Timothy Carney explains for the Washington Examiner that a good idea doesn’t necessarily need to be tied to a government mandate.
Why do some people have trouble with the idea that some things that are good should not be made mandatory?
Vaccines are the obvious example today.
I am pro-vaccine in general and vocally in favor of the COVID-19 vaccines. I got the Moderna vaccine. My wife got the Pfizer vaccine. I have encouraged my friends to get the vaccine. I have gone on television, radio, and panels and made public speeches encouraging people to get vaccinated. I have addressed the pro-life objections to the vaccine and written multiple articles encouraging people to get vaccinated.
Yet I get called anti-vaccine.
In fact, I qualify as the dictionary definition of anti-vaxxer. Yes, Merriam Webster, the dictionary that has decided to sell its credibility in order to make itself a shameless warrior in the culture wars, now defines “anti-vaxxer” to include a person who opposes “regulations mandating vaccination.”
The foundation of this worldview is that there can be no meaningful distinction between a person who believes vaccines are good and that people should get them voluntarily (me)and a person who believes that government and corporations should use their power to force unwilling people to get vaccinated. …
… Given that the COVID vaccine, unlike the polio vaccine, is not a sterilizing vaccine and that vaccinated people can still get and spread the virus, the public health justification for vaccine mandates is relatively thin. That doesn’t matter. …
… I don’t simply believe that I should get the vaccine. I believe that you, dear reader, should get the vaccine. As I said, I tell everyone that. But there’s something between “I only think about myself” and “everyone should be required to do what I do.”
I do not believe that firing someone for not getting vaccinated is just or reasonable in most cases — especially given the imperfection of the vaccine in preventing infection. I also believe that an extremely high threshold needs to be reached before the government can force us to undergo medical interventions.