The Biden administration has announced sweeping vaccine mandates that would affect millions of Americans. Reuters. The new rules would include 2/3rds of American workers since it would require vaccination for any employer that has more than 100 employees. It would also require all medical workers to get the vaccine. Businesses that are unable or unwilling to comply with this order could be fined $14,000 per violation under OSHA. Biden would also require large entertainment or sports venues to discriminate against the unvaccinated.
My Comment:
People are, predictably, furious about this. I am, of course, one of those people. Though I have been vaccinated myself I have never supported making the vaccine mandatory. It's draconian and tyrannical to do so under normal circumstances, let alone under the circumstances we are under now.
The worst thing is that vaccination no longer appears to be the way out of this pandemic. Take Israel for example. They have more than 90% of their population vaccinated and have had a major outbreak of the Delta variant. Though the vaccines have had some effectiveness in preventing deaths and severe cases they in no way stop the spread of the virus. Even if we had 100% vaccination rates the virus would still be out there and still spreading. And there is the obvious evolutionary pressure these vaccines are causing that will mean new variants will be resistant to the vaccine (which we saw a bit with Delta and are beginning to see with the new "Mu" variant.)
Besides the vaccines failure to stop the spread of the virus there are dozens of valid reasons to not take the vaccine. Some people have legitimate medical or religious reasons to not do so. Others are concerned about known and unknown side effects from experimental vaccines. Some are concerned about leaky vaccines making the Coronavirus more deadly, much like how such a vaccine turned Marek's Disease from a minor annoyance to a 100% fatal disease. And some just aren't afraid of the Coronavirus anymore. (I know that whatever worries I had of the virus personally ended when the Delta variant emerged, which was months after I had been vaccinated).
Still others will object to the vaccine on principle alone. I don't think the Government has any right to make a dangerous and monumental decision out of the hands of people and their doctors. The government does not have that right and I am guessing that this will probably be struck down by the courts.
I continue to say that getting the vaccine is a personal choice. I got it myself because at the time, Delta was not the dominate variant and I have some minor risk factors. Even then I wouldn't have taken it if I had natural antibodies (which as far as the Biden administration is concerned apparently don't exist). For others, like my elderly parents, I am fully supportive of them getting vaccines. The risk reward calculation is different for different people and forcing people to take more risk than they would accept is not the way out of this.
Because the only way out of this is through natural immunity and evolution. The virus, much like other viruses we have seen, becomes easier to spread and less deadly as it evolves. We have seen this with many diseases, most notably the Russian Flu, which was another Coronavirus pandemic. That virus is now a variant of the Common Cold which is likely to be the fate of SARS-COV-2. The only way that happens is through time, and threatening forced vaccine under the punishment of unemployment and exile will not change a damn thing, especially since the virus seems perfectly capable of infecting wild and domesticated animals.
With that being said though, Biden is acting like an utter fool here. You can't threaten the livelihood of millions of Americans without there being some major blowback. You can do a lot to a man before he stands up for himself but putting him out of work? That's how revolutions start.
I would, however, recommend peaceful protest at this time. I have already contacted my elected officials and I implore you to do the same. You can do so with this website. Should our elected officials shirk their responsibility here than there are other non-violent ways to help stop this. At this time I am waiting to share those until I know the situation requires it, but I am sure you can think of non-violent means of resistance.
But I do worry that cooler heads will not prevail. Biden has no mandate to do this and he is doing it at a time that the country has never been weaker or more divided. We have been utterly embarrassed in Afghanistan and it looks pretty clear that the economy is already starting to tank. There is only so much people can take before they start to fight back and we are getting dangerously close to that point now.
I also have to say that Biden is acting utterly unhinged. In his little speech he talking about how is patience is running thin and threatening to remove governors that stand in his way. Those aren't the actions of a man that cares about his people. That's how a dictator acts and I think that the senility is really starting to show through. Or perhaps Biden is just a petty, vindictive man that wants to punish the millions of Americans who don't show him any of the respect he thinks he deserves.
If there is hope here it is this. At this point the American people might just start to ignore the rambling of the federal government and it's senile oathbreaker leader. People are sick and tired of Coronavirus restrictions and they are being almost universally ignored pretty much wherever I go. Though I have seen some people wear masks, nobody is forcing them to do so and I don't believe anyone is even willing to try. In short, Biden can rant and rave and try to be a petty tyrant all he wants, but there is a good chance that everyone just ignores him and he backs down when he realizes that he's accomplishing nothing. My sincere hope is that I am right about this...
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