I agree. I am vaccinated and boosted and take lots of precautions voluntarily, but when I tell people that I don’t support mandatory vaccines (or coercion by th

I agree. I am vaccinated and boosted and take lots of precautions voluntarily, but when I tell people that I don’t support mandatory vaccines (or coercion by threatening employment) or lockdowns, I get shocked reactions and uncritical responses. Part of it is that there is a current political trend, particularly on the progressive/far-left, towards statism. Censorship, bans, mandates, and purity tests are increasingly common and not just in the government but private institutions as well. I get the feeling that many who support authoritarian responses to COVID favor statist controls and view these incremental changes as bolstering the legitimacy or normalization of that type of governance. The thing is, classically liberal societies are designed to accommodate disagreements and diversity of views among its people. We are all allowed, fundamentally, to perceive things differently and to value things differently. The system works when it makes room for that hyperlocal individual choice so this diversity of views can coexist. But when increasing amounts of statism result in a narrow political majority abusing their power against the rest (whether from the right or left), I think society is headed towards unrest and failure.