We haven’t lost our freedom, we’ve lost unity – SC Times

Ben Ament, Times Writers Group Published 5:00 p.m. CT May 22, 2020

We are suffering from a collective identity crisis. We have lost sight of who we are in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

I used to think that we were a nation of people who loved freedom but loved each other more. We would pull together to do the right thing. These days I am not so sure that is true. Armed protests are evidence that my freedom is at risk and love is definitely not in the air.

Ben Ament(Photo: Times photo)

Our belief in ourselves has been dashed and we are not quite sure how to move forward from here. Until we can come together as community making human rights paramount over profit, we will struggle to find our way.

True freedom, said Franklin D. Roosevelt in his speech before Congress in 1941, means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. This was before the United States entered World War II. It was a basic recognition, however, of the reason that Americans were already sacrificing to fight a common enemy.

Today our common enemy is not a flawed and tragic ideology, but a virus. Sadly, we are not showing signs of unity in the battle. And too many are not showing love of neighbor.

Our frustrations have been spilling over into shows of force and seeming threats of violence at capitol buildings and other venues around the country. The "rally" at the governors mansion and the unmasked crowd outside an Albany, Minnesota restaurant recently showed that Minnesota nice has not made us immune to the viral notion that our freedoms have been abridged.

True freedoms have not been curtailed. Limiting movement is not the same as reducing freedom or democracy. Our movement is limited in myriad ways every day. Try going the wrong way on a one-way street or walking into someones home without an invitation.

FDRcontinued in his 1941 speech: there is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy. Though we seem to have lost sight of them today.

I believe, as did Roosevelt, that the basic things we expect of our political and economic systems are simple. Equality of opportunity, including jobs and living wages for those who can work. We must feel secure at all stages of life, including affordable health care and safe food supplies. And our civil liberties must be preserved.

But these systemic needs are, for the most part, not tied to freedom. Freedom is not, or at least should not be, dependent upon money. Opportunity and security in our system are tied to money. Perhaps that should change, but I digress.

Freedom is a whole other ball game. Rooseveltlisted four freedoms. First up is freedom of speech and expression, followed by freedom of worship. Today, as then, this would mean Christians, Jews and Muslims should be treated equally. It seems that many of those protesting a lack of freedom would deprive some of these religious groups their freedom of expression. People tend to be silenced when guns are brandished.

The third freedom mentioned by FDR is freedom from want in world terms, that means economic want, not your choice of eating establishment.

FDRs fourth freedom is freedom from fear. In a world threatened with continuous war, we need a worldwide reduction of armaments so that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor anywhere in the world.

In COVID-19 times, physical aggression includes others invading our space without faces covered.

Many times in our history we have been called to sacrifice for the sake of the nation and our fellow humans. Roosevelts people assured him of the willingness of almost all Americans to respond to that call. It turned out that the American people had to sacrifice for years to be victorious in WWII.

Too many modern Americans are showing that a few months is too long to be inconvenienced.

I am not ignorant of the pain that sometimes comes with sacrifice. But the people yelling the loudest and carrying the biggest sticks are not suffering like our poorest communities, especially communities of people of color.

Our willingness to put patriotism ahead of pocketbooks is being tested. History will record the answer to question of who we decided we are.

As we mindfully reopen our favorite hangouts, be kind to one another.

This is the opinion of Ben Ament, world citizen and Times Writers Group member. He hopes to leave that world slightly better than he found it. His column is published the fourth Sunday of the month.

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We haven't lost our freedom, we've lost unity - SC Times