Jan 26, 2022·edited Jan 26, 2022Liked by Meghan Murphy
I feel like “anti vaxxer” is akin to TERF as a way to tarnish everyone who doesn’t agree with an ever-expanding party line. Whether you got the Covid vax or not, and no matter how you feel about all the other vaccinations, you are an anti-vaxxer now if you don’t support mandates and the unquestioned triple vaccination of every human over 5, or if you have any concerns about the increasing dehumanization of people who didn’t get the shot.
I got the Covid vaccine but I am increasingly worried about the mandates and other strategies in various countries to coerce people into getting it. We know now it doesn’t stop infection for the omicron variant. It is just not appropriate to put it in the same category as long-tested traditional vaccines like measles and polio. So why are we trying to force everyone to take it?
At best, being unvaccinated is now akin to an unhealthy lifestyle choice like being obese — which we know is a huge risk for Covid, but the government isn’t forcing people to lose weight, which we know would be fucked up. At worst, it may not be as effective in the long term as we hope even against serious disease or death, and there are concerns that an endless round of boosters can do more harm than good.
My friends are really angry at me because I don’t want the booster. I am 31, in good health and just had omicron, which was the equivalent of a MILD cold for me, so what is the point? I’m really worried about the direction our culture is going with this.
"The left is no longer fighting for the working class — they have lost touch with the struggles and concerns of real working people in North America, and have chosen ideology, empty mantras, and political virtue signalling over freedom, rights, and justice." - Amen. I am politically homeless due to this.
Your broad generalizations invalidate your analysis. Truckers in Canada are not the same as, say, Amazon workers in the US. Truckers are much less exposed to others while doing their work, driving alone. Amazon workers, on the other hand, have struggled since the beginning of the pandemic to get their employer to take their safety concerns seriously. Or do you see Amazon workers as “the privileged… the over educated.. those with political, corporate, and media power…”
Amazon Is Rolling Back COVID Protocols in Its Warehouses. Workers Say It’s Premature
”Meanwhile, warehouse workers around the country reported they, too, like Smalls, were fired after bringing up safety concerns. Linda Rodriguez, an Amazon worker in Colorado, said she was terminated after she raised alarms about the company’s “sloppy contact tracing” and lack of pandemic safety information for Spanish-speaking employees. (She filed a complaint with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment; the matter is yet to be resolved. Amazon told Colorado Public Radio Rodriguez was fired for other reasons.) News reports show that warehouse workers in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and New York also said they were fired for speaking out about Amazon’s lack of COVID safety measures.”
You may be right about progressives and Democrats no longer serving the interests of working people – but wrong about why. Many unions want MORE not LESS in the way of covid protections for workers.
Unions demand OSHA restore anti-COVID standard protecting health workers
“Led by National Nurses United, unions are demanding the Biden administration’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) restore its national standard ordering hospitals and nursing homes to protect workers against the coronavirus.”
The real working class revolution is the fight against vaccine mandates
I feel like “anti vaxxer” is akin to TERF as a way to tarnish everyone who doesn’t agree with an ever-expanding party line. Whether you got the Covid vax or not, and no matter how you feel about all the other vaccinations, you are an anti-vaxxer now if you don’t support mandates and the unquestioned triple vaccination of every human over 5, or if you have any concerns about the increasing dehumanization of people who didn’t get the shot.
I got the Covid vaccine but I am increasingly worried about the mandates and other strategies in various countries to coerce people into getting it. We know now it doesn’t stop infection for the omicron variant. It is just not appropriate to put it in the same category as long-tested traditional vaccines like measles and polio. So why are we trying to force everyone to take it?
At best, being unvaccinated is now akin to an unhealthy lifestyle choice like being obese — which we know is a huge risk for Covid, but the government isn’t forcing people to lose weight, which we know would be fucked up. At worst, it may not be as effective in the long term as we hope even against serious disease or death, and there are concerns that an endless round of boosters can do more harm than good.
My friends are really angry at me because I don’t want the booster. I am 31, in good health and just had omicron, which was the equivalent of a MILD cold for me, so what is the point? I’m really worried about the direction our culture is going with this.
I'm so glad people are talking about class again. This is the real social justice issue.
"The left is no longer fighting for the working class — they have lost touch with the struggles and concerns of real working people in North America, and have chosen ideology, empty mantras, and political virtue signalling over freedom, rights, and justice." - Amen. I am politically homeless due to this.
Meghan, how are buisness owners "working class" people?
Your broad generalizations invalidate your analysis. Truckers in Canada are not the same as, say, Amazon workers in the US. Truckers are much less exposed to others while doing their work, driving alone. Amazon workers, on the other hand, have struggled since the beginning of the pandemic to get their employer to take their safety concerns seriously. Or do you see Amazon workers as “the privileged… the over educated.. those with political, corporate, and media power…”
Amazon Is Rolling Back COVID Protocols in Its Warehouses. Workers Say It’s Premature
https://themarkup.org/working-for-an-algorithm/2021/12/21/amazon-is-rolling-back-covid-protocols-in-its-warehouses-workers-say-its-premature
”Meanwhile, warehouse workers around the country reported they, too, like Smalls, were fired after bringing up safety concerns. Linda Rodriguez, an Amazon worker in Colorado, said she was terminated after she raised alarms about the company’s “sloppy contact tracing” and lack of pandemic safety information for Spanish-speaking employees. (She filed a complaint with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment; the matter is yet to be resolved. Amazon told Colorado Public Radio Rodriguez was fired for other reasons.) News reports show that warehouse workers in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and New York also said they were fired for speaking out about Amazon’s lack of COVID safety measures.”
You may be right about progressives and Democrats no longer serving the interests of working people – but wrong about why. Many unions want MORE not LESS in the way of covid protections for workers.
Unions demand OSHA restore anti-COVID standard protecting health workers
https://peoplesworld.org/article/unions-demand-osha-restore-anti-covid-standard-protecting-health-workers/
“Led by National Nurses United, unions are demanding the Biden administration’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) restore its national standard ordering hospitals and nursing homes to protect workers against the coronavirus.”