I put this in Politics and Elections since this topic is in that sort of nature, but What_Exit or another mod can change the category if another is more appropriate.
Anyways, I’m on the fence with another one of my mother’s opinions. I mentioned to my mother as we were watching the news that we should do way better in following government orders and mandates in the future, as us not doing that is one of the reasons the pandemic streched out for as long as it did.
However, my mom commented that the government never had the right to mandate us staying home or anything in that nature, as “we’re a free country,” as she described it. She also mentioned “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet; we’ve had this discussion,” thinking I got my opinion from here or somewhere else.
Again, I’m on the fence with this one. A lot of fears and/or opinions she has can have a reasonable explanation, but for this one, I’m just baffled. Do correct me if my point of view is completely warped, however!
And just what provision of the Constitution does she claim it violates? You could probably make a case that the federal government can’t, but the only limits on the states are the ones specifically imposed on them.
If your mom is wanting to get back to 1776, do what your State tells you.
If she thinks 1950 is the high point of American freedom, then she needs to follow the federal laws.
Regardless, there has been no time since the adoption of the Constitution where the citizens could argue that no government could constrain the citizens in times of quarantine: the argument is over which government has the right to do so.
So if I have this right, since this is a free country then the government never had the right to make us do anything. Has anyone alerted the media about this?
The government had the right to tell you to go to a camp for a few months to get yelled at and then travel several thousand miles to get shot at. Staying home is a doddle…
Surely she doesn’t believe we were a free country at the founding… A number of slaves may object to that classification. So the question is when did the US become a free nation
It might be worth reminding her that in a theoretical Libertarian paradise, if she is wandering around enjoying her freedom but is suspected of being a carrier of plague she might be shot on sight because it’s a free country.
I’d like to hear your mother’s views on what is and is not included in “anything in that nature”. For example, is she free to scream “Fire!” in a crowded theater?
You know, the government never actually mandated that you stay home. Do you know anyone who was arrested for not staying home? Tell yer ma: “Nice strawman you got there.”
She was arrested for refusing to go into another line of work. As long as she wasn’t a cook, she was unlikely to be a danger to anyone. Unfortunately, the government didn’t give her any reasonable alternative to being a cook. Wikipedia says her ob as a cook could get her 2.5 more in wages than what she made at the job the government placed her at. They should have given her better retraining and such, but it was a much less enlightened time in that regard.
Indeed. Does she believe that she has the right to operate a car without getting a driver’s license, drive through stop lights, refuse to pay taxes, take a dump in the county reservoir, and help herself to whatever she wants at the grocery store without paying?
Instead of discussing the draft and traffic laws, maybe discussing the legal weight of the various shelter in place orders would be a billion times more relevant. Maybe?
I’m not cherry picking anything. Someone who whines that today, in this crisis, the government doesn’t have the right to make us stay home is delusional. The government is not making anyone stay home. They are trusting us not to be morons, which kind of makes them morons.
