115 Comments

The politicization of a global pandemic in this day and age has further weakened our country.

In comparison, I recently flew Air Canada to Toronto, I had to be vaccinated, show proof and have a negative test 72 hours before my flight. My Canadian friends canceled all family parties in response to government guidelines, which was very upsetting for them, but it’s what you do for the common good, why is this so hard to comprehend?.

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Way too much disinformation had been spread early on. Antivaxers don't bother to immerse themselves in the real facts. To this day disinformation is immensely widespread.

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You are absolutely right. This is NOT HARD to comprehend. It’s almost like your dealing with spoiled children who want there way. The only difference is that your dealing with adults WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER.

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“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

(John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961)

Observing pandemic safety protocols is >not< about protecting me from you. It's about protecting us all from >each other.<

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Thanks for reminding us of JFK's words, DZK, which seem so relevant today at the same time they seem sadly antiquated.

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Dr. Reich, I think there is a psychological connection between the belief that Trump's reelection was "stolen" and the refusal to get vaccinated. One is the trigger for the other. Please read my comment above and let me know what you think.

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I remember when Covid first hit and people were reluctant to mask up, some organizers put posters up all around the Capital area with a picture of Ruth Bader Ginsberg wearing a mask and the words: Do It For RBG! Who do the antivaxers love enough to motivate them to protect? DJT? Q-Anon? "Do It For Q!"

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Yet they'll be among the first to wave flags and claim to be patriots. I wonder what they think they're doing for their country - per Mr Kennedy's stirring patriotic challenge.

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They THINK they're trying to RESTORE the country to its "Rightful Leader"(dictator), whose reelection was STOLEN from him by various demonic, supernatural, foreign and domestic "dark forces", who (when they are not busy conspiring against True Patriots) kidnap babies and small children to make pornography and/or cannibalize. They THINK they must resist tooth and nail absolutely everything the Biden administration attempts to accomplish, no matter HOW MUCH IT BENEFITS THEM, because it is ALL "Fruit of the Poison Tree".

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And they talk about 'sheep' and 'snowflakes'.?

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And "woke!" Don't forget "woke!"

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In the old days we talked about being conscious.

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Y'mean they can't distinguish between what it is to do >for< and >to< the country?

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What on earth?

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Dr. Reich provides us with an observant and insightful account of the effect of individualism on an infectious disease of pandemic proportions. But that same lens of individualism applies to other dimensions of the common good as well: extremes of wealth, inaction in the face of climate change, us-them divisiveness, healing race-based wounds, environmental damage of all kinds, shared truth, a functional government, and the list goes on. Many "goods" are "common". Lessons learned here do apply elsewhere as well. He did write the book: The Common Good.

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I feel personally safe. My family members are all vaccinated and either have the booster or are in the process of getting it. But I wear a mask in public spaces for 3 reasons: 1. to protect others from myself because I don't know for sure my status every minute of every day. Why take a chance on making someone sick just because they are too dumb to trust the science? 2. This mask wearing is, like it or not, political symbolism so I wear the mask, and carry one even when not actively wearing it, just to make the point that it is just a minor inconvenience and/or a little uncomfortable sometimes. 3. To hasten the time when we will all be able to put the pandemic behind us or at least reduce the inconvenience of dealing with it. I understand from experts that if everyone WOULD get vaccinated EVERYONE could be a little safer in most social settings although we will forever need to be concerned about those among us who have special risks.

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I like your point about mask-wearing as positive political symbolism about our interdependence. All we hear about is its negative political symbolism for those who reject an incursion on their so-called liberty.

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I go back many, many moons when Polio was around. No one questioned getting a polio, measles, mumps or chicken pox vaccine. The large-scale use of the polio vaccine began in February 1954, when it was administered to American schoolchildren. What happened to America the past 67 years? Just curious to know others thoughts.

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I remember the "sugar cube". My parents took me and my brothers to get the polio vaccine as soon as it was available. Anyone who questioned getting vaccinated against polio was a "kook". People believed in the competency of government and public health officials and trusted their judgement. The government was considered to be on the side of the people. Today, government is considered by many to be corrupt, incompetent, and on the side of special interests. The trust is gone!

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Well...the previous guy's government _was_ corrupt and incompetent. The sad irony of truth being suspect when lies become the norm.

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Also ironic -- some people that believe that government is corrupt and incompetent are strong supporters of Trump!

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What's up with that!

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They voted for Trump in 2016 because he was going to "drain the swamp". They have not yet figured it out.

