“Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose …”
Actually, with apologies to Kris Kristofferson, these days freedom seems more like the right to be an asshole.
I’m not sure there has ever been a time — at least in the nearly three-quarters of a century I have been alive — when more people have been whining about their “rights.”
The best two examples these days seem to be gun rights and the “right” not to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.
I’ve written often about the battles with the gun wackos arguing that they shouldn’t even be inconvenienced by efforts to keep weapons out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them.
But this isn’t about those wackos, who are mostly on the right.
This is about folks, many on the left, who are against vaccination. They argue that side effects that occasionally come with vaccines outweigh the risk of doing without and possibly catching and/or spreading contagious diseases.
Of course there are wackos on the right who aren’t against vaccines in general but see the COVID-19 vaccines as some sort of plot against Trumpanzees. They even booed their hero when he said he had recently gotten a booster shot.
The last time I checked, one of my two closest friends in the world had not been vaccinated. He’s perfectly capable as a major contrarian to be doing it by choice, but he told me his doctor hadn’t let him get the vaccine because it would complicate some other treatment he is receiving.
I hope for his sake that has changed.
Two of the most horrific diseases in American history have been all but eliminated by vaccines. Americans no longer have to be afraid of smallpox or polio because of vaccines, largely because almost all children have to be vaccinated to attend school.
My unvaccinated friend is fond of saying that my right to throw my fist ends where his nose begins, but let’s be fair here. One reason the pandemic has been so long-lived and deadly is because there are millions of Americans who for one reason or another refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccination.
With a few exceptions, what they see as their right to refuse vaccination is actually their right to be an asshole.
But that’s not such a good song lyric.