1108 Life vs. Liberty

Everyone is the center of the universe so, of course, their life takes precedence in most situations, to themselves anyway. Mature members of society make allowances for each other, however, in the case of narcissists, no exception is given for what anybody else thinks, and there’s no doubt that social media is an incubator for narcissism. As justification for this preoccupation with lifex, they insist that it’s mentioned first in “life, liberty & property,” the things The Constitution was written to protect. Since it’s easy to conflate their life with life in general, the misunderstanding gives rise to all kinds of distortions: abortion, war, animal rights, and a host of “safety” issues; and once the argument becomes about “life,” sanctimony smothers the debate. There is no argument that convinces the “my life over your liberty” people. In fact, if you reply that indeed your liberty is more valuable than their life, they are offended beyond any continued discussion, not that it would make a difference anyway. The problems are solved if liberty trumps life because liberty allows for someone to make their own life their top priority; they just can’t extend that preoccupation to imposing restrictions on others: forced vaccinations, for example. Restating the situation: the battle’s not really life vs. liberty in most people’s eyes, it’s their life vs. your liberty.