This afternoon, Harris County Judge Lina Hildago ordered the residents of the most populous county in Texas to wear face masks when in public. This wasn’t a suggestion of a proper precaution to take in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. It was an order. And violators will be subject to a $1,000 fine.
To those who refuse to wear a mask, Hildago remarked,
You can and will lead to death; we need to each take personal responsibility.
We have to use every tool in the toolbox. If we get complacent, people die.
Hildago conveniently ignores a number of facts.
- Those who are not infected with the coronavirus do not pose a threat to anyone. They will not cause anyone’s death. But Hildago wants us to believe that everyone who refuses to wear a mask is spreading the virus.
- Government has only one tool–guns. Hildago’s order will be enforced by people with guns. And those who are cited and convicted for the “crime” of not wearing a mask will have their property forcibly seized.
- Personal responsibility means personal choice. Hildago has removed personal choice by issuing an order than forces individuals to act as she deems best, regardless of an individual’s own judgment.
- Hildago’s order to shut down much of Houston’s economy is destroying more lives in Harris County alone than COVID-19 has killed in the entire world.
Making rational decisions requires one to consider the full context. It requires one to consider the alternatives, as well as the pros and cons of each. If one is a public official, one has a responsibility to explain the full context and the alternatives to the public. One has a responsibility to explain why one course of action was chosen over the alternatives.
Hildago has done none of this. She has issued orders, and she expects us to follow them. She expects us to slavishly bow at her command.
Freedom means being able to act on one’s own judgment, for better or worse. Free people don’t take orders. They will follow suggestions, from government or other institutions, when they deem those suggestions rational and appropriate. But they won’t take orders.
It remains to be seen whether the residents of Harris County regard themselves as free people or slaves.