{"id":1594,"date":"2021-08-31T12:41:18","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T12:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowhill.net\/blog\/?p=1594"},"modified":"2021-08-31T12:41:18","modified_gmt":"2021-08-31T12:41:18","slug":"is-kristi-noem-right-about-conservatism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowhill.net\/blog\/2021\/08\/31\/is-kristi-noem-right-about-conservatism\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Kristi Noem right about conservatism?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Conservative principles demand we restrain government:
\nPandemic tested how far politicians will go to use heavy-handed tactics to get their way<\/a> <\/p>\n

Noem is punching back against Republicans who are proposing laws to proscribe businesses from requiring a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment. <\/p>\n

Her article rings all the right bells. Constitutional conservatives should work to restrain government, and avoid using emergencies as an excuse to wield power. “[G]overnment is too big, and mandates are not a conservative tool in forcing the behavior of its citizens.” <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t believe that a business should require proof of vaccination to work there. … But my personal beliefs are irrelevant when it comes to the state\u2019s role in what a business may or may not choose to do. Government should not exercise its power to force a small business to agree with me. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That resonates with me, but there has to be a limit. At some point, a business’s rules may violate basic rights. For example, if a number of businesses started requiring their employees not to have children, it would be reasonable for Congress to outlaw that. (I’m not sure there would be any need to intervene if just a couple nutty companies did that.) <\/p>\n

I believe it’s possible for two Republicans to share the principle that government should not be throwing its weight around, requiring people to conform to their personal prejudices and opinions, but nevertheless disagree on where to draw that line. <\/p>\n

In this case, I agree with Noem. I think a business is within its rights to require employees to get vaccinated — especially in certain industries. For example, a coffee chain might consider such a mandate as a way of easing the fears of its potential customers. <\/p>\n

It doesn’t matter if I or anybody else personally agrees with that decision. The business owners have the freedom to choose who works for them, or what kind of cakes they’ll bake, or any number of other things, and it’s only when they trample on a basic human right that Congress should intervene. <\/p>\n

Of course that part is tricky as well. Is it a “basic human right” to decide whether or not to get a vaccine? Well … I’m not exactly sure. There are situations where governments should<\/i> mandate vaccines, and both federal and state governments have done it in the past. <\/p>\n

In 1905, the Court declared that the Massachusetts law [requiring a smallpox vaccine] did not violate the Constitution and affirmed that \u201cin every well-ordered society charged with the duty of conserving the safety of its members the rights of the individual in respect of his liberty may at times, under the pressure of great dangers, be subjected to such restraint.\u201d They also determined that mandatory vaccinations were neither arbitrary nor oppressive if they do not exceed what is \u201creasonably required for the safety of the public.\u201d (From The Long History of Mandated Vaccines in the United States<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Reasonable people can disagree over what is “reasonably required for the safety of the public.” Personally, I do not think COVID is such a danger that we should mandate a vaccine. I think people should get the vaccine,<\/b> but I would not mandate it. However, some other, more deadly ailment, is going to come along where mandatory vaccines will be appropriate. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Conservative principles demand we restrain government: Pandemic tested how far politicians will go to use heavy-handed tactics to get their way Noem is punching back against Republicans who are proposing laws to proscribe businesses from requiring a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment. Her article rings all the right bells. Constitutional conservatives should work … Continue reading “Is Kristi Noem right about conservatism?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1594"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/crowhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1595,"href":"https:\/\/crowhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1594\/revisions\/1595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}