Sign up to get updates from us
Introduction
Get the jab to protect yourself and others.
People who assert the My Body, My Choice argument in defending actions like getting abortions and not getting vaccines beg the question of whether it is indeed their body or only their body. In other words, if government simply allows certain actions, or mandates others, is the government doing the right thing by protecting others from our actions, or doing the wrong thing by protecting us from ourselves?
Oh, and if you care about your life, and the friends and loved ones who need you and want you here, get the jab. Stop pretending that you know how clinical trials should be conducted, or that you are waiting for more data to examine, as if you know how to gather and examine volumes of data in the first place.
That is the subject of today’s 10 minute episode.
Continuing
We have all accepted the argument that smoking around others affects their bodies; no rational person makes the My Body, My Choice argument with smoking. Now, what about seatbelts; is this another issue where the My Body, My Choice argument wins? No. The most obvious reason for this answer is that an unbelted person in a car can become a projectile, injuring others in the same car in a crash. For example, a University of Washington study shows that the risk of death for a rear occupant was increased about 22 percent if someone in front was unrestrained, compared with having someone in front who was restrained. Additionally, belted drivers have the chance to be in control of the vehicle for an important split second longer than unbelted drivers, perhaps mitigating the severity of the accident. Even if alone, this could help those in other cars involved in the accident.
Let’s tackle the question of the My Body argument with the COVID vaccine. I’ll start with declaring that I am not concerned with protecting those who are eligible for the vaccine and have chosen not to get it. Life is full of choices; they are on their own. But what if I am with age defined and other groups that are not eligible; do I have any obligation there? Do I need to get the jab to help protect them? My answer is a clear yes. By dramatically reducing my risk of contracting COVID, I am helping those who cannot help themselves if I am near them, especially indoors. How? 1. Specifically, I am reducing the risk of infecting them, and 2. In general I am helping to reduce the possibility of the introduction of ever more dangerous variants.
COVID in the US started out as a pandemic where no one was protected; now it is a pandemic among the unvaccinated. It is no exaggeration to declare that the creation and availability of three highly effective vaccines within 10 months was nothing short of a medical miracle. There were 3 independently run, successfully completed, full sets of clinical trials. Moreover, Bloomberg reports that as of 31 July 2021, the biggest vaccination campaign in history is underway. More than 4.1 billion doses have been administered across 180 countries. The latest rate was roughly 40.6 million doses a day worldwide. In the U.S. alone, 346 million doses have been given. In the last week, an average of 657,213 doses per day were administered right here in the US of A. In addition to the 3 successful clinical trials, we now have worldwide “for real” trials on an unprecedented scale. What more do you want?
Employers, both public and private, have every right to mandate vaccines. And not just with the obvious: healthcare workers. Individuals have the right not to work in a vaccine mandated environment. Unions have the right to fight these mandates, even if they are wrong in this fight. As an example, teachers’ unions have the right to fight against charter schools and private school vouchers, (Charter Schools Make Public School Better. EP. 01) even though that struggle clearly disadvantages the very students they profess to serve. But having the right to take an action does not make the action right. Legally right and morally right are only coincidentally connected. And the teachers unions continue to self-serve at the expense of their students with their efforts to keep schools masked at best, and locked down at worst.
Membership in private unions continues to fall, because today the marketplace is a better arbiter of workers’ compensation and benefits than unions and their leaders. Public sector unions continue to gain in membership for the very reason that they should not be allowed in the first place. It is clear that cooperation between the unions and their contributions to the very politicians who vote on their pay and benefits is an unacceptable and borderline criminal conflict of interest. Private sector unions negotiate at arm’s length, with each party representing different interests. This forces compromises where everyone gets a little and gives a little, allowing the entire enterprise to succeed. With public unions, the unions pay off the politicians, and the politicians pay back the unions with increased pay and benefits. Rinse and repeat. Only the unions and the politicians succeed. The taxpayers and others suffer.
Many people who do not accept the My Body argument with abortion fully accept it with vaccines. The Pro Choice, Pro Life Argument continues to rage, with the only thing that should be obvious to everyone is that there is at least some doubt about where today’s science steers the discussion. And with that doubt, shouldn’t the benefit of the doubt support the Pro Life argument? In exactly the same way, the only thing that should be obvious to everyone is that there is at least some doubt as to where today’s science is steering the vaccine argument. And shouldn’t the benefit of that doubt, along with the many reasons already cited in this episode, argue for being personally responsible and getting vaccinated? And now.
Yes, we are all personally responsible for ourselves and others. And personal responsibility does not stand alone; the two main and interdependent principles at Revolution 2.0 are:
Here’s Charles Barkley, the basketball Hall of Famer and longtime TNT analyst on the subject. Barkley told CNBC in a recent interview that unvaccinated people are “just a–holes” and that he believes all pro sports leagues should mandate their athletes and staffers receive the shot. “Yes, I’m vaccinated. Everybody should be vaccinated. Period,” the 58-year-old said. “Can you imagine if one of these guys who is not vaccinated, if they get one of these players’ kids, wives, girlfriends, moms and dads sick and they die over some unnecessary conspiracy BS? I think that would be tragic.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. will have the last word today. “The time is always right to do what is right.”
Where do you stand? What are you going to do? Remember, it does not matter where you stand if you don’t do anything. You can start by subscribing to these episodes, and encouraging others to subscribe with you.
As always, whatever you do, do it in love. Without love, anything we do is empty. 1 Corinthians 16:14
Contact
As we get ready to wrap up, please do respond in the episodes with comments or questions about this episode or anything that comes to mind, or connect with me on Twitter, @willluden, Facebook, facebook.com/will.luden, and LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com/in/willluden/. And you can subscribe on your favorite device through Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts.
Will Luden, coming to you from 7,200’ in Colorado Springs.
