Reflections on Freedom

 Since March of 2020, the state of Louisiana has experienced the greatest contraction of freedom since Reconstruction.  In  the opening months of 2020 we were woefully ignorant of something we now call Covid-19.  Since then, we have learned a lot about the China Virus, and we have allowed our governments to enact, often by executive fiat, restrictions on our personal freedom and economic freedom that would have been unthinkable at that time.  

Since then, we have accepted as common-place certain aspects of this pandemic that are absolutely anathema to a free people.  The idea that we should wear masks in public like common bandits.  The idea that we should not congregate in public, the idea that certain businesses are "essential" while others are not.  The idea that private venues should have occupancy limits far below their they were designed to accommodate.  

Somehow, the State Fire Marshal has become the primary enforcement arm of the pandemic response.  Whether by design, or mission-creep, that office is the one primarily responsible for the contraction of pubic freedom i Louisiana.

Our governor, John Bel Edwards bristles at the idea that the people have elected representatives  that have oversight and the ability to curb these excesses.  And, our legislature, to its enduring shame, has failed to constrain the power of the governor.  They are seeking the wrong solutions.  The question should not be how to respond to Covid-19, but how to restore freedom to Louisiana.  

At this stage, the proper response to governing a free people should be to educate, not dictate.  To these ends, I recommend the following:

• The Legislature should immediately end the public health emergence.
• The Legislature should immediately limit the office of the State Fire Marshall to regulating those things that are currently or were recently ablaze.

The Governor would be able to continue to educate the public, but not dictate a response. 

Louisiana has many problems right now.  A decking tax base, outflow migration, a  struggling education system, poor roads, and a crushing budget problem. Yet, the Governor seems to eno all of this.  It's time to open Louisiana  and restore freedom.