a disease they may have, may not have, may have had and are now immune, and are told they have no rights.
I am told I do not have the rights to behave as an adult responsible for my own actions, I am not allowed to go to a pool party with my friends. If I want to take a risk that affects only myself, why am I being treated as a criminal?
Felons are being released from prison so they do not get Covid19, only to commit rape and theft again once released. Law abiding citizens have been threatened by Arizona State Governor Doug Ducey with 6-months jail time merely for refusing to be quarantined for a disease they may or most likely do not have. If they do not have Covid19, after being jailed for 6-months, they likely will have it.
But it all comes down to our right to be a free people. I believe I might have had Covid19 – I had a fever and a cough and lethargy for two days. I do not qualify for a test. I go to work daily, and I maintain a proper social distance. My work hours have been cut to part time, and Ducey is NOT doing one thing to help me meet my bills.
I personally know a dozen bartenders – yes, you know who I associate with – that have been unemployed for almost 8 weeks and have not yet received the promised unemployment benefits. Ducey has not done one thing to expedite the benefits so that they can pay rent, eat, take care of their children.
But I digress. Individual rights! My bartender friends should have the right to decide whether to work or to hide in their closets. Nobody is saying that the fearmongers should be required to work if they want to sequester in their domiciles.
Nobody is saying that elderly people with immunity conditions should be forced to go to restaurants or bars. And I am saying that if you have close family members that are at high risk, you need to stay home.
But for 80% of Americans that are young, healthy and willing, we need to have our right to work a full 40 hour week to pay our bills. If we want to risk being in public, we have the right to frequent our local pub where we know everybody.
For those that are religious, the 1st amendment is clear that the right to worship can NOT be revoked by government bureaucrats.
I rarely get political on my personal blog. This is about art. But art is about life. And art is about freedom. Art is about expression.