[thephyber]

Wow. Your projection of my opinions / morals is pretty telling.

My statements were about the legal current state of things, not how they _should_ be. The grandparent comment was not arguing ethics, but what “cannot” be done, hence I didn’t discuss ethics/morals.

The state only exists _because_ individuals can’t do everything on their own. The state forces people to pay taxes, forces people into cages when they violate criminal laws, forces young men into the military during times of war, etc. Yes, the state (in practice, and likely should) force people to take significant interventions to prevent deadly contagious diseases. There is an argument to be had about whether COVID-19 qualifies or whether specific interventions should be mandated for this particular disease, but this intervention follows directly from state efforts to mitigate the harm of Smallpox, Polio, Influenza, etc.

My comment did not state that _I_ have suffered. It was a comment about the society that I live in and therefore the social contract that we have with the government.