We Are Not Born and Raised for Ourselves Alone

Duty. We don't hear that word much nowadays, but never have we been so suddenly forced to face it.

With the outbreak of the coronavirus worldwide, young people, in particular, are having a hard time understanding the draconian measures their elders are taking. Universities and schools are shuttering. More will follow. Europeans are banned, all of Italy is in lockdown, and any day now, parts of the U.S. will follow.

Cicero, On Duties

Source: Quintus Curtius, used with permission

Young people don't get it. They're healthy, right? They may get sick, sure, but they'll recover and just move on. Why should they have to forego in-class instruction, travel, seeing each other? None of this social distancing makes much sense.

But it's precisely here that some timeless words from classical antiquity can clear things up. In his treatise On Duties, Cicero remarks,

As Plato has eloquently written, we are not born and raised for ourselves alone: our country claims a part of us, as do our friends.

That sentiment tends to rankle every freedom-loving person out there. Who do these guys think they are, saying I'm not born and raised for myself alone?

Wrong. Those words are the perfect illustration of how and why the theory of social distancing actually works in the real world.

Mitigating the coronavirus is a collective effort. It's a pure illustration of duty—of doing something you'd rather not, and that won't be of any direct benefit to you.

Yes, you may get the virus and snap back just fine. But what about your mother, your father, grandmother, grandfather, and everyone else at risk? Those neighbors down the street? It's your job to help protect them. And it's theirs to help protect you.

And in Cicero's view, it's been that way since the day we were born. After all, we didn't give birth to ourselves.