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Personal freedoms and liberties are not absolute

| October 16, 2021 1:00 AM

Freedom is not absolute. You cannot yell “fire” in a crowded theater. You cannot drive drunk through Sandpoint at 100 miles per hour. Your freedom has limits, beginning where it infringes on the life, liberty, or safety of another. In an anarchy, people act without restraint, heedless of the effect of their actions on others. I do not want to live in an anarchy.

We have always accepted limits on our freedom, and accepted that some actions we might not choose are necessary sacrifices that we make for the common good, recognizing that we share responsibility for the welfare of those around us. We have accepted that we should be our brother’s keeper. But now, doing the right thing has become less important than proving our loyalty to a political tribe. Simple things like mask wearing and vaccination have emerged as very effective ways to fight the coronavirus and save lives, but unfortunately they have become a political statement.

Mask wearing is not about fear for myself. I am vaccinated and healthy, and if I do get infected with COVID, I will probably not get very sick. I might, however, spread the disease to you, your children, and your grandmother. That is why I am willing to wear a mask. Refusing to wear a mask amounts to reckless disregard for other human lives. An anti-mask mandate is a formal declaration that we citizens of Bonner County do not care about other people’s lives and that our personal liberty is more precious than our neighbor’s right to life.

DONALD LAUMANN

Sandpoint