Somehow, no doubt thanks to generations of American children being subjected to the propaganda of the government education system, a nation of former rebels has become wary of dissenters. Anyone who dares to think independently (or, one might say, to think at all) is viewed with suspicion and is publicly ridiculed and ostracized.
I've read the history books, and this doesn't end well.
In the event that one chooses not to get the jab, he is generally labeled a conspiracy theorist, a nut, and a science denier. I would know, because I am he, and while I don't expect people to agree with me, I will admit that it is frustrating to be misunderstood or misrepresented. So my goal here today is not to convince anyone of anything, an aim I fully recognize as futile, but to provide something of a reasonable defense of my personal decision not to get vaccinated for COVID. My goal is that people, namely, my disparate group of Facebook friends, might understand the thought process that has gone into my decision, and by extension, the decision made by millions of our fellow Americans.
Here are my 10 reasons for foregoing vaccination:
1) I don't think the risk is worth the reward. I am 31-years-old. I am generally healthy. I am not obese, I do not have asthma, and I am not diabetic. All of these factors place me in the low risk category for serious COVID complications. It is certainly possible that I might contract COVID and die, regardless of my age and health status, but I have assessed the risk and made my decision.
Every decision we make is a risk assessment, even if that assessment is subconscious. I pay for life insurance monthly because I prefer the prospect of less spending money now than that of leaving my wife and children penniless in the event that I die suddenly. I drive a car, not because I am unaware of the fact that thousands of people die in car accidents each year, but because I believe the possibility of dying in a car accident is an acceptable risk to avoid a life where I have to walk everywhere (as much as I enjoy a brief stroll). It's really this simple--I have performed a risk assessment, and the potential risks of vaccination outweigh the potential benefits. You may disagree, and that's you're right, but we each have to make our own choice.
2) Vaccination has not proven to slow the spread of COVID. "But Grandma!" they cry. Well, so far I have not seen any convincing evidence that my getting vaccinated will protect my loved ones. The whole take one for the team thing only makes sense if I can be sure that my sacrifice will have tangible results. At any rate, most of my family, friends, etc. are either already vaccinated or are absolutely opposed to getting vaccinated, so it probably wouldn't affect my decision anyway. Nevertheless, a large number of vaccinated people have contracted and spread COVID, so the idea that I should do my part is really unconvincing.
3) I was exposed to COVID multiple times in the past year and a half. I know this vaccine is different, in ways that I, frankly, am not equipped to elucidate, but I do understand the traditional concept of vaccination. Vaccines (including those for COVID, from what I can tell) utilize the natural abilities of our immune system, which is why the push to vaccinate people who have had COVID appears to make little sense. This is particularly true for medical professionals who have been directly exposed to COVID for months.
I have never been sick with COVID, but it swept through my place of employment on at least two separate occasions. I was in close proximity for sustained periods of time to people who subsequently fell ill. I suspect I would have tested positive at least once.
4) I don't trust the government. If you know me, you know that I'm not a huge fan of the government. My official political position is #teamcynic. I am not an anarchist, but I have a healthy distrust of the government (particularly at the federal level), which is really just to say that I have a healthy distrust of human nature. Between the incompetent blowhards, career bureaucrats, and evil schemers, there are few politicians I trust. Power, money, and ease are the primary motivators for fallen human nature. This is true whether you are a politician, a doctor, or a cashier at Wal Mart (no offense to cashiers at Wal Mart--we literally need more of you guys right now).
This belief doesn't make me a conspiracy nut; it makes me aware. It also places me in pretty good company. The founders of the nation, all imperfect men with a variety of motivations and worldviews, generally shared this distrust of consolidated power as a result of their own experiences with government overreach. The result was a system of government that intentionally limited the power of the federal government. It's unfortunate that our culture has mostly lost this wariness.
5) I don't trust Big Pharma. If you think the government is bad, don't get me started on Big Pharma. To understand my distrust of Big Pharma, see the general principles laid out in #4. It suffices to say that when billions (trillions?) of dollars, to say nothing of the opportunity to play God, are at play, I no longer assume that people have my best interests in mind. Call it crazy; I call it common sense.
