The Harm Principle and the Pandemic

As Americans, we are afforded many freedoms and enjoy numerous individual liberties with one caveat; we are free to do as we please as long as our actions do not inflict harm on another person. As originally outlined as the “harm principle” by English philosopher John Stuart Mill in his 1859 essay “On Liberty,” the harm principle states “an individual’s action can be legitimately encroached upon if and only if that action might harm another individual.” In other words, a person is at liberty to swing their fist, but their liberty ends where another person’s nose begins.

Applying the harm principle to the ongoing pandemic, individuals who are refusing to get vaccinated and bemoaning federal and state mask mandates are misunderstanding where their civil liberties begin and end. The protection of an individual’s civil liberties ends when a person wants to participate in society but refuses to wear a mask or get vaccinated because these actions could lead to the spread of the coronavirus, causing other individuals direct harm.

Sadly, we no longer view our actions as impacting those around us. We only see partisan divides. Red vs. Blue. Republican vs. Democrat. Maskers vs. Anti-maskers. Vaxxers vs. Anti-vaxxers. It hasn’t always been this way.

During WWII, food rationing was implemented, and from 1942 until 1947 Americans obliged. Food…