Defining idiot

I've seen a number of videos in which people entering a store are told they must wear a mask and go ballistic and rant about their rights and no one has the right to tell them what to do.  When it comes to the spread of a communicable disease, the states by law have the right to take measures to prevent the spread of disease.  Even South Dakota has such a law:

34-22-9. State-wide system for prevention, control, and treatment of communicable disease--Promulgation of rules.The department shall establish and direct the operations of a state-wide system for communicable disease prevention, control, and treatment. The department may promulgate rules, pursuant to chapter 1-26, to:(1)    Conduct communicable disease surveillance which includes detection, assessment, and analysis;(2)    Prescribe criteria for communicable disease case definitions;(3)    Prescribe procedures for communicable disease case and contact notification, referral, and management;(4)    Prescribe methods and procedures for the prevention and control of communicable disease;(5)    Prescribe methods and procedures for the control of communicable disease patients and carriers, including the monitoring, quarantine, and isolation of any patient or carrier;(6)    Prescribe medical and posttreatment supervision measures for communicable disease patients and carriers;(7)    Prescribe methods and procedures for the prevention and control of occupationally-related communicable diseases; and(8)    Prescribe procedures for infection prevention measures for communicable disease control and prevention.

What these ranters seem to be contending is that they have the right to spread disease if they want to.  At this time, we have only two measures that are known to help contain the Covid-19 virus:  wearing masks and keeping a social distance from others.  Other people's right to life and to be protected from a lethal disease is the real issue.  But that seems to be more than the intellects of some people can deal with.  They can only grasp that someone who might be a libtard is trying to tell them what to do.

When one encounters these confrontations, whether in person at a business entrance or in the comment sections of the media, social and otherwise, there is a striking aspect of their communication.  They usually have literacy problems.  They show a lack of ability in the use of language, and they show an incredible ignorance of the democratic culture in which they live.  They cannot seem to understand that other people have unalienable rights, too, such as life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.  One is tempted to call them idiots.

But that is an overused epithet that has lost its effect.  At one time idiot had a scientific meaning.  It referred to the lowest grade of a person with a mental deficiency, an IQ of 25 or below.  Scientists have abandoned the use of the term because of its everyday use as an insult.  Those obnoxious people we encounter who rave under the pretext of asserting their rights to be stupid and to rave give good reason to apply  the term to them, but such labeling dismisses a more insidious aspect that makes up the characters of such people.  And that is that those who choose to be stupid are usually mean.  Viciously mean.  They have a need to have human objects to hate and abuse.

A fact denied by many is that malice is a part of human life.  Human beings simply are not the nicest critters on the planet.   When people cling to an attitude of malice, the brain cells become malignant.  And people become stupid.  And mean. We now have a president who appeals to malice and encourages its spread.  Consequently, we have people who exhibit idiotic behavior about the spread of Covid-19.  

And we have a pandemic that shows no sign of relenting.  That's because, ultimately, you can't fix stupid.  And stupid malice can kill us all.