A SOCIETY DIVIDED

The massive amounts of money spent on COVID in Canada alone boggles the mind. I wonder what amazing things we could have accomplished if we had spent the same amount of money and effort worldwide to cure cancer, or diabetes, or heart disease? Let’s be frank… what has been going on in the last 2 years is not about healthcare and saving lives. If it were, it would have focused on the Opioid Crisis. It would have focused on Cancer, Heart Disease, or Diabetes. It would have focused on reducing poverty, both at home and worldwide.
However, let’s recognize the accomplishment… If they could come up with this incredible vaccine (and not just from one company but from several different ones working independently) in a matter of a few short months… one that is universally acceptable, and obviously has no side effects and has no long-term side effects (because they can know that), imagine if that effort had been put into something more productive and life-saving.
Though, I must wonder how they did it… I mean, when I watch TV, and see the commercials for other drugs, they fill the entire 30 seconds discussing side effects, not the benefits of the medication. That they could have created this medication with no side effects is amazing in and of itself. Whether or it works or not…. They have created something that works with every person, regardless of age, sex, health conditions, blood type, comorbidities, interactions with other medications, and other considerations. I mean, stop and think about that. A drug that is so universally acceptable that a zoo in Quebec is going to vaccinate its animals. You must admit, it is pretty amazing… right?
But does it work? I guess that doesn’t matter. I mean, its clear from the division in our society between the vaxxed and the unvaxxed, that those vaccinated clearly don’t feel protected. If they did, they wouldn’t care if someone else is vaxxed or not. So we have created a second class of citizen that can not go to restaurants, group gatherings, and in some jurisdictions cannot even buy groceries or renew their driver’s licenses because those “protected” by the vaccine clearly do not have faith in the vaccine. So much so that they want to all but criminalize not being vaxxed. I personally don’t understand the division… I mean, it says, “I am so uncertain that the vax is working for me that I NEED you to take it”. You cannot own both sides of this argument… If it works, then what difference does it make if others are vaxxed… you are protected. If it DOESN’T work, then why would you insist that someone be injected with something that doesn’t work? I’m sorry, I don’t get it. (And don’t shove the overwhelming the healthcare system argument at me… First you probably REALLY don’t care unless you work in healthcare, and second, we would not be firing healthcare workers… we would find another way, like daily testing or something…)
For the last nearly two years, I have followed all the rules… I have physically distanced. I have “sheltered in place”. I have worn a mask EVERYWHERE where there are other people. I have had both shots (because I knew it was going to be a condition of being able to travel). I have limited my social interactions. I have avoided large groups. I have limited the number of times I went to restaurants. I have been compliant… 100%. And yet here we are. Afraid to book a vacation because we don’t know what kind of new rules the Canadian Government will put in place while we are gone.
We have created a world where, in the face of a “Healthcare Crisis” (as they describe it) that we are firing Healthcare Workers for not being vaxxed… the same people that were good enough to treat people before and the ONLY thing that changed was a decree that they are now unemployable. If nearly 90% of the population was vaccinated, what happened to “herd immunity”. I don’t hear them talking about that anymore. But it still comes down to the crux of it…. Does the vaccine work or doesn’t it?
As I understand it, even a “fully vaccinated” person can carry, acquire and pass along the virus. That isn’t something that is unique to the unvaccinated. There is talk that the length of time that a vaxxed person is contagious may be shorter, but I have not seen any proof of that. So, if both vaxxed and unvaxxed can get, carry and distribute the virus, what difference is there really between vaxxed and unvaxxed. I understand that the symptoms are generally milder for someone that is vaxxed… but that you do for yourself. If my symptoms are less than yours, or yours less than mine, do you REALLY care?
We will never get to 100% vaccinated. We will never get to 100% anything… unless we start arresting people, throwing them in concentration camps and forcing the vaccine on them physically. Is that what people want? Where do we draw the line and say enough! Why must we have such hatred as a society for someone that is exercising their Constitutional Right. Again…. If you are vaccinated and its working, then what difference does it make? And if it ISN’T working, why on Earth would you want someone, adult or child, to take a medication that doesn’t work? It makes absolutely no sense.
There is too much that divides us in the crazy world. This one should be easy. Live and let live. Stop listening to the rhetoric from the leaders. Start listening to your common sense. Let’s start insisting that when they come down with new rules and restrictions that they pass the stink test. Lets all start asking for more transparency and more factual information. It is time to hold people to account. We are two years into “14 days to flatten the curve”. And we are worse off now than ever before. It makes no sense… none at all.
We survived SARS, MERS, Ebola, and countless other viruses without all of this. They will create new variants every year to scare us with. I mean, look at it now… ALL the talk is surrounding Omicron and Delta is not the topic because it has no fear factor anymore. COVID is with us…. And probably will be forever. We need to learn to live with it. We need to stop fearing it. Furthermore, we need to stop relying on the government to protect us because they are not doing a great job. If you are high risk, then YOU have the responsibility to keep safe. Wash your hands, Mask if you feel it is necessary. Isolate if needed. Don’t come to work or elsewhere if you are sick. Let’s stop the mass stupidity that has gripped the world… Let’s stop the fear. Let’s start living life again. I don’t know how many years I have left, but I am tired of having them robbed by the government. It’s time for ALL of us to stop living in fear and to just start living again.