Groupthink has never been a hallmark of the USA.
People
can do what they want here.
That's why people like coming here and why I love visiting other places. Sometimes the best part about visiting other places is knowing I get to come home. I think this country is pretty great.
Now - if you're in the military - it's different. That's more the point of the thread, but far be it for me to say I haven't ever caused a thread to run astray. Hoo boy, I do it all the time. It's sort of a hobby.
Well, our country is indeed awesome and our freedoms are generally unmatched. Your statement that "people
can do what they want here" though is only true to a point.
There are many laws and regulations that would be deemed "groupthink" that are at odds with your statement and/or the "I can do what I want no matter what" attitude, or some people's views of the U.S. Constitution: speeding, taxes, seat belts, motorcycle helmets, vaccinations for public school attendance or work, passports, selective service registration, facial recognition, driving under the influence, limits on "religious" practices (polygamy, peyote, etc.), outright polygamy bans, political contribution limits, hate speech restrictions, prosecution for storming the Capitol, driver's licenses, statutory rape, yelling "fire" in a crowded theater....and the list goes on and on.
Likewise, if you contract Typhus, nobody says that you need to be treated like Typhoid Mary, but the public health threat would be real and dealt with accordingly - for the greater good. The Supreme Court already dealt with all of these arguments in
Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905) when it came to a mandatory smallpox vaccination:
"The possession and enjoyment of all rights are subject to such reasonable conditions as may be deemed by the governing authority of the country essential to the safety, health, peace, good order and morals of the community. Even liberty itself, the greatest of all rights, is not unrestricted license to act according to one's own will. It is only freedom from restraint under conditions essential to the equal enjoyment of the same right by others. It is then liberty regulated by law."
_________
"Smallpox is known of all to be a dangerous and contagious disease. If vaccination strongly tends to prevent the transmission or spread of this disease, it logically follows that children may be refused admission to the public schools until they have been vaccinated. The appellant claims that vaccination does not tend to prevent smallpox, but tends to bring about other diseases, and that it does much harm, with no good.
It must be conceded that some laymen, both learned and unlearned, and some physicians of great skill and repute, do not believe that vaccination is a preventive of smallpox. The common belief, however, is that it has a decided tendency to prevent the spread of this fearful disease and to render it less dangerous to those who contract it. While not accepted by all, it is accepted by the mass of the people, as well as by most members of the medical profession. It has been general in our State and in most civilized nations for generations. It is generally accepted in theory and generally applied in practice, both by the voluntary action of the people and in obedience to the command of law. Nearly every State of the Union has statutes to encourage, or directly or indirectly to require, vaccination, and this is true of most nations of Europe."
A common belief, like common knowledge, does not require evidence to establish its existence, but may be acted upon without proof by the legislature and the courts."
Pretty simple. Freedom isn't free, and the minority medical view will not carry the day vs. the greater good.
Well, you aren't my doctor so it's hard to argue that point. The beauty of America is being able to determine what we do with our own bodies. I am not anti-vaccine. I received what my doctor recommended. But I had the choice to do so. I think that's important.
Again, not entirely correct. Immunizations for school and/or work, abortion availability/restrictions (or bans), illegal drugs, suicide being illegal in most states, public nudity/indecent exposure bans, blood alcohol/limits while driving, prostitution....gain, it goes on and on as to what you "
can't do with your own body."
This scenario is no different.
After all, Mr. Spock was right: "Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
. And yes it still AM in my local but after reading this thread on top of the constant barrage of negative news regarding this dreaded sickness has driven me to this state.... Besides it is five oclock somewhere 
