Bill Simons sends me a newsletter that he contributes to. This an opinion
article by Rabbi Rachel Esserman, who also edits the newsletter. Eric
What are our government’s responsibilities to its citizens? It was a comment by
a Pennsylvania lawmaker that made me think about this question. Rep. Jim Cox,
chairman of the House Labor and Industry Committee, complained that Gov. Tom
Wolf’s administration should not be so focused on public safety. What he
actually said is that it’s not the government’s job “to try to keep us safe.”
What is our government’s job? What obligations does it have to its citizens?
Cox was clearly thinking about Wolf’s response to the COVID crisis. I’m not
sure if Cox is aware that this is not the first health crisis to close
theaters, stores, community pools, etc. In the past, this was usually
legislated on a local level, for example, during the influenza pandemic in the
early part of the 20th century and the polio pandemic during the 1950s. In
those cases, the government took very seriously the need to protect its
citizens. But the question is an interesting one because there does need to be
a line between what the government can tell us to do and what decisions should
be left to individual citizens. Take ingredient listings on foods. The
government shouldn’t tell us which foods to eat. After all, if we want to live
on fast food and potato chips, that is our choice. But it is important for
those of us who want to eat healthy to know what is in our food. Requiring a
list of ingredients empowers What are our government’s responsibilities? us to
make our own decisions, but we can’t do that unless the government requires
businesses to add those lists to food packaging. Don’t forget the reason behind
most food regulations were the revelations that rotten and diseased meat had
been sold to American citizens. Sausages/hot dogs were filled with sawdust
because there were no laws prohibiting its use. To protect its citizens, the
government forced the food industry to change its practices. The Constitution
of the United States notes that one of the duties of the government is to
promote the general welfare. That means protecting our citizens, even if doing
so impedes on some individual rights. After all, we don’t have the right to
kill someone or steal someone’s property, no matter what they have done to us.
We have to follow traffic laws. Without those laws, the roads would be a
nightmare and even more people would die in car accidents than do now. You
could make a case that we should be allowed to drive however we want. They’re
our lives at stake, aren’t they? The problem is that not only are our lives at
stake: we are risking others’ lives without their permission. That violates the
general good. We can’t hunt deer in urban or suburban areas, or spill toxic
chemicals into our rivers for those same reasons. In my mind, one of the most
important things a government does is “to try to keep us safe.” Who or what
else will watch out for us? Who or what else will care about our heath and
safety? The system doesn’t always work because of flawed individuals, but that
doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to protect everyone who lives in our country.
This protection is part of a social contract between a government and its
citizens. That contract exists not only in the secular realm, but in the
religious one. I’ve been speaking about American law, but Judaism features laws
that have the same purpose: they promote the general good and protect members
of the community. It is a religious (biblical) commandment to build a fence
around the flat roof of a building so people won’t fall off. If we dig a hole
on private property, we still have to make certain that hole is covered at
night so no one – even a trespasser – falls into it and hurts themselves. These
are just two examples of how Judaism is concerned with the way our actions can
affect and/or harm others. The pandemic is not yet over and I want my
government to do what it can to keep me, my family, my friends and my community
safe. I also want the government to protect us from building collapses,
polluted air, contaminated water.... The list could go on for pages. The
freedom we lose pales next to the loss of life that might otherwise occur.
