The times you live in leave their mark on you. And COVID times have left a mark on me; they’ve repainted a libertarian streak on my politics.
We’ve had a year-long experiment in sacrificing liberties for a common national purpose. At the start of the COVID crisis, I noted that it provided a unique opportunity for “common-good conservatives” to illustrate the necessity of their insights. America was faced with a common challenge: the pandemic. It issued from the malfeasance of the closest thing we have to a national or civilizational rival. And getting through it would require special risk-taking among some segments of the population, such as first responders. Or special sacrifices by other segments, such as service workers. And special demands for leadership by our political class, and cost-sharing by the taxpayer. It would be a crisis, but it would summon different segments of society to help each other.
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