You’re assuming my position is as dogmatic as yours- based on what I’m not sure. I’m sympathetic with the experience of those who feel hesitancy over the vaccine, though I believe a lot of that hesitancy is being driven by some very bad actors who are amassing fortunes peddling a conspiracy narrative despite knowing it is safe & effective. I trust the findings of the CDC & the broad consensus of the scientific & medical communities more than I trust the opinions of Tucker Carlson.

Many of those who are being sold on vaccination resistance are not as safe as they think they are. I’m amazed at how frequently I hear about the odds of survival from someone who’s carrying around an extra 40 pounds of personally acquired vulnerability.

Vaccine mandates will save a lot of lives, and that has to be considered; even if a lot of those lives bullishly claim they would rather die than be saved. Freedom of choice is important, but we regulate public health & safety all the time, from seat belts to food handling & preparation. Your right to work as an unvaccinated airline pilot or walk into a Wal-Mart without a mask on is not equal to your right to vote or worship your god.

Politically, the argument can certainly be made against the president making such broad sweeping mandates, and the long-term implications of the same. I welcome that discussion. (Though I think the legality of vaccination requirements at the level of of schools & individual employers is pretty well established.)

Socially, there are a lot of potential backlash considerations to forcing this on people. The country is a powder-keg, & I’m not sure how much net good is accomplished by dragging people kicking & screaming into the vaccination line. In general, I prefer the slow road of public education- though many Americans are proving surprisingly resilient to its impact.

So it’s a nuanced discussion, but we’re not discussing the nuance. Your idea that no public benefit can justify even the smallest loss of freedom to the individual is as stupid as saying saving a single life life is worth the loss of allour freedoms. Those are just the poles of the argument we would be having in a healthy society.