“…nothing in this world is certain except death and taxes”, so Benjamin Franklin penned as one of his last great quotes. He could have stopped with “death”, but his nature and wit could not ignore that a social structure demands participation, something “taxes” embodies, and was also an undeniable reality. Yet we live our lives year after year as if reasonable certainty, beyond physical laws, was everywhere and anywhere. To do otherwise is to live in constant fear and indecision. However, in this century it appears that fear and indecision are winning.
I find myself absolutely intolerant of the 40% of Americans who have decided not to participate in the inoculation of our population against the Covid-19 virus. The fact that this has developed almost entirely in the former Confederate, deep South and Conservative rural communities everywhere makes it even more infuriating. This may become the most divisive behavior yet contrived by those who profit from misinformation. It may ultimately decide the contest between emotion and intellect, between fear and knowledge.
How do you get through to people? My son, who is sensitive and understanding, made the point to me that you can’t knock people over the head. He suggested we need to listen and understand their point of view in order to show and convince them that their views can change without compromise. I used to think that as well. No more.
Republican politicians who are addicted to the wealth of power and Conservative organizations and media who are mostly addicted to simply wealth have spent nearly four decades building a solidly cohesive voting and spending bloc through the creative use of fear. They have become desperate not to lose it. Their primary tool is the twisted amplification of Benjamin Franklin’s old quote. They advance the certainty of uncertainty, to instill the fear they need for control.
How do we know for sure that the Covid-19 virus is really a pandemic? How can we be certain that the vaccine will prevent the virus? Does anyone really know how dangerous the vaccine is? Can we really trust government to provide safe medical solutions? How can we truly believe the FDA, CDC, Fauci, Biden, or the local school board? Isn’t it possible that Liberals are really just Socialists, who are really just Communists, and support pedophilia? If we let anyone into this country isn’t it feasible they’ll use up our resources, corrupt our elections, steal our liberties, take our money, confiscate our weapons, burn our churches, and rape our daughters? It’s possible, isn’t it?
There
are no answers to these questions or many questions like them because they are
grounded in fear, and that fear is preserved by those who profit from it. It is
only when an individual gives up the fear that they can open themselves to
reasonable certainties, if not absolute certainties.
That the fears created have been vastly political in nature is particularly infuriating. As of today, 21 of the top 25 states showing increased vulnerability to Covid-19 due to the unvaccinated are "Red" states, including the top 14. The 14 least affected are all "blue". Yet the folly and absurdity of this fact is not touch by a single Republican leader.
So what do you do without the support of leadership and media that deals with their own fear of losing control or money? Perhaps to handle a unique situation like a pandemic we have to fight fear with fear. Efforts to get individuals to be vaccinated with soft cajoling, pleas, or financial rewards absolutely turn my stomach.
If the Covid-19 virus is not deadly enough for people to have one or two degrees of separation from it, then start the campaign to instill the likelihood that if they don’t get the vaccine they WILL die, or at the very least be tragically ill for the rest of their lives. Not true? Well…anything is possible…right?
Perhaps
the virus and its offspring will inflict that fear on its own. That would be
such a sad alternative, but it could happen…right?
