Times are hard.

Essential workers are putting their lives on the line every day.

People are dying.

Life is scary.

Some people are feeling too controlled, angry that they're being asked to stay home, furious that they're being told to wear masks.

What about their rights? What about their freedom?

I drive through my neighborhood as a vacation now from the monotony of quarantine. It's my right. It lets me be free.

I'm free to do so because I follow the rules.

I have a driver's license. I register my vehicle. I insure my vehicle. I get my vehicle inspected. I don't drink before I climb behind the wheel. I observe the speed limit.

I enjoy my rights and my freedoms within the bounds of the social contract that allow others to enjoy their rights and freedoms.

I know gun owners who love to hunt. They're free to do so, to enjoy that right, if they follow the rules.

They're prevented from shooting a gun within 500 feet of a dwelling, a school, a playground ... They're required to take a hunter safety course. They're limited to hunting specific types of game within specific seasons and only bagging a specific amount. They're prevented from baiting animals to draw them in to be shot.

They enjoy their rights and freedoms within the bounds of a social contract that allows others to enjoy their rights and freedoms.

I have a right to get groceries to feed my family. I am free to do so.

I need to follow the rules, to keep a safe social distance, to wear a mask to prevent the spread of a deadly disease.

I'm asthmatic. I have the right to live without a respiratory disease that is killing people like me.

If people live within the bounds of a social contract, I may be able to preserve that right.