ACTION

Dear Citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,

Today represents a new day in the evolution of our health crisis as each day we stare directly into the face of the unknown.   We live during a time very new to all of us.  A life that is isolated, devoid of social interaction, vacant freedom of movement, and bereft of luxuries once known.  We live in a shadow of our ordinary life one month ago.  Our days are dominated by news and developments related to Coronavirus.  We work tirelessly to ensure the safety and health of ourselves, co-workers, friends, and family.  We’ve involuntarily accepted this challenge because we have no control over the environment in which we live.  We are held hostage by mother nature, but we know we’ll meet this challenge, survive, and win against an invisible enemy. 

We all equal humans; we must understand the actions and consequences of today, which shall drive our behavior and society tomorrow.  We must look to balance the safety, health, and prosperity of our fellow citizens with the alienable rights afforded to every citizen of our great land.  We know them, we’ve seen them, we’ve read them, but we must recognize and live by them.  For each of us have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

Our state and subsequently our country was formed to become a more perfect Union, to establish justice, to insure domestic tranquility, to provide for the common defense, to promote the general welfare and to secure the Blessing of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity.  As a nation and as a state, we must recognize these values, adopt them into our existence, and stand-up to oppression when our rights are violated. 

As we reflect on this crisis, we must call into question those actors or actions that do not align with our rights.  We must balance how we protect ourselves, our friends, and our families with the values we hold dear to our existence.  We must question and hold accountable those that maintain power when they breach the values they swore to uphold.

We’ve witnessed yet another escalatory action by Governor Wolf infringing on our liberties.  Approximately one (1) month ago, we witnessed the closure of restaurants and bars.  Second, we witnessed all non-essential businesses and schools forcibly closed by the Commonwealth, followed by a broader order closing all non-life-sustaining operations.  Next, we observed a shelter in place order for all of Pennsylvania.  Finally, today, approximately four (4) weeks later, we’ve witnessed another first, an order for all businesses to reject entry to any induvial not wearing a safety mask. 

I implore everyone to digest those events and timeline then consider several additional facts.  One (1) month ago, the Governor and Dr. Levine, stressed the importance of following guidelines set forth by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and began daily forecast projections of confirmed cases and deaths of COVID-19 that would peak in mid-April.    If the peak was forecast for mid-April, why would the governor issue such as order like requiring safety masks, in mid-April?  If his strategy all along was the safety and health of our citizens to slow the infection rate (flatten the curve), why did it take him four (4) weeks to inject such a stringent order?  Why did he announce this order on Wednesday, April 15, at 4:00 p.m. when his peer in New York (Governor Cuomo) issued the same order at noon?  Why did he ignore this safety mask recommendation from the CDC for 12 days, released by the CDC on April 3, 2020?  Our governor has taken unprecedented action, and today’s announcement is suspiciously absent of logical relevance afforded to this timeline.

 Our Commonwealth is in ill repair, not just because of Coronavirus, but because of inadequacies in our leaders.  A few additional questions for your consideration

• Why has our governor put limited thought into creating a proactive pandemic action plan with measured responses before and during the crisis?
• Why has our governor (and past governors) ignored advice to stockpile medical supplies and equipment?
• Why has our governor (and past governors) explained millions of times how taxes would be spent to modern our school’s technology?
• Why have the taxpayers of Pennsylvania provided millions (if not billions) in taxes toward school technology, yet our schools were inadequately prepared to handle virtual education? For the record, this is not the fault of our teachers.
• Why has the state not required health systems to adequately prepare for a pandemic with stockpiles of supplies and equipment?
• Why has the governor taken an all or nothing approach relative to our businesses or economy?
• How many companies have received a waiver to continue business operations (while abiding by social distancing guidelines)?
• Why was the governor so quick to issue business closure orders, yet so slow issuing waivers OR to take a logical approach to allow companies to operate, if and only if, they abide by social distancing and CDC guidelines (auto dealers, realtors, and construction to name a few).
• Why does our state continue to lack evolution of technology in high revenue businesses like state stores? Even better, why does our state operate a monopoly that’s filled with conflicts of interest?  Pennsylvania buys, sells, and enforces liquor consumption THEN regulates the enforcement of alcohol sales and consumption of our citizens and THEN further profits when a citizen violates these laws.  That’s the classic legal definition of a conflict of interest.  
• Why does our governor act like a follower of other state actions (like New York) and not a leader in which he was elected?
• Why did our legislature feel it was a good idea to allow for unilateral decisions by a governor under the premise of health and safety?
• Why is our governor given unilateral authority to restrict our liberties, under the disguise of health, and without the majority consent of our elected representatives? While I agree, any governor should have some of these rights to aid in crisis (health, natural, etc.), but why haven’t we defined when our representative have a right to be involved and vote on critical decisions and especially decisions that impact our liberties?

The purpose of this letter is to bring forth logical facts and questions from the perspective of an ordinary citizen.  We all have rights, we all have opinions, we all have beliefs, we all have values, and at times we all agree to disagree.  However, the common thread woven through each of us is our alienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.   We must question our leaders when our rights are infringed, and we must act when they are breached.  Action in the form of voting, calling/writing to our representatives, amending our state constitution, engaging our courts and judiciary system, and holding those in power accountable for their actions either by voting them out or reengaging in a recall election before they fulfill their elected term.    We must be open to the idea of blending science with economics, safety with security, and liberty against oppression. 

In conclusion, DO your part as a citizen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, for your good and ours. 

Respectfully yours,

A Citizen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania