‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their government with certain Rights that may only be rescinded if exercising those Rights carries any risk.’ //

the coronavirus should teach us that these ideas are far too risky to stay the way we learned them as kids. They often even led to people dying!

Let’s start by updating a short one so you get the idea. Some of you probably know the state motto of New Hampshire. It comes from a quote by Revolutionary War Gen. John Stark. “Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils.”

Obviously, that concept is terribly dangerous, but we can fix it. Instead, it should be, “Live free and you’ll die.” With a barely noticeable adjustment, New Hampshire license plates go from being a reckless endangerment to a somber warning. //

A lot of crazy fringe people who still want to do things have been using a famous quote by Patrick Henry. They fail to point out that life expectancy back in that era was only about 38 years, so people wouldn’t have lived to be old enough to die of coronavirus anyway.

That means his words are obsolete and need an update. Possibly, “Give me a mask or give me death!” It now becomes a practical health advisory instead of a dangerous demand for freedom.

Here’s one for the kids to recite before they watch school on the computer. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with social distancing and unemployment benefits for all.” //

For those who are not sufficiently scared by coronavirus simply because the odds of dying from it are incredibly small, you need to remember what President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in his first inaugural address: “The only thing we have to fear is being around people!”