Judgment Day
Why are there so many anti- anti- vaxxers?
It was a slow afternoon, and I was idly clicking through LinkedIn, pretending it was some sort of writing research, and I came across a poll. We have new rules in the UK about what we can and can’t do, coincidentally (or otherwise) released when the top news story was about government workers not following the rules last Christmas, at a time when many people were barred from seeing friends and family.
The poll said (and I paraphrase)… I’m not a rulesy person, but will you be following the Plan B rules? My inner rebel clicked on no — we all know there is no nuance in this type of poll, and “No” can mean anything from “Not all of them”, to “they don’t apply to me”, to “why should I follow them if the government doesn’t”, possibly including, as someone commented, “the rules aren’t very clear and not all published in one place and haven’t been passed into law yet, so how could I answer yes at this stage?”. There may even have been people who mis-clicked, meaning to click “yes” but clicked “no” in error (though you might have to allow that there are also people who clicked “no” who meant to click “yes”). There may even be some people who will comply, but have noticed lying seems to be in vogue at the moment.
However, I was still surprised when my no vote placed me in a slim majority (52% to 48% — 152 votes at the time), and then I realised I was pleasantly surprised, but I wasn’t quite sure why.
I then read the first comment which was along the lines of “Wow, so many selfish people, that’s more scary than Covid”. This really annoyed me, and again I found myself examining why. I made a huge (though I believe justifiable) assumption that she was referring to the results of the poll, and specifically the people who had voted no, and I felt compelled to respond. But what to write? I know as well as anyone that social media is no place for a nuanced debate. Even LinkedIn, which like to pretend it is “better” than twitter or Facebook, has the same people on it with the same feelings, just slightly more worried that their boss might read them. I knew I’d be better off leaving it, but that felt like tacit agreement. There is no thumbs down on LinkedIn, and I thought channelling Pitt the Younger and simply writing “Pooh to you with knobs on!” wouldn’t really achieve anything.
But again it made me think, why are people more than ever happy to judge people who hold different views from themselves. (I count myself inside not outside that number, though I am trying). It feels post-Trumpian, post-Brexit in a way, but did those cause this polarisation, or just reflect it.
The most obvious current demonstration of this is the anti anti vaxx brigade. Name calling rather than reason seems to be method de jour. But if vaccines work so well, with no downsides, surely the argument can be won based on data and rhetoric, rather than immoral bribery , coercion and more name-calling Surely vaccine refuseniks are only harming themselves. (The idea, strong and appealing, that they spread it more than the double jabbed, appears patently false based on the UK Government’s own data showing rates of infection per 100,000 people are mostly higher, and roughly double in the 40–70 age groups, for double vaccinated rather than unvaccinated). If we leave them be they will die out eventually. Maybe the motivation is the same as that of the evangelical Christian, the desire to save people from themselves, but if so can it not be done with kindness and understanding?
The complete absence of debate on this definitely feels new. (There was debate over the benefits of a Trumpian presidency and over Brexit, even though facts and data were not the chosen tools for either side)
I don’t have any answers here, but it does worry me, and it makes me feel powerless sometimes, in light of the social media giants, the pharmaceutical companies and a Government that has such a casual relationship with truth, and an almost complete lack of any heavyweight thinkers in its leadership. (Truss, Raab, Patel, Javid, Williamson, Hancock, need I go on.)
On the bright side I will be complying with at least some of the rules. The enforced working from home means I can spend the 3 hours I save on my commute concentrating on my writing rather than watching box sets on the train. And maybe through the medium of Socratic dialogue I’ll be able to get answers to some of my questions, or at least feel calmer about the whole thing, and a bit more understanding of my fellow humans, and hopefully a little bit less judgmental. (And I won’t turn into an anti-anti-anti vaxxer!)
