Mask and such

A commentator on the news said of the Governor of Texas, "when the governor said you don't have to wear a mask, he is shifting responsibility to the individual". There is much to be gleaned from that statement. The implication is that there is something wrong about an individual deciding for himself how he should deal with the mask. The speaker infers that the governor is more capable of determining how the citizen should behave than the citizen himself. This same argument has been made regarding wearing helmets, diet and overweight, smoking and many other risky behaviors that people seem to delight in. These things effect not only the person but others who are not involved. It is well known that life styles represent the biggest health risk and the cost associated with these risk are shared by others who may be following a healthy life style. In a free country the citizens must decide how much individual control they want to give over to the government and there will be many opinions. The solution is to have open discussions that reach conclusions that most can be comfortable with but once again politics gets in the way and people close their minds and choose sides.