Society

In a 6-3 decision, the highest court has called out the out-of-control agency that has been imposing itself on all aspects of American life for this past year. The majority opinion makes for fascinating reading, if only because the author or authors (the opinion is unsigned) expresses genuine alarm at the same reality that has wrecked the lives of billions of people all over the world. Our basic rights and liberties have been trampled on by states presuming no limits on their powers, and there has heretofore been very little in the way of judicial resistance. 

There really must not be a living soul around who believes that these sheets of clear plastic, sitting on every surface and hanging from ceilings in retail environments all over the country, really protect anyone from the coronavirus. Surely not. 

Refusal to admit failure is costing us dearly right now, as they added layer upon layer of compulsion as a cover for honestly coming to terms with the appalling mess of the last 18 months.

The answer is not fear, not segregation, not lockdowns, not the imposition of medieval rules and castes. The answer is freedom and human rights. Somehow those institutions served us well over many hundreds of years, during which time the human population has mixed ever more, and has grown ever healthier with longer lives.

The ideal of the common good, inseparable from the ideal of freedom, has a noble heritage. It is worth recapturing before we find ourselves in endless cycles of tribal warfare, now even in the name of public health.