THE RIGHTS OF A SOCIETY SUPERSEDES THE RIGHTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL

I consider myself a Conservative.  I assume this derives from my parents’ political views.  They escaped both the Marxist and National Socialist hangman’s noose and their crematoriums by just a hair (read my books Tales from my Hometown and  Tales of a Country Surgeon available on Amazon.com and Kindle $2.99). We immigrated to the US in 1954 and became US Citizens. Although I hold many opinions that typically would not be placed in the right-wing playbook and thus makes me a kind of RINO by some people’s definition. Despite that, I cannot vote for a Bernie Saunders, who is a self-admitted Socialist or AOC who is not far behind.  Just recalling what “trained Marxists” have done to our country and what Socialism of all flavors has done in the past gives me chills. All the Socialistic experiments that have so obviously failed miserably, like North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela, or the many countries that have successfully cast off Socialism like Israel, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, India, Britain, New Zealand, and the Soviet Socialist Republic with all its client states – Hungary, East Germany, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, Ukraine, and others, as well as the ghosts of the millions of people that Hitler and Stalin murdered, among them some of my family, and Maduro is still murdering, euphemistically called extrajudicial executions. This will not allow me to vote for anyone that even faintly smells of Socialism, even if they call themselves Democratic Socialists. Putting lipstick on a pig does not change that it is still a pig.
     My family came to the US with absolutely nothing but a desire to succeed. We worked hard, and everything I have was earned fair and square. I must admit I had good luck in my life, especially with real estate. The appreciation of land has been good to me. I got a college education and a degree in Medicine. My work life extended over 54 years, and I now write my thoughts on everything from Covid vaccines to “trained Marxists.”  
     But for the life of me, I cannot understand the Republican stance on the Pandemic. It is almost enough to make me a Democrat. DeSantis of Florida, Abbott of Texas, Reeves of Mississippi, and Noem of South Dakota fighting against vaccine mandates or opposing mask-wearing is comedic, like Don Quixote fighting windmills, if it were not so tragic.  How are standard public health measures infringing on your or anyone’s rights?  On the contrary, the blatant disregard of protecting yourself from disease and by that action spreading the disease to uninfected people is by several magnitudes more infringement on my and all the public’s rights, and in my humble opinion, very unconstitutional.  Your social media “research” and anything that Nicki Minaj has to add, does not equal the years of scientific knowledge acquired by hundreds of immunologists and virologists. Expert opinion must take precedence in a civilized literate society. Otherwise, we decay into chaos and anarchy.
      No one knows if they carry the virus, even if you tested negative yesterday. You may be broadcasting the virus and not know it. The disease does not spread by itself, and vaccination and masks do diminish the virus’s ability to spread, multiply, and mutate. Over one hundred years ago, a case was brought to the Supreme Court of the United States to challenge vaccine mandates.

     In 1905 Jacobson v. Massachusetts was a Supreme Court case where Henning Jacobson refused to be vaccinated for Smallpox in the State of Massachusetts, where Smallpox vaccination was mandatory. John Marshall Harlan, associate Supreme Court Justice, delivered the 7-2 decision affirming the Massachusetts law held that a society is charged with the duty of conserving the safety and health of its members. Furthermore, the court held that vaccination was neither arbitrary nor oppressive and was necessary to stop the spread of disease. In 1922 the Supreme Court reaffirmed its decision in another case, Zuch v. King, which held that a school system could refuse admission to a student who failed to receive the required vaccinations. Several other related cases by both the Supreme Court and lower courts have again upheld the right of the people to be free from maladies and other avoidable adversities. These rulings supersede the individual’s rights (Buck v. Bell-1927, Prince v. Massachusetts-1944, Verona School District v. Acton-1995). Does anyone care what SCOTUS has already decided more than once?   How many times does the Supreme Court have to say the same thing? An orderly society can not allow the individual to exercise his or her rights if it interferes, conflicts, or otherwise hinders the rights, welfare, and well-being of the general public. This has been the accepted code across all types and styles of governments since the 14^th Century when the city of Venice imposed a quarantine on ships arriving from ports known to have people infected with Plague. The words quaranta giorni is Italian for 40 days, the time period the ships were not allowed to come into port.
     Giving individuals the authority to interpret the Constitution for themselves would bring bedlam ( the name of the most famous lunatic asylum in London, founded in 1247 and functioning up to 1936). Society cannot allow individuals to harm others even if they believe it is their right to do so.  The individual that shoots a gun in public is arrested. Just carrying a gun concealed or open gets you thrown into jail in most states. The driver that drives so as to endanger others loses his/her right to drive. The person who believes he does not have to wear clothing in public is taken to the loony farm. The person who even speaks words that damage others is charged with a crime. How can you not comprehend that spewing a life-threatening virus on your fellow man can under no circumstances be considered a constitutional right, nor can it be allowed? With, on average, 153,454 new cases and 1201 deaths per day in the US, somebody is obviously doing more than their share of unimpeded spewing! An orderly society cannot afford to let individuals who believe they have a constitutional right to harm or potentially harm others do as they please. SCOTUS has affirmed and reaffirmed that obvious principle numerous times already! Someone should let the Republican Governors in on that secret.