Do the right thing. That was Mr. Henricksen’s main point in his latest op-ed. I agree. Do the right thing for you. Do what you believe is right, not what others, especially the government, say is right. 

What is the right thing, respective to the COVID-19 pandemic, to do? Well, for starters, perhaps don’t write to the Mid Hudson Times that someone pulled a position out of their nether regions. I don’t know who that was aimed at but it sounds like a personal attack, and we all know Mr. Henricksen doesn’t like personal attacks. I certainly never said COVID was a hoax, only that we have progressed to a point where we don’t need restrictive measures. 

The right thing to do to stop the spread is up to you. Do you want to wear a mask? Go ahead! Do you want to receive the vaccine? Great! Go ahead! You want the booster, too? Fine by me! You can also choose to social distance and avoid crowds if you so desire. That’s the beauty of Libertarianism: we believe the choice should be yours. You are free to do whatever you want, so long as you do not hurt people or their property.

Some may argue that we shouldn’t have these choices, that we need to be forced to mask up or get vaccinated, lest we expose others to COVID and kill them. Such arguments carry little logic. Mr. Henricksen wants to look at the science, so let’s look at the science. Even unvaccinated infected individuals have a survival rate of over 99 percent. That number decreases to around 97 percent for elderly, obese and immunocomprised patients. Mr. Henricksen is correct that the vaccine is helpful in preventing severe infection and death, but refusing the vaccine isn’t exactly akin to running red lights. Many people survive with few if any symptoms. This is not the Black Death, so we don’t need any mandates or restrictions. 

This Libertarian blames the “strong concerned leaders” because they’re not concerned with our well-being. They’re not at their wits end trying to help people do the right thing, they’re at their wits end trying to get people to bow before their whips. Government hasn’t been following any science, it has been bumbling and fumbling its way through the pandemic with disastrous consequences. Mr. Henricksen says this is a medical issue, not a political one. I wish he was right, but alas, COVID became a political issue when states shut down their economies and forced small businesses to close while letting big box stores remain open (which the science says didn’t work at all), governors decided whose jobs were essential and who was and wasn’t allowed to work, kids’ education was wrecked by switching to remote schooling, and $50 TRILLION was transferred from the middle and lower classes to the very richest among us. That is why I balk at these very real mandates. These shenanigans by the State are about anything but health!