The mandates issue comes down to an argument on positive rights vs negative rights. A negative right is one where you do not impose any obligation on other individuals. It is about liberty. A positive right is one that imposes an obligation on others to provide you with a perceived benefit thru the use of force. Force is the key element of positive rights otherwise it would not be a positive right.

An individual has agency over themselves. An individual is in the best position to make their own self-defense decisions that do not impose on others. There are vaccines, therapeutics, etc. that one can choose to use to combat covid.

The problem with mandates is that it imposes one’s perceived right onto another person thru force while limiting the liberty of the other person. The positive right does nothing to protect the natural rights or negative rights of all individuals. This approach is immoral and unethical. If one is able to impose positive rights onto others, where does it stop? Laws for burglary or murder are different because they preserve the natural rights and negative rights of all individuals. Those that favor mandates make a serious error in logic.

Why do we need a mask mandate? We have been told that the masks work. At the beginning of the pandemic, we were told not to wear a mask. Then we were told to wear cloth masks. Now we are told that cloth masks do not work and we should wear k95 masks. We have gone almost 2 years with a cloth mask mandate. What changed in the data to say cloth masks did not work? If there is no specific data to support the cloth mask mandate, this leads to mistrust with public policy that says they are following “The Science”.

Why do we have to impose a vaccine mandate? We have been told that getting the vaccine protects us. Therefore, the unvaccinated do not pose any threat to the vaccinated. If the unvaccinated are a threat to the vaccinated, then you are implying the vaccine does not work. That is a serious error in logic and undermines the message of getting the vaccine. We would be far better off if we let people make their own personal choices instead of worrying about what is best for others.

What about the immunocompromised? The real question is what were the immunocompromised doing before covid? Does covid all of a sudden provide a green light to limit the liberty of others? If one is immunocompromised, then one would naturally take steps to protect oneself such as limiting interaction with others. Where does the control of others stop?