When Personal Choice Gets Impersonal

​Yesterday, I wrote about Lisa Boothe at “Fox News” and some of the comments she was making on social media, including her bizarrely wondering why a “healthy person” would benefit from taking the vaccine and also about her support of “Personal Choice” that “it should be up to each individual American to decide what makes the most sense for them.”

After posting that article, I felt something was missing.  The idea of “Personal Choice” in the midst of a worldwide pandemic that has so far killed four million people (and “only” that because thankfully vaccines were finally developed) is an underlying argument of the unvaccinated far-right that sounds so touchy-feeling good and pseudo-freedom patriotic, but is really empty, problematic and selfish.

So, I want to go a bit further with this.

I’ve grown weary of the idea that getting vaccinated is just a “Personal Choice.”  Of course it is a “Personal Choice.”  But that’s not the end of the sentence.  Saying this is “Personal Choice” and stopping there is like saying “I could shoot you right now” – and leaving out, “But it would be horrific, criminal and it’s something I would never do or even consider because the thought sickens me.”

Yes, whether to get vaccinated is a personal choice, but it is not only a “Personal Choice,” because it is also a social responsibility since the coronavirus is an infectious disease that spreads to others and brings society to a crushing and crashing halt, destroying businesses, economies and lives.

We have the personal choice whether or not to smoke in a small, enclosed room, but others in that room will have to breathe your second-hand smoke which is even more dangerous than what you inhale.  So, most reasonable people ask, “Do you mind if I smoke?”

We have the personal choice whether or not to call 9-1-1 if we see someone collapse to the ground with a heart attack, but not wanting to get involved  and walking away means that person will probably die.  So, most reasonable people make the call, immediately.

We have a personal choice whether or not to drive at night in sunglasses and accept the consequences.  But if crash, you will likely kill others, people who did not make the personal choice to die that day.  (“Yes, but that’s not safe,” someone may insist.  True, and neither is not getting vaccinated.)  So, most reasonable people drive with clear vision.

We have all manner of personal choices we can make on pretty much most things we do, especially when they impact only us.  We even have personal choices whether or not to do things that negatively impact others or hurt them.  And if our personal choice does hurt others, we don’t get a Free Pass or a “Get out of jail” card by saying, “Well, it was my Personal Choice.”  And everyone then says, oh, yeah, okay, you’re right, no problem, carry on.  No, often, if not usually, you’ll be criticized for hurting others through your selfishness.  Unless you express how badly you feel, that it came down to a tough decision, and you wish no one got hurt by it, and you’re so sorry for that, but it was your personal choice and in the end something you felt was what you had to do.  People might grumble – or not – but they’d likely understand your reason.  But without that, just “Hey, it was my Personal Choice.  And if it hurt others, hey, so be it,” will usually get most people to avoid you – as a personal choice, or out of self preservation.

For that matter, we even have personal choices whether or not to do things that are illegal and hurt others.  Yes, they’re illegal, but they’re still also a “Personal Choice.”

If a person is scared of the vaccine or scared of needles, I understand that.  And it’s a fair reason -- and a possibly surmountable one.  But that’s different from just saying, “It’s everyone’s personal choice,” as if you simply don’t care for rhubarb pie or musicals. That’s not just a decision made of “Personal Choice,” it’s a matter of fear, which can hopefully get addressed in several ways.

So, saying that something was a “Personal Choice” as a panacea to salve all our decisions, no matter of hurtful to others just doesn’t ever fly.  Because it’s not the end of the sentence.  We don’t live in a vacuum.  It’s one thing to live by our personal choices and accept the consequences.  It’s another to ignore that others often have to live by our personal choices, as well – including those that can kill them.

Personal choices are important in life.  What also important is understanding that personal choice don’t remove responsibility to others from our actions.