Letter: Mandating healthy habits will breed resentment, rebellion

The real slam to logic regarding COVID-19 masking is that many folks wear masks and then do not follow through on any other methods, measures or techniques to enhance safety.

They “mask up,” walk out and go about their business, assuming a mask or Joe Biden's decree, "I'll keep you safe" will scare the virus and make it pack its bags and run home crying to mama....or China.

Disease prevention a total package. You gotta do it all if you're serious. And you gotta teach the kids and with follow up to enforce it. And while we're at it, do the same for all other illnesses. Stuff like, stay home if you're sick and keep your kids home if they are sick are not mind bogglers to figure out.  

Government mandates/legislation will not save anyone. As we educate, we reduce the lust to legislate. Legislating a healthy lifestyle is an act that causes resentment. And resentment inevitably leads to rebellion.  

I think it's odd that we as Americans can allow our political process to spend in excess of $14 billion on elections in 2020 (figures from Opensecrets.org) and yet cannot seem to scrape up enough money to pay for redundant ads to teach people the what’s and why’s of self-protection regarding this invisible intruder that seeks to indiscriminately destroy us.

Force feeding anything through legislation is unwise and has a proven track record for failure. Educate, don't legislate. And then let people find the right way to choose the right thing(s). Behavior that causes resentment is just as much a killer as the disease itself. We need to stop that knee-jerk tendency that declares, "There ought to be a law."

Brian Brown

Hill Point