Who let Texans make laws?

Certainly, from an ethical and medical point of view, in most cases self-restraint is a far better option than abortion. But there are cases where self-restraint simply was not an option. And because of those cases - and the impossibility to be certain that it might have factored in - the only sensible moral position is to allow for abortion at the woman's discretion. Counseling may or may not take place; but in the final analysis, only the pregnant woman (or her guardian) has the right to decide what is best for her.

In this light, the new law in Texas, which effectively outlaws abortion and makes anyone even tangentially involved with the process a target for bounty hunters, is most odious. It is an oppression of women, American puritanism at its worst.

A tawdry end to a tawdry war

Afghanistan... By what right did the USA invade that country? By what right did it remain there? But having abused its power for so long, when leaving could the US not have fulfilled promises to local supporters and protected all its citizens? Yes, certainly it was the right move to leave. But there's a right way and a wrong way to do that. No amount of political pretense will change the fact that Biden's departure from Afghanistan was every bit as arrogant and presumptuous - every bit as cruel and unethical - as Bush's entry.

Modern Darwinism and herd Immunity

The nature of a pandemic is to threaten the existence of a species. Faced with extinction by a disease, the species must eventually achieve a state of herd immunity. This is as true today as it was hundreds, thousands, and even millions of years ago. The only difference today is that we have more scientific means of achieving immunity.

Against Covid-19, people may take recourse to a relatively safe vaccine. Or they may contract the disease and - if they survive - achieve a natural level of immunity. But one way or another, they will almost certainly contribute to the attainment of herd immunity. Either that will happen, or the human species is doomed.

As for those who prefer not to be vaccinated, who prefer to take their chances with the disease, society need not vilify them. Most people might not agree with their position, but that is their subjective truth... and so it is pointless to argue. But certainly society has every right to protect itself against those who pose a risk to its survival. Thus, as a security measure, society has the right to demand a certificate of either vaccination against or recovery from Covid... or of a very recent test negative for Covid. Any person who remains unvaccinated and lacks any proof of recovery or lack of infection by Covid may reasonably be shunned as a clear and present danger. Individual freedom must never eclipse the collective interest. An entire species cannot be held hostage to the whims of its individual members. The whole is never less than its parts.