Vaccines Showcase American Extremism Vs. Legitimate Authority

By: Philip K. Howard

The cure to extremism in America is for institutions to reassert their authority. Crazy ideas wither when people in charge stand up and reject them.

The University of Chicago has been largely spared "cancel culture" because it made clear it would sanction any students or others who tried to block conflicting viewpoints. Extremists similarly pause when they must bear the consequences of their anti-social acts.

Employers who mandate unpaid leave for the unvaccinated, such as United Airlines, have found that most employees prefer to keep their paychecks. President Joe Biden's vaccination mandate for employers with over 100 workers is controversial, but the mandates in other countries have been effective.

But any assertion of institutional authority is thought to be the enemy of freedom—an almost automatic violation of individual rights. Authority in America has been broadly replaced by a procedural framework. People with responsibility—including university presidents, principals, public officials and business managers—believe they can't enforce any values unless explicitly set forth in a rule, or can be proved by objective evidence. Who are they to judge?

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