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I guess we haven't been exposed to enough swamps so we'd recognize one when we see it. I do think that Ross Perot would have cleaned out the barn though. ;-)

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Drain the swamp? T***p created a new variant of that ideology...he is the swamp master with open pockets

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My parents enrolled me in the Polio vaccine trials at my school in San Lorenzo, California, and I had a sequence of 4 shots of the Salk Vaccine that turned out to be the placebo and I had to get another 4 of the real thing a year later. Now the new one is taken orally. Vaccines = a better chance of a long and healthy life. I guess Republicans are not good at math. I wonder how many will still be alive by the 2022 midterms. Maybe the Democrats will have a chance of a greater majority in congress in 2023.

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Tim. You hit the nail on the head!

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Well the behavior of congress over the years has shown it to be corrupt and on the side of special interests, all paid for by lots and lots of money....

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I too got a sugar cube and was happy to do so...after seeing those kids in the soup cans (iron lungs)

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Almost HALF of the voting population voted for Trump last year. A good portion of them are anti-vax and can't be reasoned with. I'm done confining what's left of my golden years for their benefit. Vax'ed and boosted here. The best to you all.

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What are you saying, Don? That you’re going to do whatever you want now? I’d love to feel that way but I just can’t. I sure am tired of not being able to go out and do things though.

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America has become too caught up with "what's in it for me" and the vast majority of the people think of themselves first, and not what is the common good for us all. Individualism, and not collectivism, rules the day and that is what makes covid continue to be a problem - especially here where we have the vaccine, but people won't take it.

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Perhaps we should amend the 1st amendment to state that the FEDERAL government shall reserve the right to make necessary medical decisions for the people in the event of pandemics or other national medical crises

Or, when the anti-vaccine person goes to the hospital, stick him/her in the emphysema ward. I have heard that some antivaxers declare they have the right to make their own decisions

Yet many of them agree with the anti-abortion laws stripping the women of their freedom to choose. At any rate, freedom of speech seems to be referenced as their basis of logic as well asany Republicans. I got my shots and it had NO effect on my ability to speak. The antivaxers contract COVID-19 and they run to the hospital in a panic. They magically turn from Christian Scientists to some desperate for a cure.

I'm sorry but public health trumps thos selfish freedom of speech claim.

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Today's NYT Opinion piece by two physicians says negative incentives work very well - as in Get vaccinated or get fired. They observe that 100% of United Airlines employees got vaccinated.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/21/opinion/vaccine-hesitancy-covid-omicron.html?campaign_id=39&emc=edit_ty_20211221&instance_id=48352&nl=opinion-today&regi_id=21979427&segment_id=77554&te=1&user_id=fc5a5feccefed441688c186866dcef86.

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If you couldn’t fly if you’re not vaccinated would be a big one too!

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Eventually, Tucker Carlson will get covid. Maybe that will change things. Meanwhile, we see the deadly effects of mass stupidity continue. It isn't due to a lack of national policy - it's, at least to me, a portion of the population whose anger at the world they live in has become so irrational that they have abandoned all reason. Like a child breaking her toys because they can't have all the ice cream, the Republicans are expressing their frustration over Trump's "stolen election" by refusing to come to the aid of their country.

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I think Tucker will get fired soon. Some of the decent FOX hosts, like Chris Wallace and Bret Briar, are leaving or distancing themselves from him. I watch him every once in a while. He seems to be getting more extreme each time I watch.

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One can only hope, but the problem is another will step into his shoes and may be even worse or more inflammatory. It's the bank rollers of fox, newsmax, OAN and others that need to be dealt with...

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I’m hoping the Omicron variant will be a less lethal variant and that the vaccinated population will weather through it. For those who can get vaccinated and choose not to, they should not be unconditionally privileged to use our health care system. More legislation should be proposed (and hopefully implemented) like the one in Illinois that put the responsibility of the unvaccinated to pay their own medical bills if they become hospitalized with COVID-19. What is the role of the insurance industry in handling all the financial risk imposed by the anti-vax stance nowadays? They have been too quiet since the pandemic started. What happened to the campaign of promoting personal responsibility, like putting on your seat belt and don’t drink and drive?

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I find it interesting that anti-vaxxers complain of the uncertainty of how a vaccine might affect them in the future - without thinking about the potential future side effects of these "milder" cases of omicron, or the probability that new strains will keep coming if we don't stop Covid now with vaccines.

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Have you ever heard of the "Darwin Awards"? It is what you get if you help your species becomes extinct by dying while being stupid. Have you heard of the "Trump Award"? It is what you get when you help your party become extinct by dying of covid-19 because you were stupid enough not to get the vaccine.

