Published: September 16, 2008 11:22 pm            

When we make a choice, we choose the consequences

It’s easy to count as cheap blessings for which we have never sacrificed, but I am profoundly grateful for those men and women who sacrificed their fortunes and lives that we might be free. Almost as many Americans died in the Civil War as in all other American wars put together to prove that individual rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness took precedence over states’ rights. But with the freedom our forefathers bequeath us, comes the unavoidable counterpart of personal responsibility. Recent events have moved from the ridiculous to the sublime.

Three years ago, the Gulf Coast was smashed by a vicious hurricane named Katrina. I remember the pre-storm media coverage when the governor of Louisiana was sucking her thumb, “praying that Katrina’s path would change” unwilling to issue evacuation orders on the City-Below-The-Sea until 20 hours before it struck when experts had told her it would take 48 hours. Bush finally called her to urge her to act, since the law does not give the president the authority to issue those orders.

She knew very well that the levees and dykes were decaying and in no shape to stand up to additional pressure, and finally did issue some voluntary and some mandatory evacuation orders. I hardly can imagine the nerve it took for Gov. Kathleen Blanco to claim that her biggest mistake was “to believe FEMA when they said that help was on the way.” That’s like a spoiled teenager blaming her daddy for her car accident because he took too long to get there after it happened.

It’s hard not to notice the vast difference in the handling of Ike’s threat to the similar area, not so much by the federal government but by competent states’ authorities.

I was groaning over the shocking irresponsibility of those who refused to obey the mandatory evacuation order in Galveston, Texas, noting that several people interviewed planned to wait until it got to a certain point and then go strap themselves to trees and “wait for rescue.”

What gives them the right to expect rescue when they’ve been ordered to get out of harm’s way? Who is supposed to put their life in danger because they refused to heed the warning? My 16-year-old son pointed out that when Moses raised the brazen serpent and told the people that all they had to do was to look at it and they would be healed from the snakebites, some were too stubborn to do it and died.

In the same week as Ike roared in to swallow millions of dollars in costs for repair and aid for the displaced, the federal government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These are lending agencies run amok to allow people bigger mortgages than they can afford or are willing to repay. Many finance credit card debt with their mortgages and it stinks for their neighbors to have to pay for their careless dishonesty with tax dollars.

Those who claim that unemployment is driving the mortgage failures must look at the comparative statistics to see that the unemployment rate differences are slight and can in no way explain the sharp increase in defaults.

Personal responsibility is part and parcel of freedom. If parents exercise their freedom and refuse to have their children immunized for reasons other than medical, they ought to sign a contract promising they will not seek medical help in a public place if their child shows any symptoms of immunizable diseases. While public officials can’t force someone to accept an immunization, the public has the right not to be endangered.

Think of all the social ills that would be cured if every adult took responsibility for their own choices. We would again be one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all, and it starts with each of us.

BETH STEPHENSON is an Edmond resident.

        

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