Again, this is not to say that Abbott’s opposition to mandates is entirely insincere. There is a clear strain of rhetoric about vaccinations in particular that holds that people can choose to put themselves in harm’s way if they wish. But this is a sort of bizarro form of personal responsibility akin less to making seat-belt-wearing optional than to making it optional to know how to drive before getting behind the wheel of a car. If you don’t wear a seat belt, you put yourself at risk. If you don’t know how to drive, you put others at risk — including those who are wearing their seat belts.

Source: Washington Post August 10, 2021 14:27 UTC