Keep Decisions Local

The fight between collectivists and individualists continues to be manifested by those calling for and opposing “one size fits all” approaches in fighting the coronavirus. We see it in calls for national and statewide mandates to wear masks and demands that schools reopen or remain closed this fall.

The idea that people in Washington, D.C. or Lincoln can dictate policy to people in a county hundreds of miles away flies in the face of individualism. This is especially true in matters such as an epidemic. The dispersed population of the Nebraska Panhandle coupled with distances between towns affords its own mitigating effect on the spread of a virus.

The bulk of Cheyenne County’s population lives in single family homes, not multifamily apartments.

This also affords a measure of protection from the spread of disease. In areas such as ours, the only way to get infected is to go to a place where other people congregate such as churches, sporting events, entertainment venues and large retail stores. Because it is natural for people to act in their best self-interest, avoiding such places entirely or opting to wear a mask and social distance is only logical for those with higher risk of complications if infected.

When distant powers mandate personal behavior there is automatically resistance from individualists naturally predisposed to defying a collectivist edict. A far better approach would be for authorities to request each person behave responsibly in a matter aligned with personal conscience, much the way South Dakota has handled the virus.

In matters of education, again the best approach likely to result in least resistance is to issue opinions from state “health experts” and leave the decision to open or delay opening of schools to the local school boards and administrators. Informed decisions based on number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the district, spread trends locally and practicality of preventative measures within schools should guide local oversight of an appropriate response. Since we now know chances of serious complications from COVID-19 in those under 18 years of age are lower than those from regular influenza, students would be as safe this fall in class as they would any other year.

The challenge involves spread of the virus to teachers and employees over the age of 50. Either special precautions can be accommodated for those at higher risk or the positions could be filled by younger substitutes (provided higher-risk employees still retain benefits and a measure of compensation while absent) until the danger passes. Blanket exemption from litigation would also be needed for local administrators and school board members concerning their decisions in this matter, and that is perhaps one area in which the state could be helpful.

Our nation’s founders favored the individualist model of government and societal structure. Sadly, we’ve wandered so far from that I fear getting back to it will be a challenge. The least we can do is appeal to state and federal representatives for local autonomy in such matters, and remind them it is an election year when we do.