Thinking Citizen Blog — Choosing: Elderly vs the Young, Parents vs Children, Freedom vs Public Health

Thinking Citizen Blog — Saturday is Justice, Freedom, Law, and Values Day

Today’s Topic: Choosing: Elderly vs the Young, Parents vs Children, Freedom vs Public Health

Who comes first? When? Why? Are you sure? When rights conflict whose rights trump? The right of the elderly to life? The right of the young to an education and equality of opportunity? Trade-off denial is the stock in trade of pundits and politicians. Keep it simple, stupid. Today, variations on the theme of the tough trade-off. Bottom line: I feel strongly that kids should come first, and specifically, the least advantaged children, and during this pandemic, the opposite has been the case. What else is new? Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.

PARENTS VERSUS CHILDREN: the rights of the vaccinated versus the unvaccinated

1. Do the rights of the unvaccinated trump the rights of the vaccinated?

2. Well, what about the rights of the children of the unvaccinated relative to the rights of their parents?

3. Is the right analogy that of the Christian Scientist to refuse medical treatment to their child?

TEACHERS VERSUS STUDENTS — you can’t have it both ways

1. Public school children have been denied in-person education.

2. Many private schools have figured out how to maintain in-person instruction.

3. How do you balance the rights of public school children and public school teachers?

NB: The political balance of power clearly favors the rights of public school teachers. How would you weigh the ethical balance?

PUBLIC HEALTH AND EDUCATION VERSUS FREEDOM

1. Does the “freedom to choose” (to get a vaccine or not) trump the value of public health and the right to an education?

2. So far the President of the United States has chosen to skirt the issue which is the function equivalent of saying that freedom trumps health and education.

3. I believe this is the wrong decision. My vision for America and the world is that every child born reaches their full potential for joy, productivity, and responsibility. Leadership is about knowing the difference between normal times and emergencies. This is time for vaccine mandates.

FINAL QUESTION AND AN ANALOGY

So, what do you think? To mandate or not mandate vaccines? You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Why would anyone really want to be President and have to make such decisions? Who is qualified to make them? The first two aphorisms of Hippocrates come to mind.

#1 “Art is long, but life is short, the opportunity fleeting, experience delusive, judgment therefore difficult.”

#2 “The physician must not only do the right thing himself but make sure the patient, the attendants, and the externals cooperate.”

The President must be physician to the nation. For the last three years of posts organized by theme:

PDF with headlines — Google Drive

YOUR TURN

Please share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to justice, freedom, the law or basic values. Or the coolest, most important thing you learned in your life related to justice, freedom, the law, or basic values. Or just some random justice-related fact that blew you away.

This is your chance to make some one’s day. Or to cement in your mind something that you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply about something dear to your heart.