I was reading a NY Times email a couple days ago. It appears the Democrats are running 90% vax rates while Republicans are lagging far, far behind. Death rates are matching vaccination rates.

So… If one segment of the population willfully refuses to take steps to preserving their own lives… why should society as a whole care?

What is our individual responsibility to society and society’s responsibility to the individual? If I say I won’t vax, should society care? If society does care, what are the limits to enforcing that “care?” That seems to be the argument Republicans and conspiracy theorist use. “It’s my body and the state has no say in what I do with my body.” (So long as we’re not talking about abortion rights because ya know women are too stupid to make that choice on there own. (ARGH!!!)) If society accepts that argument, won’t the issue take care of itself in due time? Will the anti-vax movement literally kill itself through inaction and self-destructive tirades against taking the most basic precautions against a global pandemic? If this logic chain is true, why should any Democrat care if a Republican willfully chooses a path of self-destruction. Democrats will only be proven correct when all of the opposition dies off. If Republicans are correct and it’s all a hoax, then they should be proven right in due time. Right?

This reminds me of the philosophical thought experiment of the trolley with no breaks. Which is the lesser evil? To let some die to that many more shall live or to save a few (or one) while many more die?

Before anyone blows a gasket over my comparison, I’d like to point out that my uncle died last year. Not from COVID, but from access to proper health care in a timely fashion. He died from blood poisoning caused by a bladder infection. My theory is that he couldn’t get into the hospital quick enough to stop the infection before it got into his blood. He lived in Florida and he was a very vocal Tea Party advocate. We rarely talked but when we did, he tended to spout off the usual right-wing troupes about how Democrats are evil, yada, yada, yada.

So. I have (had) skin in this game. I also believe in freewill AND I believe that you can do anything you want to your own body so long as you don’t make your problem my problem. Running to the ER because you have COVID while refusing the vaccine is making your choice my problem if I need to go to the ER for some other purpose. That’s not cool.

Maybe this scenario will take care of itself in time. Those that refuse the vaccine with die a cruel death. Alone on a ventilator, isolated from your family in the ICU ward or possibly stuck in a hallway or in the ambulance unable to even get into the ER for proper care.

Sadly, we shall see.