6) I know how to spot propaganda when I see it. Free donuts if you show proof of vaccination--really? If you think the offering of free diabetes and heart disease is motivated by concern for your health, I have some oceanside property in Canton, OH to sell you. We have been given a crash course in Propaganda 101 this past year. Sadly, we scoff at the propaganda disseminated by totalitarian countries like Cuba and China, incredulous that anyone could possibly believe such nonsense, but then we line up for our free donuts, hot dogs, and joints. Even if you don't share my distrust of the Big Government and Big Pharma, the obvious and absurd propaganda should make you at least a little suspicious.
7) The history of the flu shot. Similar propaganda (and futility) has surrounded the flu shot. Not only have complications with the flu shot been largely covered up, discredited, or disregarded, but every year we're told to get the new shot, despite the admission that it will only have limited effectiveness on whatever strain currently happens to be going around. Viruses mutate. That's what they do. We create a vaccine, and then the vaccine becomes obsolete. And on and on we go with this endless game of creating shots for the flu that are obsolete by the time they are available. It doesn't take a prophet to foresee the same thing happening with the COVID shot. The only difference is that they haven't had a plausible basis for making the flu shot mandatory, which has always been their goal. They've hit the jackpot with COVID.
8) Vaccine injuries are a real thing. Perhaps the most underrepresented group of people in this nation are those who have suffered from vaccine injuries. They get swept under the rug amidst the political bickering. Pro-vaxxers ridicule those who raise legitimate concerns about vaccine injuries, and, unfortunately, anti-vaxxers sometimes get caught up in the tribalism, reveling in the misery of those who validate their claim. Those who suffer vaccine injuries are faceless, nameless statistics--nothing more than an acceptable number of losses to achieve herd immunity in the name of our medical saviors. Vaccine injuries are rare, we are told. They are very rare. They are so rare that nobody should pay attention to them. They are so rare that everyone who raises concern about them is instantly derided and silenced. Only, that's not true. Vaccine injuries of various degrees happen regularly, and that's just the ones that are reported. The true number is astronomically beyond the reported number because they are criminally (and I mean that literally, not hyperbolically) underreported.
COVID vaccines injuries are no different. Millions of people have been adversely affected by them, but they are disregarded. People are either too blind or too afraid to make the connection. A few side effects have been publicly reported (the blot clotting, heart issues, etc.), but many more have gone unnoticed. Without even taking time to think about, I can think of three acquaintances who have had serious side effects. These side effects were not simply inconveniences like headaches or nausea, but serious medical issues that could have been fatal and could potentially have lingering affects down the road. Millions of people have been adversely affected by them, but they are disregarded. As I said above, everyone has to do his own risk assessment and make his own choice, but it seems unscrupulous to manipulate that risk assessment by silencing those who raise valid concerns about the potential risks.
9) Everybody else is doing it. It's probably not healthy, but I was raised with and retain a bit of a contrarian spirit. Some part of me is automatically cautious when everybody (not really everybody, but that's what they want you to believe) is doing what Uncle Sam and Fuhrer Fauci tell them to do. Someone has to stop and question the narrative, especially a narrative with so many self-contradictions and permutations. When everyone is complacently jumping off of the proverbial cliff, someone has to question the wisdom of the directions we've been given.
10) Mike DeWine really, really wants me to get vaccinated. I have shared my thoughts elsewhere on how DeWine has handled the COVID-19 pandemic, so I won't rehash them here. I mention DeWine not only because I am an Ohioan, but because he was heralding a vaccine in messianic terms very, very (and I mean very) early on. Call me a crazy conspiracy nut, but I became slightly suspicious when he started pushing the vaccine long before any such vaccine existed or was proven to be safe or effective. DeWine, who may decline a reelection bid due to being embroiled in scandal, has had questions raised before about his personal stock in pharmaceutical companies. These accusations could very well be overblown, but anytime a career politician really, really wants you to do something, you should do your homework before acquiescing.
Well, there are my 10 reasons. Each one of these reasons may seem inadequate in isolation, but I believe that, taken as a whole, they will at least help pro-vaxxers appreciate the anti-vax approach. My stated goal was to provide a reasonable defense for my position. I hope that I have done that. Or maybe this post has simply served to reinforce, despite my protestations to the contrary, your conviction that I'm a conspiracy theorizing, QAnon-loving, Church-of-Christ-Scientist-don't-ever-trust-the-government redneck. That's your prerogative, I guess. At least I've said my piece.
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