Jamestown Post-Journal

Our Most Hated Word – ‘Mandate’

December 18, 2021

ROLLAND KIDDER

 There has been a lot in the press these days about how people don’t want to have a vaccine “mandate,” that whether or not one gets vaccinated against COVID is an individual choice and that the government should not require it.

It made me think of government “mandates” in general. Should, for example, the government mandate speed limits on highways? Why shouldn’t everyone be able to drive at whatever speed they want to? I would imagine that right after the automobile was invented, many people felt that way.

A similar argument was made when I was in the state legislature that the government should not force people to wear helmets when riding a motorcycle. “Let those who ride decide” was the slogan of the opposition. If people want to take on the risk of getting killed or maimed by not wearing a helmet, let them decide that.

The government response on both occasions was to “mandate” speed limits and helmet-wearing on motorcycles. The nub of the government’s argument was, of course, “public safety” which has been a part of what governments have done since ad infinitum. In the case of the helmet law, there was also a strong case made that unhelmeted motorcycle riders who had accidents, substantially drove up the cost of health and hospital care–much of which ends up in the government’s lap.

When you think about it, there are a lot of “mandates” out there. What about the requirement that kids attend school? What about the requirement that when they do, they must be vaccinated for diseases like small pox, measles and polio?

There is another mandate that we don’t hear about any more–the draft. Yet, last I knew all young men reaching the age of 18 are still required to register for the draft. If our country ever did get into a major war again, should we continue the draft mandate or let people opt out of it? Opting out is another way of avoiding a mandate.

Perhaps the greatest government mandate of all, is the requirement that we pay our taxes. Should people be allowed to say “No” when their tax bill comes in the mail?

It is true that sometimes mandates are hard to enforce. Not so many years ago, the County passed a law limiting smoking in indoor spaces. Initially, it was hard to enforce, but today most people have accepted it as a way to improve health outcomes by limiting exposure to second-hand smoke.

Maybe it would be best to get away altogether from the word “mandate” and find another word. What about the words “common enterprise?” When society finds itself with a real problem that needs to be addressed, maybe we should have a discussion on whether or not a “common enterprise” which applies to all citizens is an appropriate response.

However you approach it, the issue revolves around government being a vehicle to provide common, civic engagement on matters that need to be resolved. “Mandate” is a very negative word. Maybe we need to rethink things in a more positive way.

The Matter of Race in American History

There is a new buzz-word being foisted upon us by the far right called “Critical Race Theory.”  The underlying assumption is that there is some kind of conspiracy to brain-wash our kids as to how race is taught in the schools.

In that regard, I found helpful a recent article written by Michael Gerson.  Gerson is someone I would call an “old-school” Republican.  He served in the White House (pre-Trump) during the Presidency of George W. Bush.   What also links me to Gerson a bit, is that we both went to small, Christian liberal arts colleges.  He graduated from Wheaton College in Illinois, and I went to Houghton College here in western New York.

I am not sure what Gerson studied in college, but I majored in history.   The school I attended was founded by the Wesleyan Methodist Church, an off-shoot of Methodism which had advocated the abolishment of slavery in the United States.   The matter of race being part of our federal Constitution, I don’t believe, has ever been questioned.  The 3/5ths compromise where black slaves were counted as 3/5ths of a person for apportioning representation in the House of Representatives, was in the original Constitution.  It was a “compromise” which legitimized slavery and without which a consensus would probably never have been reached between North and South to form a United States in the first place.  Ultimately, it would take a Civil War to settle the question, emancipate the slaves and eliminate the 3/5ths policy of counting citizens.

Gerson’s recent article focused on the debate and thinking of two men very involved in the abolitionist cause back then:  William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass.  Both men started out believing that the 3/5ths clause legitimizing slavery in the country made the Constitution an evil instrument “dripping in blood.”

“Interpreted as it ought to be interpreted,” he said, “the Constitution is a glorious liberty document.”

However, as the Civil War went on, Douglass changed his mind.  “Interpreted as it ought to be interpreted,” he said, “the Constitution is a glorious liberty document.”

Gerson ended his article with these words:  “Douglass remains the model for dealing with racism—in his righteous anger at systematic corruption in the American experiment, and in his belief in the redeeming power of American ideals and institutions.  A sound education will cultivate both.”

The only thing I might add to Gerson’s analysis is to remember again a methodology I was taught in college—study history and listen to the facts and lessons it teaches.   The inequities which were written into the original Constitution brought the country ultimately into Civil War—an estimated 600,000 Americans died in the fighting, the forces in the North prevailed, the Union was saved, and President Lincoln got the 13^th Amendment passed abolishing slavery.

The residue and legacy of slavery lingers on, and Americans continue to struggle with it.  “Racism” is a word that is harsh and divides, so is a term I don’t like using.  Nevertheless, a discussion of race, how it defined slavery, and the history of how all of this has played out in the American experience is part of who we are.  It is not a “theory” to be taught but a history to be studied and understood.

Rolland Kidder