[ExI] you'll never see this again

Fri Jul 3 18:42:54 UTC 2020

From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of SR Ballard via extropy-chat
Subject: Re: [ExI] you'll never see this again

>…The governor maybe doesn’t have the “right” but he will have the PoPo fine you $250, so that’s whatever…

This has been a major point of contention, for some local constabularies handed out 50 dollar fines to businesses refusing to close, but they don’t actually have the right to collect it.  The court will likely throw those out should the business owners decide to contest them.

State governors can do a lot of things, but they cannot order citizens to wear masks, for governors do not make law.  State legislatures make law.  I haven’t heard the Texas legislature did so.

>…And uh, amandment 10 says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” 

That’s right.  The powers to demand masks are nowhere to be found in the enumerated powers.

>…Soooo, I think that means the governor (you know, in charge of a State) can mandate masks because I don’t think the state is forbidden from making sure people don’t kill each other... no one ever seemed to think TB quarantine was unconstitutional…

Quarantines ARE constitutional.  They have held up under judicial test.  The demand by a governor to wear a mask is not constitutional because there isn’t a law passed by the TX legislature mandating that.  

>…States are not prohibited to order masks…

But they didn’t.  The legislature never passed any laws on that.  Governors are not legislatures.

>>…are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

>…So either the State can mandate masks, or individuals can. What’s the issue?

Individuals can mandate they put a mask on themselves.  You may not mandate that anyone else does.  You may refuse to allow people in your home or your business without a mask.

>…Emergency declarations trump the actual laws passed by legislative bodies because these legislative bodies passed laws stating that was the case. So technically there are laws which allow the governor to mandate this by fiat. And he did. So here we are…

The emergency declarations do not give the states the right to dictate anything they want.  Emergency declarations allow states to free up funds allocated to other purposes.  California did that.  They still do not have the authority to dictate wearing of masks in general.  They can compel businesses to not allow entry by non-mask wearers.  Of course that doesn’t apply to outdoors.

>…Personally I find the US political situation to be unsalvageable. So I try not to worry about it and make myself ill. 

SR Ballard

I see it as salvageable, for the system did exactly as it was designed: it prevented governments from seizing power in response to a crisis.  This particular crisis is notable in that the governments at all levels failed to prevent covid in every country in the world, in every state, in every city.  Everywhere has it now, in every form of government.  

The critical lesson is to depend on personal accountability and responsibility to our fellow humans rather than governments to protect us.

spike

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