During the COVID-19 pandemic, government officials imposed unprecedented restrictions on our freedom to produce and trade the values that life requires. The economic devastation from the lockdown was equally unprecedented. Countless businesses were forcibly closed, and many will never reopen. Tens of millions lost their jobs.
All of us were forced to endure deprivation and sacrifice because government officials believed that they could and should make decisions about our lives. They believed that they could and should determine which jobs are essential and which are not. In doing so, they forced many to live without a livelihood.
As stated in the Declaration of Independence, the purpose of government is to protect our rights–our freedom to live as we choose, produce materials values, and pursue our happiness. The lockdown was an attack on our rights, and particularly our right to produce and trade.
The Production Protection Initiative is a project of the Texas Institute for Property Rights to promote an alternative to lockdowns during a pandemic. That alternative focuses on protecting our rights, including our freedom to produce and trade.
Government has a proper role to play in a pandemic. That role must be consistent with government’s only proper purpose–protecting individual rights. In the context of a pandemic, that means testing to identify those who are infected, isolating the infected, and then tracing their contacts.
During the lockdown, government exercised unprecedented control over our lives. We were told who could work and who couldn’t, where we could go, and with whom we could associate. And this control was exercised over those who posed a threat to others as well as those who didn’t. The “innocent” were treated the same way as the “guilty.”
If you don’t like the economic destruction caused by the lockdown, then you must take action. You must demand that government protect your freedom to produce and trade, even in a pandemic. Without the freedom to produce and trade, you don’t have the freedom to live your life as you choose.
If you would like to support the Production Protection Initiative, you can do so by signing our petition to the State of Texas and donating to our cause.
It is a worthy cause for contributions.