JOIN THE HERD

Both my wife and I have had our first Covid shot. Our second shots will be later this month. We have some friends and relatives who are not going to get the shots. That, for a certainty, is their choice. I have some thoughts about that choice that I would like to share. 

 

Some folks say that getting the vaccine is a crapshoot. Ok, let's say that. Is running around without getting the vaccine and dealing with this ugly little virus completely unprotected any less of a crapshoot?

 

The most common reasons being given is that they don't trust the vaccine, the government, or the "science", as well as thinking the actual disease is just not as devastating as advertised. In many ways I can understand this thinking, but why gamble?

 

I have also been amazed by the way this virus has become so political. Let's face it, the Democrats used it as a weapon against Trump and quite successfully. It is also a stretch of one's imagination to believe the numbers being offered by our own government regarding those hospitalized, and those who have died because of this virus. Who knows what the truth really is? Who can you believe?

 

The next thing I find astounding is the way in which politicians have become dictators and even stranger to me is the fact that normal American citizens have allowed it. I believe many politicians will be looking for legitimate work very soon.  

 

Here is the next big question. Why is it that states like California and New York restrict so many of their citizens and their businesses in order to control and contain this virus? Does anybody really think that is working out for them? Florida, on the other hand, is basically open for business with no perceptible increase in infection because of that opening. I live in Georgia and our businesses are open and so are our schools. We regularly go out to restaurants to eat. Very few are closed to inside dining.

 

When we go to the store, we see people wearing their masks. But, we often see people who flat out refuse to wear a mask. What keeps California and New York from reopening? Politicians maybe? Just a thought.

 

Do you remember last February and March? We were told to just be patient. We must "flatten the curve". Hmmm, how'd that work out. Then we were told to trust the science. Another hmmm. How do we know what is science and what is propaganda? Kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it? It does me. It's been a year now and the curve still hasn't flattened.

 

Humans and other animals develop immunities to various maladies by just being around those maladies. If one lived in a germ free bubble, they could never go outside of that bubble. When white Europeans arrived on this shore back in the 1700s, they caused the death of many, many Indians who had no immunity to all the new germs. 

 

We today have "herd immunity" to many diseases that would otherwise kill us. That immunity has come from exposure, not from hiding under a rock.

 

In the meantime get your shot if it becomes available to you. It is the best gamble we have. Join the herd. 

 

Ron Scarbro February 9, 2021