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Every privilege there comes a responsibility. But we seem to have forgotten that the privilege of individualism comes with the responsibility of social conscience. It is the difference between "Every man for himself" and "We're all in this together."

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You make a fundamental and hugely important point, one I haven't heard elsewhere. The implications go well beyond a pandemic. Is the United States any kind of community, or are we just separate little groups at odds with each other? We fall into a trap of defining everything as either self or other, leading to an ever growing category of "other". Is this our country's basic mental health problem? I wish that you, Robert Reich, could have these opinions published in the NYT or Washington Post.

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The administration needs to be more forcefully vocal. The message while factual doesn’t catch those who need to hear it. Those people are driven by EMOTION hence the message needs to be emotional in nature. Show imagery of people in ICU’s like the old ‘frying egg’ “This is your brain on drugs” ads which I STILL remember from when I was a kid. That simple emotion stimulating image and messages STILL sticks with me. They need to re-tune their messages.

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David, I remember that "frying egg" message too! The anti-vaxx sentiment is so bad where I live that I have to keep my fully vaccinated status a SECRET to avoid conflicts with friends and family. The HVAC person at my house last week stated that he wasn't going to put any "poison" into his arm! He resented my request to wear a mask while indoors. What message would change his mind?

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In that case a "no mask, no entry" policy with any business you want to deal with in your own home. If he wants the business, tell him to get the prick and stop being a prick. Nothing motivates people like money (or the loss of it). For others who are on-the-fence, posting a tasteful as possible (difficult) video clips of people suffering in ICU's saying "I wish I got the shot" could go a long way, esp if it's done in a emotionally catching and memorable way, think of those SPCA ad's showing cats and dogs in terrible circumstances with their dollar-a-day pitch to help save and get them into homes. Those have a very strong emotional message and evidently they work because I keep seeing them and advertising is expensive.

Factual messages work for rational fact minded individuals (who largely trend democratic) AND who have already got their shots, it's time to target the less rational emotionally driven types (who largely trend republican) with emotional messages that they link with.

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Are these people who think vaccines are poison seeing vaccinated people die in droves? Who is ending up in the hospital? It’s people like THEM. Honestly, how can they be so willfully blind in the face of overwhelming evidence?

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Yes, we have a responsibility as a society member to protect everyone. But since the unvaxxed aren't doing that (and never will) we still need to fall back on what we can risk as individuals. I'm a senior with an underlying condition (I think): fibromyalgia. And, once again New York is being slammed. So I'm considering "hunkering down" again. I want to live until I'm "older than dirt"!

I recently convinced a friend who wasn't going to get the booster, to get it. In the long run, friendship was more important than what she heard on FoxNews. But that's where my influence stops. I've basically eliminated all the unvaxxed from my circle of friends.

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I think one of the kindest gifts we can give this holiday season would be to convince an anti-vaxxer that they should be fully inoculated. It would be a gift not just to that unvaccinated person but to all of us.

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"Tough Love" is when you ground your teenager for violating the rules. Time for some "Tough love" on the anti-Vaccine crowd.

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Good for you Nancy. To paraphrase the parable, '.. it made a difference to that one.'. May we all hope for that level of friendship and understanding in our lives.

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I don't see us doing any better unless something drastic happens. It would have to be something on a scale of Pearl Harbor. Only at the start of the pandemic, when our most senior citizens were dying in nursing homes, was there any attempt to work together as a nation to help them. Unless our youngest start falling victim to this disease, or suffering from devastating long-term complications, it's just going to be more of the same. Sorry for being so pessimistic, but this is what I've seen happening so far. When the pandemic started, my federal agency had us working from home in early March to keep us safe as they had already had plans prepared for working in a pandemic. Once we found out more about how Covid spread, it literally blew my mind that our response to it became so political. Not even in my worst nightmare had I imagined that we would respond so poorly as a nation. It's shameful and embarrassing.

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There were many Nazi sympathizers before Pearl Harbor, many prominent citizens, but after Dec 1941 they shut up and put their shoulders into the war effort.

Many did not change their minds, really, but just lay low and slowly rebuilt their loser, self destructive, corrosive, moronic cult worship program quietly, over the decades.

In many ways, we have already suffered the wake up attack. 3 times, by my count.

Our country is under renewed intensified attack — by a virus. Some reputable experts estimate 1 million are dead or will be soon, just like WWII.

1 million! More than 50 million positive tests!

As you say, what does it take? — b.rad

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Also, as I started working from home, I was thinking that within 2-3 months tops we would have contained the virus and I would be back at work. What a mess we've created by not working together.

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