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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: unclewest who wrote (94262)	1/8/2005 10:44:10 AM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 793800

You have frequently posted messages to me with this theme. I don't know if your posting to me is just your taking advantage of a segue or whether you really think I disagree with you that waiting for the authorities is not in the best interests of one's own safety. If it's the latter, I assure you that I do not disagree with you. I have spoken often of the inherent conflict between individual safety and public health. I questioned you a couple of times on how you resolve the conflict and I've never gotten any clarification on whether you see a moral limit to individual action or not. I fully appreciate your advocacy of preparation and personal responsibility. But I think that there is a point at which that can become me-first-and-public-safety-be-damned and I'm not willing to cross that line. If we seem to you to have disagreed on the subject of preparation and individual action, I assure you it was only at that moral margin. At one point in our discussions you reacted with what appeared to be incredulity to my assertion that, in the event of a smallpox vaccine shortage, I would not take a dose ahead of a young person. I really do believe that there are moral limits on pursuing one's individual safety. I have a diabetic friend over fifty who decided not to get a flu shot because there are others older and more seriously diabetic than she. Not quite as dramatic as foregoing a smallpox inoculation but the same idea. (I OTOH was third in line on the first day and had my shot before the shortage was known. <g>) I think it's important that we consider the moral implications of individual preparation and action. On one end, there's the problem of not being prepared at all. That's the end you are stressing, I think. On the other end, there's the problem of suboptimizing one's own safety at the expense of public safety. I agree with you on the front end. It's the latter margin where we may or may not disagree.