Personal Decisions
During this pandemic I have frequently heard folks say that not wearing a mask or not getting vaccinated is a “personal” decision. I can’t stop wondering just what they mean by “personal.” Is it like having one’s own personal toothbrush, or gym locker, or bowling ball? In other words is such a decision wholly owned by and dedicated to a particular person? And, thus, is it like one’s choice of a domestic partner or religious belief, where no one has the right to alter or criticize your choice? And so it must a decision that affects you and only you, even if it is reckless, like deciding to go skydiving or climbing Mount Everest? After all, if your parachute doesn’t open or you slip on the ice, it can’t hurt anyone but yourself--unless you have the bad luck to land on some poor innocent below. Yes, that seems like a reasonable definition of a personal decision, but correct me if I am wrong.
Well, let’s see how that works out in terms of wearing a mask or getting a shot. People refusing these options claim that their decision is “personal” and thus beyond the reach of criticism. Yet, unlike truly personal decisions, these are likely to have an impact on other people and on a great number of them.
Not wearing a mask and not getting the shots can transform the decision-maker into a moving terrorist of sorts, and one carrying a weapon that has an enormous range. Those who make these decisions ignore overwhelming scientific evidence and make themselves vulnerable to the disease. But after all, they are exercising their rights and ready to take the consequences. They’ll tell you that if they are wrong, then they are willing to pay the price for it. “If I am making a mistake, I’ll pay for it, but I think I’ll take the risk. Anyway, I’m young and healthy and probably won’t die if I get it.”
But that is not how it works. Becoming infected makes a person a vehicle for the virus and almost sure to infect others. Infecting another individual will probably not only affect that individual but many more as well: those your victim infects and those infected by those your victim has infected. And so on with no end in sight. If you refuse the vaccine and the masks and subsequently (and very, very likely) become infected, you are likely to infect, sicken, and even kill people you’ve never even met.
You might end up being responsible for the death of an 80-year-old in Peru or for the sickening of someone else five years from now. The branches of this tree have no limits.
That’s how pandemics work. They do not follow a straight line or fill up a circle. They spread. They ramify. They are not like an interstate. They are more like the spreading branches of a tree, a very big one. Think of a family tree with you at its apex and with generations equal to a three-day incubation period.
So if you tell me that you are making this kind of personal decision, I will tell you, as politely as I can and standing at least six feet away from you, you pernicious, ignorant, son-of-a bitch, that you are making a very selfish decision, one that will probably create great harm not only to you and to yours but to many others, and that your decision, could not possibly be less personal. It is as public as setting off a cluster bomb in a football stadium during The Super Bowl.
SOME NOTES ON A “PERSONAL” DECISION.
“Hey. Did you just scratch my new bike with a key?”
“Yes. I did.”
“Why?”
“It was a personal decision.”
“Oh. Gee. I apologize. If I’d only known it was a person decision, I would have kept my mouth shut. Have a good day!”
“Personal decisions” have taken on much of the sanctity of religious beliefs, such as:
“All Jews, Moslems, and Gays will burn in Hell forever.”
“You monster! How can you say something so mean?”
“It’s part of my religious faith.”
“Oh. Gee. In that case, I apologize. Should have kept my mouth shut. Have a nice day.”