Seems fair. It’s pretty clear from massive anecdotal, political, and scientific evidence that the right-leaning are way out to lunch on COVID, and that the left seems to be much better. Because science.
But yeah, does that translate to other topics of a certain type? Where there’s evidence available, whose initial guesstimates were closer? That’s what I’d hope a meta-analysis would help to nail down: on a given topic, who’s more likely to be correct? Or are there broad classes of issues where neither side has enough reliable past predictions to give one side or the other the nod? Inquiring minds want to know…
I read an article recently (can’t remember now) where the doctor treating Covid patients in Alabama (was it?) was getting asked by those afflicted for the vaccine. She had to tell them it was too late, it doesn’t work that way. I wonder if those same people don’t by insurance, then ask to buy it once they get sick/get in a car wreck/their house burns down.
Heck, there are plenty of left-wing antivaxxers. I spent a month in lockdown when my baby was born because of the measles antivaxxers, and those definitely weren’t Republicans. They were hippy-dippy California liberals who didn’t want strange chemicals in their bodies. I cursed them with the same amount of contempt as I curse the Republicans now.
Anti-vaxx is an equal-opportunity conspiracy theory; there are versions of it to appeal to the leftists as well as the right-wingers (though very rarely the same one works for both).
There are left wing antivaxxers, but liberals aren’t left wing. Left wing capitalists, maybe, but that makes them slightly left of centre at most.
I spent some time repeating Bakunin’s quote about the bootmaker (replace bootmaker with nurse or doctor) to remind people that being a social anarchist is about deciding for yourself with the best information available, not reacting by doing the opposite of what you are asked. Ask a few randomly selected medical professionals and you quickly come to a consensus. Antivax does not stand up to scrutiny, so get vaccinated if you can.
Does it follow that I reject all authority? Far from me such a thought. In the matter of boots, I refer to the authority of the bootmaker; concerning houses, canals, or railroads, I consult that of the architect or engineer. For such or such special knowledge I apply to such or such a savant. But I allow neither the bootmaker nor the architect nor the savant to impose his authority upon me. I listen to them freely and with all the respect merited by their intelligence, their character, their knowledge, reserving always my incontestable right of criticism censure. I do not content myself with consulting authority in any special branch; I consult several; I compare their opinions, and choose that which seems to me the soundest. But I recognize no infallible authority, even in special questions; consequently, whatever respect I may have for the honesty and the sincerity of such or such an individual, I have no absolute faith in any person. Such a faith would be fatal to my reason, to my liberty, and even to the success of my undertakings; it would immediately transform me into a stupid slave, an instrument of the will and interests of others.
There are still antivax anarchists though, although they tend to be anarcho-primitivist (pre-civilisation people didn’t have vaccinations so neither will they) and individualist anarchists (although being hyper-individualist they are just as likely to get vaccinated).
I wish I could find the 1930s CNT-AIT posters asking people to get vaccinated.
And this is so medically illogical in the first place.
“what are my odds if I did get the vaccine that I’d have an adverse reaction that was significant enough to be medically concerning?”… nope. that thought didn’t factor in to his very logical and mathematical calculation…
What are my odds of getting COVID? They’re pretty low.
False. And depending on how much you socialize in large gatherings with other anti-vaxxers, the odds get higher and higher.
What are my odds of dying from COVID if I do get it? Probably way less than one percent.
At your age group (61), high! probably 5-10% or more. Even if it WERE 1% – you really want to risk it? (What happened to Don Trump Jr’s analogy of the poisoned M&M in a bowl of M&Ms and how it would be foolish to eat one?)
I’m doing what everyone should do and that’s my own personal health risk assessment.
You are old. You are in the high-risk group. Even if you “assessed” that it was ok to risk your children, you certainly judged your own person incorrectly.
If you have underlying health issues you probably need to get the vaccine. If you’re not at high risk of dying from COVID then you’re probably safer not getting it.
If they have underlying health issues (eg, immunocomprised), they might not be able to-- they are depending on YOU to get the vaccine, a-hole.
That evokes shrieks of horror from many, but it’s true.
Because it’s not. It’s just slapping a thin veneer of fake logic/thought onto your underlying emotional reaction/political stance to try to give it some credibility that it doesn’t have on its own.
Yeah, the chance that I’d die or have significant medical issues with covid may be ~1% or so, but the chance that I’m going to have an adverse vaccine reaction is dramatically less than that, and considering the possibility of playing a role in the propagation of a disease that has killed millions, the possibility of passing it on to someone more likely to die (like my cousin last year), or even possibly the host in which a new variant develops… His logic is complete BS, and frankly I’m glad he’s suffering. If enough of these douchebags suffer (and/or die) maybe it’ll sink in to some of their brainwashed followers that this is a serious situation.
It’s particularly weird to try to “other” covid, given that the risk factors are exactly the sorts of things that afflict Republicans even more than other groups: age, obesity, heart problems, diabetes, etc…
I’ve been wearing a mask in indoor public places for a few weeks now, and I’ve had some people look at me funny but no conflicts. I’ve decided that if some anti-masker, anti-vaxxer gives me grief for it, I will tell them I’m at-risk - of tearing the head off the next anti-masker I encounter. After all, the only people who shouldn’t be wearing masks are people without heads!
I’m in a blue state that still mostly masks up, and even I feel that inescapable peer pressure to not wear the mask if most are maskless. I cannot imagine what it would be like in a red state or in a very red state, with people actively glaring at me, resenting my “freedom”.
Just go all the way! Tell them you actually have active coronavirus.
And while they’ve never been bit by a zombie before, at no points previous in their life have they been a zombie, so why would they start now? It’s like what they say in financial circles, previous stock performance is no guarantee of future yields.
At this point I don’t feel sorry for him, I know I should be a better person and wish anyone’s suffering would go away/had never happened…but I’m too tired of it happening to really care about people who bring it on themselves.
However I do think he at least has the self awareness to realize he caused a lot of other people to not get vaccinated, and seems to be attempting to correct that (well, you can’t fix the past, but…), or at least to tell people to stop doing it. As opposed to just brushing it under the rug.
You know, the whole “don’t curse wisdom because it comes late, when for some it never comes at all”. So I can give him a very partial pass for being a shitty human given that he is attempting to be less shitty. Ok, ok, I feel a little bit sorry for him now. A little.
