Editor,
Our nation was founded on the basic principles that, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,” as stated in the American Declaration of Independence. It seems that every person participating in our American society knows, and is capable of expressing, what this phrase means to them.
Often I hear that one has the right to do as they please because they have the “right” to their personal “liberty” to do what they want, often without attention or regard to the consequences. This seems to be more true for the younger generations.
It was once taught that to maintain our freedom we would have to assume the responsibility of assuring freedom for everyone. One would have assumed that it would be clear to everyone that our freedoms and liberties would depend on how we respected others’ freedom and liberties.
Formalities and etiquette are no longer taught with the consequences being that the freedom our society has is being lost.
Like a spoilt child, they rudely participate in civil disobedience and misbehavior; ignoring the needs of our free society that attempts to support them. They are too old to spank and too immature to have the “common sense” needed to be a good citizen.
They need to be taught! They need to be controlled with laws and policies that unfortunately will affect all of us. As we strive to contain the actions of the misbehaving through the creation of laws and policies, we find ourselves up against another consequence; we may permanently lose our freedoms and liberties as we empower our government to enforce the proper etiquette and behavior.
Paul Hetzer