At last night’s May 4th Salem, New Hampshire Select board meeting board secretary James Keller is reportedly fed up. According to the scuttlebutt, he is tired of people not caring if he dies (from the Coronavirus) and has proposed a fine for anyone who is out in public without a mask.
Related: Why liberty?
From Facebook.
Let’s put the logistics and rhetoric aside, along with the fact that this is a stupid idea and probably not even actionable and get to a much more critical point. It is at the center of the entire debate and something I had a conversation with someone about yesterday.
My position is clear on this, but I was asked, what if your dad was alive and living with you? He’d be 97-years old. Would you approach this differently? I said yes, but no.
I would take it upon myself to take additional precautions. I would ask any family living with us to do the same. But even if it were my life at risk (and I am high risk but not 97-years-old high), I would never demand anyone else give up working or close their business or change their lives to improve my odds of surviving.
I certainly would not ask a town, county, state, or nation to do it.
The responsibility is mine, not theirs, and I have no right to punish them for that. And if it means I might get very ill or even die, so be it. Liberty is far more fragile than human life. If you are unwilling to give of yourself to protect it, then you do not deserve it.
Put another way, assuming all of this is true and the quote is accurate, while I do not wish injury, illness, or death upon anyone, James Keller is behaving like a selfish prick. (Add the Deputy Chief and it sounds like Selectman Lyons as well – though I can’t quite pin him in this context. We are looking for a transcript or video.)
Using the office of the selectman to impose punishments on others (many of whom may be out of work or have had their businesses closed by the State), so they don’t harm his life makes him a tyrannical selfish prick.
The rights of individuals, business owners, their employees, and the people of Salem are far more important than you. So, stop punishing them (or even considering it) because of matters that you can resolve personally by quarantining yourself.
And while you could say that what you meant to say is that as a selectman, your concern is for the people of Salem, the same rules apply. You must explain the risks and options as you understand them. And perhaps to make arrangements for people in the care of the town of Salem for whom there is no one else.
And I get it. You have folks from Massachusetts coming up into town. From places that are, I guess we could call them hot spots. And that presents a problem, but your role is as an educator, not an enforcer.
You are not empowered to define essential and nonessential businesses or professions unemploying some arbitrarily, but not others (Gov. Sununu), nor are the people required to take your suggestions.
You can ask them to wear a mask, but the research goes both ways on that. Regardless, you do not quarantine the healthy, you isolate the sick out of need and educate those at risk so they can decide how to proceed.
This whole mess has gotten out of hand, and we should blame ourselves for allowing it, but there is a silver lining. It has provided an opportunity to see who among us is more inclined toward petty despotism.
Voters, pay close attention, and act accordingly.
