Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by hluska 2129 days ago
I don’t recall reading anything about freedom to make unbelievably stupid, selfish decisions in the US constitution.
1 comments

It's mentioned about 30 times. Ctrl+F "vote"
Joke aside, I’m serious. How is throwing big parties in the middle of a pandemic a’freedom’ issue?? The house was warned many times and now they’re facing a reasonable repercussion.
Because your right to stay free from Covid, requires people to behave in a certain way (masks, social distancing) which is at odds with the right to self determination. Sure, it's stupid, but people should be allowed to make stupid decisions for themselves. Not saying I agree but I definitely see the freedom issue.
A court in Florida disagreed, finding that Americans “don’t have a constitutional right to infect others.”

Here is the full text of the decision - it’s a very interesting read on both sides of the argument:

https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1142/5020...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-determination

Maybe I don’t understand what self-determination means, but wearing a mask and keeping 6 ft of distance from another person, does not prevent one from participating in government.

I am waiting for people to advocate their free speech rights are being violated for not being allowed to yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater.

We also have hate laws that restrict what I can say against people. Or slander laws. I can’t just go tell lies about someone and claim free speech. Well you could but risk being sued.