The desire for self-determination is deeply rooted in us. So it’s no wonder that state-imposed rules sometimes make some contemporaries rebellious – as sensible as they may be.
Berlin – Duties and prohibitions have governed social coexistence since time immemorial. But what seems indispensable to some triggers defiance and resistance in others – as in the fight against the corona pandemic.
Under the impression of the precarious situation, the call for a general vaccination requirement is getting louder and louder. Four examples of how society reacted to previous obligations and prohibitions:
Seat belt compulsory
If she had been wearing a seat belt in her fatal traffic accident, Diana might still be alive. At least this is the conclusion drawn by the investigators from Scotland Yard after the tragic accidental death of the Princess of Wales in Paris in 1997. When the legislature made it compulsory to wear seat belts on front seats in early 1976 in West Germany (1980 in the East), an outcry of indignation went through the ranks of German motorists. Can the state oblige mature citizens to wear seat belts?
The fact that the chances of survival in an accident are proven to be significantly greater did not impress seat-belt muffle at the time. Only when driving without seatbelts was punished with a fine of 40 D-Marks since 1984 did the skeptics come to their senses: The seat belt rate increased from 50 to over 90 percent. Buckling up in the back seat is now also a requirement.
census
Some do not even open the door, others deliberately provide false information. When around half a million interviewers swarmed out in May 1987 to ask the citizens of the Federal Republic about age, school education, religion and other things, the fear of a totalitarian surveillance state was great. In 1970 the census was accepted without resistance, but now some people are reminded of George Orwell’s gloomy vision of the future, “1984”.
In 1983 the Federal Constitutional Court initially stopped state data collection. In view of the first mass constitutional complaint, the Karlsruhe judges overturned the controversial “comparison of the population register” and created the “basic right to informational self-determination” – data protection. The campaign only succeeds in the second attempt four years later, although numerous citizens’ initiatives have again called for a boycott.
smoking ban
For a long time the world of smokers seemed almost invulnerable. Whether in a pub or restaurant, office or hospital, on a plane or train – those who could not gain anything from inhaling toxic substances were often defenseless against the blue haze. After a voluntary agreement with the hotel and restaurant association failed, the Bundestag and Bundesrat passed a smoking ban on buses, trains and federal authorities in 2007; the federal states are responsible for restaurants.
Landlords fear a drop in sales and will immediately take legal action before the Federal Constitutional Court. His verdict in 2008: Although a smoking ban is generally compatible with the Basic Law, it is possible that one-room pubs may continue to smoke. This is followed by a patchwork of different regulations in the individual federal states, from strict to liberal. However, the debate is not in vain: The number of smokers – especially among young people – has been falling steadily for years.
Measles vaccination
A bizarre process caused a sensation in Ravensburg in 2015: The background is the bitter dispute over measles viruses, the existence of which a biologist from Lake Constance denies despite all scientific findings. He had promised a proud 100,000 euros on the Internet to anyone who could prove the opposite. A medical student presents the relevant research results, but the vaccination opponent does not want to pay – until the Ravensburg judges convict him. His appeal to the Higher Regional Court was nevertheless successful – for purely formal reasons.
At the same time there is an emotional discussion about compulsory measles vaccination. Hundreds of people have become infected with the highly contagious, sometimes fatal disease, and there are outbreaks in several federal states. But as in the current debate about the corona vaccination, misinformation and rumors are making the rounds, many parents are unsettled. Politicians are pulling the emergency brake: Since March 2020, vaccinations have been compulsory for certain groups – including children entering daycare and school, educators, teachers and medical staff. The Federal Constitutional Court rejects two urgent motions against the law, further decisions are still pending. dpa
