I have COVID. Again. For the third time. That’s three strains now. I’ve experienced Beta, Omicron, and now this new Omicron-related strain called “BA-5.” Or “XBB.” Or something. It’s not fun.
TRANSPARENCY TIME
I wasn’t vaccinated. I don’t think I regret not getting vaccinated, since my own risk assessment still tips in the favor of avoiding the unknown risks of the vaccine (which may indeed be statistically non-existent, to be fair) and instead embracing the inevitable risks of COVID (which may indeed be less severe than portrayed in the media). In short: I think that, for me, the risks (real or perceived) of the vaccine outweigh risks (real or perceived) of severe incapacitation or death by COVID.
But there’s also the aspect of community contagion that needs to be considered, too: If I don’t get vaccinated, and I get sick, I understand this to mean that I could potentially expose others — especially those who are high-risk — to this disease and it may very well kill them. So am I putting my own risk assessment ahead of the risk assessment of the community? This question can’t be sidestepped, but I also think that the apparent inefficacy of the vaccine (or at least less-than-advertised immunity) should play into this decision, as well; that is, if the vaccine doesn’t work as well as we’d hoped, am I really protecting my neighbor by getting it? I think all these points need to be considered, not ignored.
I don’t have the authority, moral or medicinal, to recommend my course of action with regards to the vaccine for everyone, especially those in the at-risk community. I don’t look down on those who have been vaccinated, but I don’t think everyone who avoids the vaccine is a raving conspiracy theorist, either. And since we’re here: I don’t think COVID-19 is a hoax, but on the flip side, I don’t think we should be calling it wyrmwood and heralding the end of the world yet either. I think there’s faulty or misinterpreted numbers and data being presented with bias by each side, each driven by their own agenda.
But really, I just don’t know
Listen, I don’t know what I think about government conspiracies and cabalism within “Big Pharma.” I just don’t know enough. And those who think they know enough to make that call with 100% certainty are the kinds of people with whom I don’t generally spend immense amounts of time. I can only take so much. I know, I know, your YouTube source was there when the alien-hybrid government officials drained the lab-created Sigma-class super-bat of its COVID-tainted blood and injected it into that poor scientist in Wuhan and you’ve got the grainy cellphone video and recently-unsealed, previously-classified documents to prove it. I know. I hear you. I do. Shh.
But all levity aside, I really don’t think I’ll ever have all the information, and neither will you. And it really smacks of epistemological arrogance to tromp around spouting “the facts” about this thing when we don’t have all the facts. But see, that’s just it — in our modern world, we believe there’s no good reason why we can’t all be experts and know everything about, well, anything. All it takes is enough hours in front of a computer screen listening to someone we’ve grown to trust and — whammo! — just like that, we’re armed with the “facts.”
I think we need to — in so, so many areas, COVID being only one of them — have a little bit more humility and willingness to say “I don’t know.” To admit, “I could be wrong” and mean it, not use it as a preface before launching into a 43-minute tirade against Bill Gates or Joe Rogan. This principle, by the way, goes for pretty much every single topic or category of knowledge or hypothesis that exists in this universe. We’ve got to be humble. Truly.
But I do know some things
There are, however, a few things about which I am reasonably certain.
For instance, I know that power corrupts, and that the love of money is indeed the root of a great many evils. With this in mind, I wouldn’t put it past the mysterious “They” to not be completely forthright about how all this went down and what some of the possible risks of the vaccine are. That being said, I don’t think that everyone in the pharmaceutical industry from CEOs to family doctors are all in cahoots, either. I know of several people in government who are trustworthy men (I’m thinking of Francis Collins, head of the NIH) and are deserving of respect and credibility on this issue, and I don’t think they’re boogeymen. They’re good, Christian (like, actual, real Christian) people who care. Not shills, not sheep, not blood-drinking devil-worshippers. They’re honest, smart scientists who only want the truth.
Another thing of which I am persuaded is that the polarization that has erupted from this pandemic (or plandemic, to use a cute term with which I disagree in general, though I confess to being very open to some aspects of government manipulation — or at least capitalization — in all of this) is, at large, unfounded and unfortunate. By not getting vaccinated, I am not blatantly disregarding the health of your grandmother. That’s an inexcusable guilt-trip, and it’s immoral to utilize such a slanderous tactic. Nor are you a valiant hero of your community if you choose to get the jab, no matter what that Pfizer commercial said. No statues will be erected in your honor. I’m sorry.
On the other side of the same coin, you are not a “sheeple” if you choose to get vaccinated, nor are you a mindless lemming just blindly obeying the government. You and I are not seeing the manifestation of Orwell’s dystopian prophecies (yet). Instead, we’re simply seeing an overwhelming majority of medical professionals banding together to achieve what they believe is the greater good: keeping everyone safe. But this is where the discussion goes quite a bit deeper than a mere discourse on COVID.
IT’s a sliding scale. No, seriously.
There is truly a sliding scale at play here. Always has been, since the beginning of civilization. One end of the scale, you’ve got freedom/privacy/individuality; on the other end, we see safety/provision/community. Everyone has to decide where they’re comfortable when it comes to fitting on that spectrum in terms of what one values most. No one — not even you, reader — is exempt. You’ve got to pick a spot, because you’re on this spectrum along with everyone else.
On the extreme end of the spectrum of those who value freedom, privacy, and individuality above all else, you’ve got anarchy. No law. No traffic lights. No firefighters. You get the idea. On the other end of the spectrum, that’s where you truly do find an Orwellian nightmare of safety, provision, and community: authoritarianism or fascism. That is, being spoon-fed and protected by the aforementioned “They”, as pictured accurately in Larry and Andy Wachowski’s Matrix series (don’t accuse me of “dead-naming” the Wachowski brothers here, although that topic would fit right into the context of a dystopian reality, to be sure).
So — some choose to settle securely on the “liberty and freedom” end of the scale. Good. But you might find that you’re closer to the middle than you think. You wouldn’t like anarchy, I don’t think. Might be fun for you for a while, but not for long. Listen, I didn’t like Barack Obama’s infamous “you didn’t build that” comment any more than anyone else, but the thread of truth he was trying (and failing) to weave into our understanding is that there really is no “freedom” or “individuality” with regards to most of our endeavors in America anymore, for better or for worse (I think largely for worse). Others who park on the “safety and security” end of the scale have a good point, too: There is strength in numbers, and there’s wisdom and order, too. But again — you don’t want to go too far down that road, either, or you’ll lose that precious commodity known as, well, self. There’s a reason Patrick Henry cried out for either liberty or death: he understood what it meant to lose liberty and he didn’t think life was worth living without it. Something to consider.
Weren’t We talking about COVID?
So how this all relates to this dastardly bug we call “COVID-19” is as follows: I think when many people choose to accept or reject the vaccine, it’s not about the vaccine as much as it is about their position on the aforementioned sliding scale. Many people feel like their privacy, individuality, and — perhaps most convincingly — freedoms are being threatened by things that are mandated by the “They” in the towers of government. Some of these fears might be irrational, and I think there is a trend to ignore the safety of the “herd” when it comes to only valuing individual freedoms. I do believe, however, that there’s at least a grain of truth here that we can’t afford to ignore. Others who sit on the other end of the see-saw react to this sort of libertarian mindset with panic and umbrage, and next come the accusations of attempted murder by sneezing near Pop-Pop.
So wherever you sit on this spectrum, I hope it’s a balanced position. I invite you to introspection here. That’s all.
