Freedom
“Your freedom ends where my nose begins” has its historical origin in Abraham Lincoln’s quote that “my right to swing my fist ends where your nose begins.”
Freedom is the right to do one’s duty, not a right to do as one pleases.
n other words, freedom is not an elective by the individual to decide what, when, or where to undertake their pleasures, wants, needs or desires. Individual freedom is restrained by the rule of law—a duty to obey laws that restrict or require certain kinds of behavior.
An unidentified New York barber believed, like many others, that he had a personal freedom right to openly defy the state’s “stay-at-home” order issued by Gov. Andrew Cuomo during the pandemic crisis. Under the governor’s “New York Pause” policy, barbershops, beauty and nail salons, and “other personal hygiene” services were ordered to close to staunch the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
Gov. Cuomo and the national media recently reported that this unidentified barber has tested positive for the Covid virus and has infected at least a dozen of his customers.
There is a boat load of civil negligence involved in this barber incident.
The barber was negligent by keeping his shop open in defiance of the stay-at-home order and the twelve customers bear responsibility for what is known as “contributory negligence.” They contributed to the barber’s negligence by entering the shop for a haircut knowing that it was opened in defiance of an executive order that it be closed.
A civil jury I’m sure will ultimately decide what degree of negligence all the parties are responsible for—and based the measure of liability on the percentage of negligence involved.
In a legal context, the unidentified barber can be charged if any of his infected customers die from the Covid virus with involuntary manslaughter under New York law. Involuntary manslaughter is a homicide caused by the recklessness of another.
The unidentified barber recklessly infected 12 people with the Covid virus. If he survives, he should be indicted, prosecuted, and jailed and/or fined. He should be forced to relinquish his barber’s license.
Business owners like the unidentified barber operate much with the same mentality as auto manufacturers and the tobacco industry that produce dangerous product: profits from their flawed products will generate enough bottom-line money to cover the costs of any liability those products may incur because of their flaws. Put simply, profit before people.
What the profit-before-people mindset fails to consider, much less care about, is that freedom of society to be safe from harm caused by reckless individuals or mass producers is supported by a state-imposed rule of law that exceeds the freedom to do business in an open economy. This freedom is more commonly known as “product safety” which is protected by a host of “consumer protection” laws.
Right now the reopen the economy folks are welcoming consumers into their bars, restaurants, and “beauty” salons—all of which make people feel good, look good (I know that is debatable in some cases), and express happy talk. As the song says, “there’s no place I rather be than right here with my red neck, white socks and Blue Ribbon beer.”
Most of these folks will have a good time this summer making and spending money—so much so that they will not see old Grim Reaper in the corner whispering to this Comrade down below, “Oh, yeah, I got your number, motherf****r … my Man downstairs got the coal fires waiting for you stupid ass.”
And the Grim Reaper, who doesn’t mind working overtime, will come calling this fall to fulfill the prophecy that this winter will be the “darkest in modern history.”
And it will be grandma and grandpa, or momma and daddy, who will pay the price for this wide open, unchecked, unmanaged experiment in social stupidity.
But, by all means, “let freedom ring!”