Bill Collier- My hesitancy on the vaccine is more rooted in the rather outlandish and, frankly, authoritarian responses and the refusal to countenance real questions, than anything else. Add to that the fact this is a new vaccine, the same government pushing this has done some really awful things, and the fact now things shifted from the vaccine providing immunity to now vaccinated people have to mask up again.
I genuinely feel there is no real overwhelming guarantee this thing is as beneficial as claimed in the long term or that it may not have some serious problems. I may be wrong, but claling me a conspiracy theorist or canceling me will not only fail to convince me and be morally reprehensible for you to do, it will convince others this whole vaccine regimen isn’t to be trusted.
I can be convinced. I do notice that 99% of recent deaths are people without the vaccine. But, honestly, will this remain the same? It was also reported the Delta variant is more lethal, exact numbers not explained, and more contagious. This is also concerning.
Browbeating me or mandating this only fills me with alarm. Again, I DO NOT TRUST a government that has repeatedly and dangerously lied to me all my life! Too often the government claims their measures are beneficial and decades later Congress passes a resolution begging forgiveness.
The much vaunted polio vaccine infected almost 100 million people with a cancer-causing virus, but to this day the government, the same one extolling the vaccine of the hour, refuses to seriously study and reveal how many lives were lost or how many people got cancer and had their lives ruined. How can we take them seriously?
My hesitancy decreases and I am ready to start the process, then some authoritarian nub screeches terrible things about the unvaccinated being worse than Satan, or something outlandish like that, and I recoil. I don’t know why the ruling class are so adamant about this but I doubt anyone, ever, thinks these louts care about anything but being more powerful. But the fact there is such a full press on and it has so many authoritarian features fills me with dark suspicion.
The trend further away from treating people with dignity and respect, tolerance for all views and creeds, and respect for human rights, amd the trend toward ever more partisan and authoritarian responses meant to gain political advances, has consequences. A plurality of people, who are already demonized by the leftwing authoritarians for not being “woke” enough, just can’t see why they should trust people who call them nazis and racists at the slightest hint of disagreement!
Vaccines may indeed eliminate this vurus as a serious threat. The unvaccinated may spur new varieties that can render the vaccine useless for everyone else. This is a real concern. On the other hand, unlike polio, which had a 5-10% mortality, this virus has a very small mortality rate. What this means is that if we discover, too late to fix it, that all these vaccines do real long-term harm, we could see more harm done by the vaccines than by the virus over, say, a 30 year period.
I am not claiming we will see such harm. But, in light of the government’s predilection to lying, and in light of the continued refusal to face the truth about tainted polio vaccines, being skeptical seems quite reasonable. I am proposing that polling back the demonizing and authoritarianism, on all fronts, may be far more conducive to winning people over to get the vaccine. Doubling down on the hate and authoritarianism will only further fragment society and increase distrust.
This notion a few talking heads are convincing people the vaccine will make them grow two heads and that’s why some remain skeptical is garbage. It’s like when someone is not complying with your wishes and you accuse them of letting someone else convince or control them instead assuming they can think for themselves based on the facts as they see them.
Perhaps the accusers bear the mental illness of letting others dictate their beliefs through propaganda and are just projecting on to others. But trying to convince me this is safe in the long-term, as well as effective, means total transparency, being treated with dignity, and a total commitment to my right to choose my health options.
I want to believe this is safe and effective but when the argument against any questions about these things is canceling people, authoritarianism, and constant one-sided propaganda, it’s not conducive to building trust. When I see everyone, from government to the manufacturers, is absolved of all responsibility if it does you harm, this is disconcerting. Everyone demands we take the vaccine but offers neither an iron-clad guarantee nor assumes accountability and responsibility if they fail to deliver.
I may get the vaccine. I am praying God protects me if I do and even if, once again, we find the government failed, the vaccine didn’t work or was tainted, and the government tries desperately to cover it up for 40 years before Congress passes a resolution apologizing for our country’s misdeeds.
