Free

OK, I’ll grant you that wearing a mask in itself is not really a big deal. In fact, it’s a pretty small deal. But that’s precisely the problem. After all, the really big infringements on your freedom…being locked up in jail, for example…aren’t terribly hard to identify or anticipate.

Not free. Obviously.

But are those big, flagrant infringements the primary threat? I mean, we can still get in our car anytime we want and go out to eat, to the gym, or to the movies. We can travel anywhere in the country, operate our businesses, send our kids to school, and go to church …just like free people do. Maybe the bigger problem is actually the smaller, less noticeable losses of freedom.

Still, you might ask how being ordered to wear a mask constitutes a loss of freedom? What’s the big deal? If that’s your take, then I’d ask you to consider this: Taken on its own, it may indeed be a small thing, but if they can make you put on a mask simply to walk from the door of a restaurant to your table…even though you walked to the door without it and can take it off as soon as you sit down…are you really free?

You are free to stand here in this line, holding your hat just so, until you are told to move.

Think about it. If I have the power to order you to stand up straight with your heels together and salute…and you can’t question that…who is the master? If I have the power to order you to wear a hat when outdoors and take it off indoors…and you can’t question that…who is the master? If I have enough power over you to order you to wear a mask, just to walk to your table…and you can’t question that…who is the master? (Hint: It ain’t you.)

You will wear that mask, maggot! (Just to walk to your table, then you can totally take it off.)

Don’t kid yourself. It doesn’t matter if they took this power over you by force or threat of force, or if you gave them this power….they’re still your master. It doesn’t make any difference if you volunteered for the Marines or were drafted…you’re still in the Marines and no longer in charge of your life. And it makes no difference whether you walked onto the boxcar willingly or were dragged…you’re on the boxcar just the same. So make no mistake, if anyone has the unquestioned power to tell you to cover your face, even just between the door and your table…especially just between the door and your table…you have a master. And if you have a master, you are not free.

“I’m still free. I got on because I wanted to…for safety. I can get off anytime I want.”