Shoveling Does Not Work: A Very Serious Argument Against Mandates
Every time I shovel, it just snows again a week or two later. The only obvious solution is to stop shoveling altogether.
By Ryan McGreal.
322 words. Approximately a 1 to 2 minute read.
Posted March 12, 2022 in Blog.
Shovelling doesn’t work. Every time I shovel, it just snows again a week or two later! So I’m done with winter: no more shovelling, no more gloves, no more scarf, no more coat. It’s time to exercise my freedom to go back to normal! It’s shorts and t-shirts from here on out!
Photo of a snowy walkway with footprints on it
If I see someone else shovelling, I’m going to yell at them to take off their toque and put down their shovel. Time to reclaim our freedoms from the tyranny of winter clothing and snow clearing!!
If a municipal government tries to force people to clear their sidewalks, I demand that the Ontario government steps in to protect our freedoms and order the municipality to end all of its shovelling mandates.
Anyone considering going for a walk on the sidewalk should be prepared do their own personal risk assessment as to whether it’s safe to walk on uncleared snow and whether to bring a shovel with them.
In case it’s not clear, this is a satirical argument.
Obviously shovelling is important and I’m going to continue doing it, because there is genuine public value in ensuring that sidewalks are navigable and accessible during the winter. (In fact, I think a good argument can be made that sidewalks should be shovelled by the City as a public service, similar to the way roads are shovelled today, and for the same reason.)
And yet, the folks arguing against vaccine mandates because a single vaccine doesn’t permanently eliminate the risk of COVID infection are making precisely this argument.
Some risks cannot be eliminated permanently in a single action. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take reasonable steps - even if we need to repeat those steps from time to time - to mitigate the risks as much as we can.