My favorite unit in Government classes isn’t taught anymore. I don’t support too many Social Studies classes these days. For some reason, someone in the school seems to think I know how to teach writing. Goodness knows what gave them that idea. However, I have supported classes in World Geography, U.S. History, Government, and Economics. None of them addressed rights and responsibilities.

I certainly did when I taught Government. I found that it was the only unit the students were actually interested in. They were particularly interested in the fourth amendment because many of them had already had run ins with law enforcement. Either that, or they expected to have run ins. That’s largely part of the populations that I have taught over the years.

We have an epidemic where people seem to misunderstand both rights and responsibilities. It’s really very simple. Every right that we have comes with adjacent responsibilities. Speech is really no different and in fact speech brings the most important responsibility of all. Goodness knows too many people seem to think they have speech rights that they simply don’t have.

Aaron Rodgers seems to be relishing his new role as a sports villain. His shots at Joe Biden seem to be a great example of everything we are talking about. Free speech does not mean that you have an absolute right of having that speech amplified. It also does not mean that you have the right to have everyone see that speech as beautiful and perfect. Freedom of speech means everyone has the right to respond to your speech as well. Sometimes they aren’t going to like it and sometimes you won’t like their response.

However, the part which gets completely missed are the responsibilities that come with free speech. This is usually where I started talking to my classes about slander, libel, and hate speech. Those are legal responsibilities and encompass the bare minimum of what is required from us as citizens. If we are going to do more than merely pass citizenship we are expected to actually contribute to the marketplace of ideas.

This is often where we delve into topics that we would cover in a basic philosophy class. I taught that one as well in high school, but they aren’t being taught at most schools. The fundamental question is what is the difference between facts and truth. The obvious difference is that facts are verifiable and truth isn’t. Naturally, any good philosophy teacher would go beyond that obvious statement to more complex questions, but we can stop there for today.

The responsibility of citizens and speech is simple. We take available facts and we try to arrive at our own truth. People can take a set of facts and reach any number of conclusions. That’s normal discourse. What isn’t normal is making up facts and poisoning the body politic with a barrage of bullshit. Yet, that seems to be exactly where we are.

Too many people start with the statement that I have the right to and then simply stop there. Living in a society comes with rights, but also comes with responsibilities. We have to at least coexist with those around us and ideally we would do more than that. Of course, if no one bothers to teach that in civics classes anymore then it makes perfect sense that people would not know these things.

“I can be someone’s and still be my own.” — Shel Silverstein

The world of sports and politics rarely collide. That’s why I consider myself such a fan of sports. I can talk sports and follow sports without getting into a political quagmire. Aaron Rodgers entered the scene last week when it was discovered that he tested positive for COVID-19 and he hadn’t been vaccinated.

Back when the season began Rodgers said he had been “immunized” and the press at the time naturally assumed that meant vaccinated. I suppose it is a natural assumption to make. Instead he took Ivermectin and considered it good. Obviously, that didn’t work and he had to sit out a game his team likely would have won with him.

Naturally, we get into the weeds when we start talking about whether he overtly lied or whether he actually believed he was immunized. We can stay in the weeds and talk about the right to privacy as it pertains to medical decisions. Rodgers was certainly free to answer that question anyway he saw fit and we still don’t know how much the Packers knew and we don’t know if he followed protocols for unvaccinated players.

What we do know is that when asked a question about his status, he purposely gave a vague answer. Rodgers has since decried the whole situation and predictably he has lost at least one sponsor in the aftermath. Who knows if State Farm or other national brands will continue to go with him. Clearly, the vague answer was done to avoid a controversy at the time. Whether he lied or not is in the eye of the beholder.

However, the misdirection is telling. He clearly knew what he was doing and he clearly wanted to avoid responsibility. The line above from Shel Silverstein is unusually profound for a children’s author. The battle over vaccinations attempts to be simplistic, but things are never that simplistic. It isn’t as simple as doing what you want with your body. I know a lot of people wish it were that simple.

People used to understand that personal freedom also came with responsibility. When you made certain decisions people understood that they came with natural consequences. If you wanted to avoid childhood vaccinations for your child you understood that meant you’d be home schooling your children.

So, it isn’t so much that Rodgers wanted to take alternative medicines in favor of a vaccine. It’s that he knew the consequences of doing so and obviously wanted to avoid them. If you are smart enough to understand the consequences and understand that you would take a hit in public relations then you’re smart enough just to take the damn vaccine. Other athletes made the same choice and are currently not playing because of it. They at least are openly accepting the consequences of their decision.

The vaccination debate used to be a non-political debate. At least it used to run independent of left and right politics. In fact, the anti-vax crowd used to stereotypically land on the left. Somehow the party of personal responsibility has not only gone anti-vax, but also want to shirk personal responsibility. Shel Silverstein and those that read his books managed to grasp the concept that personal freedom also comes with responsibility. Rodgers still has a lot to learn.