For the sake of the rule of law, we need to reform our constitutions into something we will actually follow. A mix of lofty and silly aspirations that nobody can take seriously is far worse than something less ambitious but precise.
I am 100% for a constitutional amendment that abridges the freedom of assembly in pandemics, provided that pandemics have a mathematical definition that is hard to abuse.
Honestly, for the US at least, the existing system is sloppy but workable.
* In times of crisis, the government abuses the Bill of Rights in a state of emergency
* People who feel sufficiently aggrieved can sue (once, y'know, order has been restored and courts are functioning)
* Sometimes, there is precedent showing the government overstepped and the plaintiff gets a nice payout to make them whole
It's win-win, in the sense that whatever the emergency was that necessitated infringement of rights can be mitigated and the aggrieved can essentially be retroactively bribed to be okay to be a part of a society that has survived a situation that exceeded the planned-for circumsntances the Constitution was written to handle.
Newer constitutions have this features. For instance, a prime minister that can put a state of emergency limiting rights for 2 weeks without approval, but needs a significant majority in the house and senate to extend it further.
Spain’s first two weeks are almost up, but no major party in the house sees the measures as excessive or partisan, so the next 15 day extension will pass very easily.
The irony of course is that 1% is only achievable if we take it seriously enough to try to keep it under that percentage; otherwise our health care system might well collapse under the load, and lead to large numbers of unnecessary deaths.
But more importantly: 3.5 million deaths in the U.S. alone (1%) doesn’t strike you as a pandemic?
Offhand thought reading yet another argument that this will be okay because it's going to cull the herd of the weak and unworthy. Is that we don't have some much a problem with old, sick and frail people as we do smug arrogant people.
I had to go to the pharmacy to pick up my meds[1]. Guy in line that checked all the boxes was trying to tell everyone in like that the whole thing was silly.
[1] I have an appointment with an endocrinologist in April. Most of her patients are diabetic and or over 60. I'm fretting a bit.
I am 100% for a constitutional amendment that abridges the freedom of assembly in pandemics, provided that pandemics have a mathematical definition that is hard to abuse.