Author: Michael Sweeney

There is this myth that Americans refuse to “do the right thing” when presented with information about risk and consequences.

This myth has been perpetuated by well intentioned politicians, medical celebrities and even prominent Libertarians, despite the long history and recent evidence to the contrary. 

Here in Ohio keeping a polite distance during times of widespread illness is part of our Appalachian sensibilities and mid-west charm. We do not cram up on each other even when not sick. It’s called personal space. (It is also a popular myth that people go around sneezing and coughing on each other. Sure, we all have that anecdote about the person in the store or office who was rude, but those are rare.)

We stayed home when the situation was presented as dire. And most continue to limit their activities, even where there are no restrictions or penalties. This is evident in the imploding revenues for local and state govt, money is not moving through local economies. Beyond the dubious tracking of cell phone location, the movement of money is the best indicator of people movement.

We also wash our hands, a lot.

The truth is Americans do not need orders, mandates or “leaders” to direct their lives. If we all decided this was nonsense there is no power that can stop us. We are going along with orders, mandates and advisories because we see physical health and social benefits (in cases where advice is clearly not working we continue to humor people out of politeness and compassion), despite economic and mental health costs.

We are watching this illness unfold world-wide in real-time, and every strategy, except trust, has brought more consequences and harm, many that will impact our lives long after 2020 is a historical punchline.

Any plan for Ohio, any state or nation for that matter, must be based on trust, collaboration and consent.

Without these elements we may triumph against this illness and lose our very soul.

Citation: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/world/most-americans-have-been-wearing-masks-since-spring-the-cdc-says.html?fbclid=IwAR0yTK8dTXnSYJOVJYPKv4HhywxJktLCq6QGWL-082Cy05H2wIq3jzYo-M0

Citation: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/17/upshot/coronavirus-face-mask-map.html

Citation: https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/07/08/face-off-over-face-masks-europes-latest-north-south-split

Citation: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/cellphone-tracking-tells-where-ohioans-stayed-home-during-height-of-coronavirus/ar-BB14dE3W

Citation: https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/states-grappling-with-hit-to-tax-collections

Citation: https://ohsonline.com/Articles/2020/04/20/Vast-Majority-of-Americans-Increase-Hand-Washing-Due-to-Coronavirus.aspx

Citation: https://www.aier.org/article/even-a-military-enforced-quarantine-cant-stop-the-virus-study-reveals/

Citation: https://covid19.apple.com/mobility

—
Michael Sweeney, Member At-Large, FCLP

Right now, there are literally thousands of people protesting in the streets all over America about the daily harassment from hundreds of “good intention” laws that police use as excuses to force confrontations.

Social distancing and mask mandates are just another example in a long line of well intended, but poorly conceived and inconsistently enforced policies that always come to harm the most vulnerable communities.

Govt is always reluctant to give up power it can use for unearned influence, especially when it’s enforcement is arbitrary and subjective.

As mask wearing loses popularity, and people see less actual benefit as well as less social benefit, the community members who are already empowered will feel comfortable wearing them less or abandoning them altogether. This will naturally grow until an unspoken consensus will be reached with most people simply not wearing masks even though they are still legally mandated.

As fewer and fewer people wear masks voluntarily, businesses will enforce their wearing less and less both for employees and for customers, police are disinclined to rigidly enforce unpopular laws, and eventually, even county health departments will back down and simply ignore widespread scofflaws.

As a social stigma on mask wearing balances back towards disinterest, disenfranchised communities will find themselves unevenly targeted for enforcement, as ardent advocates for mask wearing continue to vocally call for increasingly harsh enforcement (to counter the widespread “lawlessness”) while also quietly and privately dismissing them.

This will place the disabled, communities of color, LBGT+, poor and disenfranchised residents at a disadvantage in their own businesses and communities.

The longer the mandate stays in place, while people decline to comply, the more corruption and graft will grow around abuse of power in enforcement. When the county health department can shut down your business at a moments notice because customers violated a rule that no one is following, and due process is completely thrown out the window, you don’t have a lot of wiggle room if any reputable, but corrupt, individual makes threats and demands.

When you can be arrested, and prosecuted, for not following a rule that no one else is following, you similarly have little wiggle room if extrajudicial demands are made on you by corrupt law enforcement.

This is why govt mandates are always bad. Govt enforcement of even the best intentions will fall most harshly on those without power.

Voluntary adoption of any best practice is the best way to safeguard all of our rights and all of our health.

If you read all this and rolled your eyes, or quietly called “bullshit”, please take a moment to think back to those thousands of people protesting in the streets all over America and the daily harassment from hundreds of these “good intention” nuisance laws.

If even one person is harmed from a mandate, where have the good intentions gone?

We would never discourage anyone from wearing a mask if they wish, we hope that everyone is informed of unlikely, but real, risks associated with use.

Be kind, wear a mask if you want, mind your own business, keep up all good habits equally.

#ThinkLibertarian

Resources to learn more: 

Covid Is About to Become the Newest Excuse for Police Brutality

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/coronavirus-police-brutality/

‘That’s abysmal’: NYC politicians outraged after NYPD reveals 81 percent of social distancing arrests have been minorities

https://www.nydailynews.com/coronavirus/ny-coronavirus-social-distancing-enforcement-20200508-taominwawrhtlajdqjqf5gbdce-story.html

Early Data Shows Black People Are Being Disproportionally Arrested for Social Distancing Violations

https://www.propublica.org/article/in-some-of-ohios-most-populous-areas-black-people-were-at-least-4-times-as-likely-to-be-charged-with-stay-at-home-violations-as-whites