I hear you, Al, but your concept is flawed.
I recall once reading a member of this forum at one time saying that he had the right to choose to smoke stogies on the line. I asked that if I believe that my rights to a smoke free environment were contravened by his actions, would he approve me throwing a bucket of water on his cigar.
Cooperation - it's an element of civilization.
And here we are in agreement....and to me, YES, if the guy takes the choice to inflict smoke on you against your will then, you can inflict the bucket on him. I'm a great believer in and vocal proponent of "live and let live" ..... in privacy. But the line STOPS when you're affecting someone else. Here on the left coast, in my area it's legal to defecate in public, use and drop needles in public, smoke a doober in public or go "clothing optional" ....
But they're trying hard to stop people from going to the hardware store for some paint or a new door hannle so's they can catch up on some honey-do's while "sheltering in place."
California has a governor who truly believes he has the right and the authority to make the whole state stay home. The people with the best judgement, those of us who've ALWAYS washed our hands, taught our young to use a tissue to turn the faucet or open the door in the public restroom, touch nothing in public, wear the little plastic disposable glove while fueling our vehicles, cough into our sleeves, shower and change clothes after mingling, etc etc ...... are being restricted
I grew up in an era where people smoked on airplanes. And I'm still a social smoker. But I absolutely do not believe I have any "right" to inflict my smoke on others. The line stops when others are affected. Luckily for me, I'm ONLY a social smoker and as such I never have to look over my shoulder...But, even though it's not actually "against the law" I do not believe I nor anyone else has a "right" to yell "FIRE" in a crowded theater.... even though it's legal, it's completely against social mores and social convention.
The kicker lies in the verbiage, and in the enforcement. I'm a big proponent of changing societal behavior, teach and help each other during the down time so that proper behavior becomes the norm thru these moments of incidental crises.
We had a great tragedy last week in our church community. I've got friends staying right now, in my home who flew in from 2000mi. We had a funeral Wed that under normal conditions would have been attended by 1000 people. Our social 'limit' here is 50 people right now. This 50 people didn't even cover family... but in respect of the community mandates people set 2 or 3 to a pew, two pews apart. And limited the attendees to 50
The roads around the church were lined with people and flowers, 6' apart, and there are pictures in all the papers.
Contrary to popular belief, we ARE a very polite and respectful society, very civilized....... and we'll rally whole-heartedly around any well-presented "good cause."
But unfortunately, IMO the crassest of us are trying to make policy for the masses and making a bollix of it.
I'll always choose educated response over knee-jerk reaction and it is my belief that this whole thing is being over-blown for societally destructive reasons. By the same folks who've brought us to that point where if I tell someone "hey, go put some clothes on" I'm the one getting in trouble with the law.
And my belief is that society benefits from folks being reminded, not told. Explained to, not preached at.
Generally speaking, I believe WE ALL want to "do the right thing"..... but we will always disagree somewhat as to what IS "the right thing.".... and that this is a basic tenet of a free society. So we group up, we campaign, we vote in folks who will "speak for us" by proxy. The collective will of the people will generally out.
I furthermore believe that These United States of America and our US Ethic are still working perfectly well...... we have voted in those folks who are now telling us what to do.
MY rant, MY focus, MY WHOLE EFFORT is simply to point out that we're in many cases handling this situation very poorly. We're buying into the over-reaction. But also, that we have brought it upon ourselves..... so PUH-LEEZE PEOPLE! "Can we learn from this?"
For next time?
Because there will always be a next time...