I don't draw a line. Maximize ethical treatment of the individual and you maximize ethical treatment of the populace.
And government is inherently about collectivizing and categorizing people. It doesn't handle individuals as such.
Hence my assertion that best a government can aspire to is that of a convenient sort of evil.
its the backlash and disrespect for experts doing their jobs to the best of their ability that's unethical.
But they weren't. The best of their ability would have been to say 'Wear a mask, social distance, don't gather in groups'. Instead we were told 'Wear a mask, social distance, don't gather in groups... or else'. That isn't well-intentioned advice. That is malice.
I don't see a doctor giving advice. I see a German doctor giving 'advice' while an SS officer stands behind him threatening me with a billy club.
you just drew a line... its an absolute individualist line. government being a convenient, and i'd add necessary, evil is a good way to put it but that doesn't excuse undermining it. opposing it is one thing but undermining it for the sake of undermining it is not ok.
We all undermine that which we find unjustified. That is how progress happens, as demonstrated most recently with marijuana fans. Legalization would never have started happening if people didn't undermine it first.
You and I switch sides of this argument on the subject of the Chauvin trial, I think.
i'd add necessary
Inevitable, at any rate. Police are a lesser evil than murderers and thieves.
depends on where you draw lines on what is ethical for the populace vs what is ethical for the individual. to me, the response has been ethical, its the backlash and disrespect for experts doing their jobs to the best of their ability that's unethical.