Covid Mandates, Civil Disobedience, and where to get the Proper Information
By Bob Branco
January 9, 2022
While my wife and I were at a Boston Bruins hockey game the other day, we were told by ushers and security officers that we had to produce vaccination cards as well as proof of our identities. It was also mandated that we keep our masks on throughout the game unless we were eating or drinking. Despite this strict mandate, which I assume came from the Mayor of Boston, a large percentage of the people at the stadium did not wear a mask. So, what else is new? Another mask mandate was not enforced. However, I am finally getting the picture. If there are too many people disobeying the mandate, how can there be enough law enforcement to reprimand everybody? Hundreds of people are not abiding by the rules. Would this be considered an act of civil disobedience? What else can I call it?
When I tried pointing this out to a friend of mine, he implied that I was overthinking the situation. He believes that hundreds of people disobeying a mask mandate compares with a lot of people smoking pot, or committing murder. My point is that the disobedience of the mask mandate happened in one location, indicating to law enforcement that there might be too much to control all at once. Regarding murder, it’s not as if hundreds of people are killing one another at a hockey stadium to the point where there isn’t enough police presence to control everybody.
Here is the unfortunate reality. Most mandates are not working. Should they work? Of course they should. However, how can you insure them to be completely effective if half of society doesn’t cooperate? Can you imagine if half the citizens of the United States did not wear seat belts? There isn’t enough law enforcement to control this amount of rebellion. This goes back to civil disobedience, which is what this is.
The Mayor of my city, New Bedford, Massachusetts, was asked by a radio talk show host why he believes that there are too many unvaccinated people in his city. He did not hesitate to answer the question. I will paraphrase his response. He implied that it was all about politics, reputation, and the interpretation of the area that we live in. I believe that. However, many people also turn to social media and the internet for information about vaccines. In my opinion, these are not the most appropriate sources of information. When it comes to vaccines or any other form of medication recommended to us, it is always a good idea to turn to our doctors or other medical providers for the information necessary to help us make the right decisions. These are the resources that know what’s best for us, not the media, not Twitter, not Facebook, and not people with political bias.
