Sign-wielders on Patteson Drive. Angry parents at school board meetings. “Karens” berating store employees, as seen on social media or in real life. They all have something in common: Cries of “individual choice.”
And they’re right: They do have a choice.
However, the people protesting mask and vaccine mandates mistakenly believe their choice is between being masked and/or vaccinated in spaces where those mandates exist or not being masked and/or vaccinated in those spaces.
That’s where they’re wrong.
The choice is between being masked and/or vaccinated in spaces that require it or to not be in that space.
Staff protesting workplace vaccine mandates have a choice: Get vaccinated or find another job.
Parents against mask mandates in schools have a choice: Teach your child to wear a mask properly or take your child out of school.
People who don’t want to wear masks in businesses, particularly where masks are required, have a choice: Wear the mask or shop somewhere else.
To anyone who espouses their “freedom” not to vaccinate or not to wear face coverings: You do have a choice, but the choice isn’t the one you want it to be.
Yes, in America, we do have the freedom to choose. But if our choices threaten the general welfare, there are repercussions.
We can choose to drink and drive, but we will be fined or jailed.
We can choose to steal or defraud, but we will be arrested.
We can choose to assault, abuse or kill a person or animal, but we will be sent to prison, possibly for life.
Businesses and governments (acting as employers) have the choice to require staff to be vaccinated — especially since having as many people as possible vaccinated promotes the health and safety of the community. In fact, more employers should use the option to make vaccines a condition of employment; it would make workplaces safer and be a huge step toward getting life back to pre-pandemic normal.
Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker County, has chosen to petition Gov. Jim Justice to call the Legislature into session so legislators can prohibit vaccine mandates. We hope Justice chooses to ignore Smith’s request. And we hope Smith’s fellow legislators choose to ignore him, too, lest West Virginia end up like Arkansas.
In early August, the governor of Arkansas confessed that he regretted supporting and signing into law a bill that prevented schools from requiring masks. At the time he made that statement, 19% of Arkansas’ COVID cases were in children under 18. Once signed, the law could not be undone, and schools could not mandate students and staff wear masks, even though masks are proven to slow the spread of COVID-19.
There’s one more choice West Virginians have: To learn from others’ mistakes or to repeat them.
