Purpose

The purpose of our discussion is to facilitate interaction among classmates as well as formulate and analyze viewpoints on political issues. For background, you may gather Information, but you should cite your sources and explain your assessment that they are reliable.

Instructions

One of the ongoing debates in civil liberties is whether the government can limit individual rights and to what extent. Great freedom is given to individual rights in our system, but there may be limitations and factors considered are public safety, collective interest of society, and rights of others.

As you know since March 2020 there have been government issued lockdowns, limitations on businesses, limitations on religious and social gatherings as well as mask mandates in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus. There was some opening of certain states with no restrictions leading many to warn about the potential of infections increasing with new variants still spreading. The restrictions have varied by state and localities as no national orders were given in 2020 except international travel restrictions. In 2021, there has been a federal mandate to wear masks which impacts federal properties and many transportation entities subject to federal regulations. Coronavirus restrictions are one example where there has been tension between persons who claim these are violations of civil liberties or individual rights and government noting its need to institute limitations for reasons like public safety, the collective interest of society and the rights of others.

For this discussion forum, please answer all of the following questions:

Do you believe that there should be government guidelines that are discretionary for the public to follow or mandates that can be enforced by the government if violated?

What do you believe should be the guidelines or mandates at this time related to the pandemic?

Assuming there are government mandates in place for this question –

Do you believe there should be a punishment for those who don’t follow government issued mandates?

If so, what should be the punishment for individuals and for businesses or entities (like religious groups or non-profits)?

Vaccines may lead to an ability to return to normal life but could only be effective if the majority of the population gets vaccinations.

Should vaccination be required for certain activities? What activities or jobs do you believe should have policies related to vaccines?

Why or why not? Explain your answer.

One example could be school enrollment. Do you believe there should be rules for teachers or students? Should they be the same or different?

When would you feel safe returning to in-person classes? What conditions would you want in place?