Our Founding Fathers drafted our Constitution more than 200 years ago with the purpose of protecting the people from a tyrannical government. Having lived under the rule of the British Crown, they understood how critical it was to ensure the rights of the people to maintain a democracy. The brilliance of their architecture lies in the Bill of Rights, as these 10 amendments serve as the cornerstone of American freedom.
However, in their brilliance, the Founding Fathers understood that these rights were not without limit. The truth is that the founding fathers prioritized the safety of our nation over the rights of the people, no matter how intrusive. By enforcing some form of vaccine and mask mandate, the United States is acting within the intended boundaries of the Founders' vision. Yet, despite the necessity, heavy backlash over these mandates has transpired all over the country, including our Imperial Valley. People have protested these mandates, citing the importance of individual choice. The danger arises when individual choice becomes a consequence, a consequence that costs the lives of thousands daily, something that our Founding Fathers intended to avoid at all costs.
Vaccine mandates have clear and established precedent, as the earliest recording of a vaccine mandate was ordered by none other than our first president, George Washington. During the Revolutionary war, the Continental Army was facing severe casualties from Variola (smallpox). As a result, Washington ordered a doctor to inoculate all his men coming through Philadelphia at the time, writing, "Necessity not only authorizes but seems to require the measure…."
The Supreme Court has also agreed with this rationale, most notably in the case of Jacobson v Massachusetts (1905), where the constitutionality of a state enacting a vaccine mandate for smallpox was questioned. The court held that "The liberty secured by the Constitution of the United States does not import an absolute right in each person to be at all times, and in all circumstances, wholly freed from restraint…. It is within the police power of a state to enact a compulsory vaccination law." Such ruling is indicative of a constitution that allows broad powers to the state to fend off national threats, similar to when our nation is at war against a foreign enemy.
We are at war, not with a foreign enemy, but with a disease. The solution is a vaccine. The vaccine works: Findings from Yale show the vaccines to be up to 95 percent efficient (depending on which vaccine). Ninety-five percent is not 100 percent, and there are still risks of a breakthrough even with vaccination. Even so, refusing to get vaccinated would be like refusing to wear a parachute before jumping off a plane because there is a possibility of a parachute malfunction.
Although many would cite that there are plenty of other leading causes of death in the United States, such as heart conditions or diabetes, it is important to remember that the biggest difference is the chance of contagion. This disease spreads at such a rate that would put others at risk, and the only way to combat this would be through mass vaccination.
We must look around and ask ourselves, to what end? Do the protests on mandates really help protect our rights? Frankly, those rights were never there in the first place. Vaccine mandates are imperative; they are not for your sake but for the sake of others. If not for yourself, do it for your country. Do it for your neighbors. Most importantly, do it for your loved ones.
Yomar Aguilar is an Imperial Valley resident and a student at Imperial Valley College.
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October 24, 2021 at 02:30PM
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