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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Stathis Papaioannou via extropy-chat<br><br><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>That's the whataboutism fallacy. And my original point, which I will repeat, was that EVEN IF it could be shown that mask and vaccine mandates could save lives, there are those who would not comply. That is, even if they agree in some future epidemic that wearing a mask might reduce the spread and save lives, they think their God-given (or wherever they believe it comes from) right to do as they please should not be overruled. <o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><br>-- <o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>Stathis Papaioannou<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>So if they have god-given rights, why keep going back to the notion that government can overrule that? Does the government outrank their god? <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>This was a huge problem from the start in the USA: the government tried to give itself additional authority beyond the enumerated powers. They tried to do that without a constitutional amendment. The courts slapped them down. The government doesn’t get extra powers in a pandemic. It does get extra powers if it declares war. This it did not do. So… they must stop trying to invent powers, or discover workarounds such as using OSHA to grab new powers.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Regarding people you mention who believe their god-given rights should not be overruled: their rights cannot legally be overruled. Stathis, it isn’t a should not, it is a cannot. There is no legal work-around other than a constitutional amendment. So… go to work on that. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>spike<o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div></body></html>