We have seen irresponsible people exercise their “rights,” unwilling to even wear a mask, abetted by a man acting more like the mayor of Gomorrah than as President. Like the party-goers that accompanied a dishonest Pinocchio on the way to Pleasure Island, they may meet the fate that they have earned. However, their behavior is as much of a threat as is the disease they are spreading. We must find a cure for their selfishness as much as we need a vaccine for the virus itself.
We can start by requiring everyone to spend a year in public service by the age of twenty-five. This could be defined broadly to include service in the military, Americorps, Vista, public health care, Habitat for Humanity, the Peace Corps and the like. This would encourage a sense of community, especially needed by those who now fail to lend a hand, but who are the first to have their hands out when times are tough. Folks would live and work among others from different socioeconomic, racial and ethnic backgrounds. This would begin to address the ignorant divisions that have plagued our nation for too long.
Larry Cohn
Anchorage
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