The mask mandate is back across B.C., thanks to roughly one quarter of the population entitled to their right to be wrong and put themselves and others at risk of serious illness or death.
No, they’re just entitled. And it’s time to take their entitlement away from them. Freedom in a free society means citizens are willing to respect and protect the rights and freedoms of fellow citizens as enthusiastically as they value their own.
If some people are unwilling to accept this basic responsibility, they don’t believe in freedom, they believe in anarchy. They believe in freedumb.
The latest mask mandate is wrong, not because it is unscientific or illegal but because it unfairly punishes the majority of British Columbians who have been responsible enough to get themselves fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
When drivers continuously refuse to obey the rules of the road, they lose their driver’s license.
When lawyers or trades people refuse to obey the rules of their industry, they lose their certification.
So why doesn’t government take away the social license for people who refuse to obey society’s rules of basic citizenship?
Wait, isn’t that an infringement of individual rights? Hardly. Individual rights don’t exist without a society that respects those rights. Individuals who put their rights over everyone else’s rights are exhibiting sociopathic behaviour and their rights and freedoms should be stripped away. Their social licenses should be revoked.
Revoking their social licence means they’re not allowed to work in person with others. They shouldn’t be allowed in any indoor public spaces, including grocery stores, restaurants, airports, doctors offices and even hospitals.
Hungry? They can order food delivered to their home. Sick? They should try some home remedies they found online because they clearly don’t believe in modern medicine or the right of healthcare workers to care for others in a safe environment.
“Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue,” the right-wing U.S. presidential candidate Barry Goldwater famously stated. His phrase has been used as a slogan for individual rights and against government interference for more than 50 years but it’s time for a different application.
The B.C. government has the authority to revoke the social licence of anyone who refuses to be vaccinated if they are not medically exempt and should do so. Why should the vaccinated have their social licenses restricted due to the unvaccinated who believe their freedumbs are paramount?
Their Constitutional rights are being violated? Sorry, the notwithstanding clause has been invoked.
Extremism in the face of freedumbs is no vice.
For 18 months, the majority of British Columbians have tried to be kind and be calm. For their personal health and the safety of their loved ones and people they don’t even know, they got themselves vaccinated. They have been thanked by one in four British Columbians – their neighbours, their colleagues, their so-called friends and family – with the middle finger and claims being forced to get the jab amounts to tyranny.
Tyranny, they say? Since they have no idea what they’re talking about, give them a hearty serving of real tyranny, the tyranny of the majority.
Let’s see how far they get with their freedumb without the social licence awarded to responsible adults willing to do their part for a free society.
