“That could never happen to me! I didn’t get the Coronavirus last time, why should I be scared now?” Said a family friend on Facebook.
Texas numbers have continually risen over the past few weeks and it is clear as to why that is. Rural America, especially in places like Texas is not taking the Coronavirus seriously. Just the other day a close friend of mine posted “I didn’t catch COVID the first time, so I’m not going to catch it now.” With tensions being high in Texas now over mask laws, everything is reaching a boiling point, especially in small towns.
The town I live in went from 8 cases to 46 cases in one week. This is highly alarming due to the fact we are a town with a population of a little over one thousand people. The Coronavirus has been proven to be community spread in towns like Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, but now we are seeing it in our small communities as well.
Think of how many people have come into contact with those 46 people who are currently battling the illness in just a small town. With no one wanting to wear masks, especially here in towns like my town, people are starting to spread the virus quickly.
With Facebook spreading propaganda that fuels the “no mask” protests citing that the CDC faked Coronavirus infection numbers and that hospitals were saying that patients have the virus even if they have allergies, things are getting out of hand.
People are calling for Facebook to filter out harmful posts that are causing misinformation on the internet, and mask laws should be enforced. However, this is being vehemently protested by people who don’t wear masks and believe it is against their rights. However, nowhere in the constitution does it say anything about the right to put others in danger.
In fact, in the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, it says that “While rights exalt individual liberty, duties express the dignity of that liberty.” Later in the Human Rights clause, it declares in Article XI that, “Every person has the right to the preservation of his health through sanitary and social measures related to food, clothing, housing, and medical care, to the extent permitted by public and community resources.”
Therefore, it should be surmised that both parties are right to an extent, however, leaning more towards the Human Rights clauses, everyone should be allowed to protect their own health without fear of being beaten or killed, especially during the Coronavirus crisis.
We should, in that case, especially in small towns who claim to uphold conservative values, stick to this and take this very seriously. Upholding our duties to our families and our community instead of lashing out and hurting others and putting them at risk.
