Ed Notes Extended

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Vax Mania: Are we required to stop people from committing suicide? Why stop at red lights?

If people want to risk death, must we stop them? What if their risks affects the rest of us? Do people have the personal right to drive recklessly? Why is risking the health of others and over taxing the hospital systems any more dangerous than reckless driving? 


I might also ask -- are the economics driving De Blasio to open schools a risk that touches on the same risky behavior of the unvaxed?

[Ed NotesOsterholm escalates on schools - Learning loss vs life, Minimizes masks, weekly testing, maximizes filter, airflow and more frequent testing]

By the way, I was walking past a testing truck in Manhattan on Friday and got tested  for the first time - not rapid but the nose swab - and had the results the next evening. Others standing there with me needed a test for travel before they could fly. Oh my, those damn governament regulations. I'm outraged every time I have to show my drivers license when I have to fly - and why can't I carry a box cutter onto planes?

You are 11 times more likely to die without shots -- NYT
So you might take the position of fuck em - if they want to risk death. 

Now imagine someone ready to jump off a building. Do you say fuck em? Or do you try your best to talk them out of it? Or do you get together with others and hold a blanket to try to catch them? Do you care about their pain? Or is it that you don't give a shit about them but are worried they might fall on you and kill you?

Well, there are versions of all these arguments in the vax vs anti-vax angst.

Biden's new toughness is resonating with most people who are fed up with the anti-vax personal freedom bullshit from people who have given up so much personal freedom in so many ways. Chris Wallace questioned the gov of Nebraska yesterday, who is outraged at Biden, about the loss of freedom to choose over about 10 Nebraska vax mandates in order to go back to school. The response was those vax's are tested. No more tested than the current vaccines.

So let's talk about the freedoms Biden is taking away and the over the top Republicans politicizing this. I heard George Will on NBC and Chris Christie talking about how Biden is violating the constitution - and stopping him is a higher priority than stopping people from dying. That's like telling people to jump and pulling away the blanket to catch them like Lucy does with the football. 

Like we are not in an emergency that is not only killing people but the economy. Would they worry about the constitution if it were Ebola? Didn't they suspend all airline flights for weeks after 9/11? Like a 1000 times more people have died from COVID than on 9/11. This is not an emergency?

I was frustrated that Stefanoplis and Chuck Todd didn't bring up how Lincoln threw out the constitution during the Civil War emergency. Or how FDR pushed the boundaries during the depression. 

I understand the fear of some people about vaccinations. I don't love them. I avoided the flu shot for years until my wife and my doctor scared me into them. I still don't have the shingle shot and want to get it but my doc told us to not pump too many vaccines into us in a short period of time. He told us that in May when we asked about shingles and he said we would probably need a booster in the fall. The other day he told someone to hold off on the booster as long as possible. He is wary of over vaxing. This is at least rational advice. I do want to take the booster at 8 months which for me is Oct. 10. What about the flu shot and when?

Meanwhile, watch out for the freedom from government control people when crossing the street. Stop lights are too much government control.

1 comment:

  1. I figure most younger folks who don’t want the jab have probably eyeballed the odds and/or have had Covid and recovered.

    Older folks (70+) who are unvaccinated might want to think again. I think older folks are over 90% vaccinated.

    Since these unvaccinated folks don’t threaten my life (or the life of other vaccinated folks) I really spend as much time worried about them as I do of smokers and the grossly obese.

    To be honest and looking at the odds I also have little concern regarding the 50 million kids under 12 who are unvaccinated.

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