With the hysteria over COVID-19 increasing daily, a growing number of individuals around the world are demanding that governments do more to stop the pandemic. Many governments are responding by quarantining those who test positive for the virus. Italy has suspended all sporting events until April 3. While these measures may make some people feel safer, they pose a much greater threat than COVID-19 ever will.
Government is an agency of force. Everything it does is ultimately enforced with the seizure of property, jail, or both. When governments “do something” about a pandemic, it means using force against individuals who have violated nobody’s rights. It means punishing individuals who have done nothing wrong.
If government officials can confine–i.e., quarantine–individuals because they allegedly pose a threat to the “public health,” then what is to stop those officials from confining anyone they deem a threat to “the public”? In principle, there is nothing to stop government officials from confining those who advocate ideas that they consider threatening.
If government officials can ban large gatherings in order to prevent the spread of a disease, what is to stop them from banning large gatherings to prevent the spread of ideas? In principle, there is nothing to stop them.
Governments often use crises, whether real or imagined, as a justification to expand their powers and control over the citizenry. And the citizenry often welcomes those measures because “something” is being done.
But as Benjamin Franklin noted, those who would sacrifice liberty in order to gain security deserve neither. Without liberty, we are at the mercy of government officials. Without liberty, we cannot live as we choose, but only as government officials permit.
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