Disorder and anarchy under the guise of freedom?

Edith Newton (“They’re removing our freedom to choose,” Oct. 12) spoke of the colonists coming to our country for the freedom to choose. She herself might not have had much freedom of choice back then. Colonists sought freedom only for white men and those of a certain class.

Be that as it may, what does freedom of choice mean? Say you are in a crowded situation with only one empty seat and that is right beside you, do I have the right to sit there if I have COVID? Well, yes; but would you want me to? Along with freedom of choice comes obligation to others. What follows are two such examples from our history:

On Feb. 5, 1777, George Washington ordered smallpox inoculations for all his troops because he knew that otherwise the military would be wiped out, not by the British but by disease. This massive undertaking changed the course of our history. He was not taking lives, he was saving lives.

And moving forward, in 1904 the Cambridge, Mass., Board of Health decided that all adults must be vaccinated for smallpox or pay a $5 fine. A minister challenged the penalty and his case went all the way to the Supreme Court, with the subsequent ruling that one man’s liberty cannot deprive others of their own, in this case allowing the spread of disease. Pastor Jacobson must follow the mandate.

“There are manifold restraints to which every person is necessarily subject for the common good,” read the majority opinion. “On any other basis, organized society could not exist with safety to its members. Society based on the rule that each one is a law unto himself would soon be confronted with disorder and anarchy.”

Is that what our country is experiencing now — disorder and anarchy under the guise of freedom? Hospitals are overflowing and with mostly unvaccinated patients, depriving others who gravely need admittance. COVID vaccines are ineffectual — unless utilized. — Ann Silver, Bakersfield