In the midst of a pandemic, we followed a protocol= acquire intel, gather resources, and implement safe practices.are able to do this because we respect human rights or at least attempt to strongly respect them. We were not always able to have a strong sense of teamwork and community, but we do so now because we are in touch with our humanity. We were not always able to reach this level because we were once less civilized.

Oppression does not only harm the oppressed. It harms the oppressors by eroding away their humanity. To oppress a person, another must turn off their normal reaction of sadness of seeing another human being suffering. Oppression eliminates the normal human bonding that people do when they spend quality time together. We consider rights to a pursuit of happiness, privacy, right to protect oneself, and many others. But why is it that these rights ultimately determine how much of our humanity we preserve?

The right to privacy is the respect that someone deserves to choose what is public and what is not, the right to conduct one's affairs without sabotage or deceit. Slavery eroded privacy, discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status eroded privacy. By respecting human rights such as privacy, we remind each other that we are not animals to be herded or starved by oppressors for the sake of feeling superior.

I have been bullied by people who did not want me to have privacy, and what I noticed most was an interest in feigning an idea of superiority based on oppression and not focusing on community. Because we have human rights, we have a strong community that can choose the beat ways for society can grow. We cannot do this by focusing on who wants power, but who has the ideas that need power to be enforced to make society better. By embracing our humanity, we embrace the strength of community and being stronger in numbers than by oppression and slavery.

We need to make our own choices because no one knows what we as individuals should do e felt ourselves. No one knows what I want, because what I want is to be asked and to choose for myself.

Oppression is never the answer is, empowerment of both individual and community is the answer. We need an internal locus of control—the knowledge that human rights give us the empowerment to make choices for ourselves since only individuals know what's best for themselves. By bringing diversity of individuals together, we have a multitude of perspectives that can foresee and combat obstacles and tragedies like a pandemic.