I agree with the premise presented by John Balentine in his column in the April 3 edition of The Forecaster (“Viral reaction ‘at the point of absurdity'”), that government rarely cedes individual rights back to individuals once assumed by the government. However, a lesson I learned in high school clearly explains why individual rights are, and should be, limited. The lesson was expounded by a teacher who told the class that our individual right to take a swing at him ended at his chin. In other words, no individual has the right to assert his right on another if so doing would cause harm. It’s the same reasoning that no one has the right to shout “fire” in a crowded theater, thereby inciting panic.

Each state that has imposed travel restrictions during this time of a national emergency caused by a disease that is estimated to have the potential to kill hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of citizens is simply exercising its power to protect its citizens. In every national emergency, citizens must make personal sacrifices for the good of all other citizens. During World War II, when rationing was imposed on everyone, such sacrifices were accepted and honored even though they weren’t popular. It was recognized that rationing was a necessity for the prosecution of a major war and would be temporary.

That is the situation we, and the rest of the world, face today. Travel restrictions, in conjunction with personal isolation, have already been demonstrated to limit the spread of the virus. Since the virus is not constrained by state or national borders, it is a small sacrifice for people to voluntarily stay where they are to prevent an uncontrolled spread of the health hazard.

Warner Price
Harpswell