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First, I was a 'deplorable.' Then I became a 'fascist.' Later I was accused of being an 'extremist;' alluding to the idea that I was a racist, homophobe, misogynist, etc.
Now... I'm a 'moocher?' Is that a move up or down in society from 'deplorable?'
Half of Republican men say they don’t want the vaccine. They’re mooching off the rest of us
So... We need to 'depoliticize' this whole thing? Okay. Then why turn around and...?
In other words, they wish to 'depoliticize' it by immediately politicizing the discussion and totally ignoring the actual arguments being presented such as...
Let's just say I'm less and less hesitant about my decision... to wait... in that if all they've got by way of 'answers' to legitimate questions is insults, they may not have much of an argument at all. At least that's the impression being left.
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* The NPR/PBS/Marist poll cites 82% of Republican respondents having personally known someone who'd gotten sick from the virus; but, only 29% personally knowing someone who'd died from it. Further, it notes that almost as many "Republicans" (24%) as Democrats (29%) have already received vaccination and that 40% of Republicans haven't even tried being tested for Coronavirus, meaning... There may be some question if, at this point, a year into the 'pandemic,' they even need it if fully 82% personally know someone who has gotten sick from it; i.e., there's a chance they've been 'exposed' already.
Now... I'm a 'moocher?' Is that a move up or down in society from 'deplorable?'
Half of Republican men say they don’t want the vaccine. They’re mooching off the rest of us
...In a recent NPR/PBS/Marist survey, fully 49% of Republican men said they do not plan to get vaccinated — a higher share of refusers than any other demographic group. Among Democratic men, the number saying no was only 6%.
The finding, which has been confirmed in other polls, has confounded public health professionals...
Republicans, on the other hand, have become more resistant — especially since a Democrat became president.
They don’t trust the federal government — and they trust it even less since Joe Biden came to the White House. They don’t trust scientists, and they especially don’t trust Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical advisor.
Many tell pollsters they’re worried that the vaccine might not be safe. Such fears have been fed by Fox News, whose star polemicist Tucker Carlson has frequently accused authorities of “lying” about the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness...
“We have to find a way to depoliticize this issue,” he said. “Instead of hearing Joe Biden or Tony Fauci tell them to take the vaccine, they need to hear it from physicians in their own states — people who have never worked in Washington.”...
Others, like freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, have defended the right not to be immunized as an exercise in individual freedom.
“The survival rate [from COVID-19] is too high for me to want it,” Cawthorn, who is 25, explained.
But there’s a flaw in that argument: The hazards of refusing the vaccine don’t confine themselves to the individual refuser. Vaccine resisters are putting the rest of us in danger, too.
Unvaccinated people who contract COVID-19, even if they don’t become seriously ill, can pass the virus to family and friends...
Herd immunity against the coronavirus will require between 70% and 85% of the population to be vaccinated, Fauci estimates. It’s a new disease, so nobody knows the precise level, and new variants of the virus could push the number higher.
“If a significant number of people do not get vaccinated, that would delay where we would get to that endpoint,” Fauci warned recently...
Paul, Cawthorn and their colleagues are casting themselves as courageous individualists. In fact, they’re acting as epidemiological moochers. They’re free riders, relying on the rest of us to protect them by helping the country reach herd immunity...
The finding, which has been confirmed in other polls, has confounded public health professionals...
Republicans, on the other hand, have become more resistant — especially since a Democrat became president.
They don’t trust the federal government — and they trust it even less since Joe Biden came to the White House. They don’t trust scientists, and they especially don’t trust Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical advisor.
Many tell pollsters they’re worried that the vaccine might not be safe. Such fears have been fed by Fox News, whose star polemicist Tucker Carlson has frequently accused authorities of “lying” about the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness...
“We have to find a way to depoliticize this issue,” he said. “Instead of hearing Joe Biden or Tony Fauci tell them to take the vaccine, they need to hear it from physicians in their own states — people who have never worked in Washington.”...
Others, like freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, have defended the right not to be immunized as an exercise in individual freedom.
“The survival rate [from COVID-19] is too high for me to want it,” Cawthorn, who is 25, explained.
But there’s a flaw in that argument: The hazards of refusing the vaccine don’t confine themselves to the individual refuser. Vaccine resisters are putting the rest of us in danger, too.
Unvaccinated people who contract COVID-19, even if they don’t become seriously ill, can pass the virus to family and friends...
Herd immunity against the coronavirus will require between 70% and 85% of the population to be vaccinated, Fauci estimates. It’s a new disease, so nobody knows the precise level, and new variants of the virus could push the number higher.
“If a significant number of people do not get vaccinated, that would delay where we would get to that endpoint,” Fauci warned recently...
Paul, Cawthorn and their colleagues are casting themselves as courageous individualists. In fact, they’re acting as epidemiological moochers. They’re free riders, relying on the rest of us to protect them by helping the country reach herd immunity...
- Identify those who are resisting vaccination by Party affiliation
- Cite the one 'scientist' the poll specifically indicates 'resistors' especially don't trust
- Decry them as endangering the public
- Call them names such as 'moochers,' allude to their lack of patriotism, and suggest social ostracism
In other words, they wish to 'depoliticize' it by immediately politicizing the discussion and totally ignoring the actual arguments being presented such as...
- Having already contracted the virus and, thereby, having 'natural' immunity (what there might be of it)
- The perception of an extraordinarily high survival rate if the virus is contracted*
- Individual rights
- Unanswered, legitimate questions
Let's just say I'm less and less hesitant about my decision... to wait... in that if all they've got by way of 'answers' to legitimate questions is insults, they may not have much of an argument at all. At least that's the impression being left.
____________
* The NPR/PBS/Marist poll cites 82% of Republican respondents having personally known someone who'd gotten sick from the virus; but, only 29% personally knowing someone who'd died from it. Further, it notes that almost as many "Republicans" (24%) as Democrats (29%) have already received vaccination and that 40% of Republicans haven't even tried being tested for Coronavirus, meaning... There may be some question if, at this point, a year into the 'pandemic,' they even need it if fully 82% personally know someone who has gotten sick from it; i.e., there's a chance they've been 'exposed' already.
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