Torches and pitchforks: Are ‘antivaxxers’ still the bogeymen par excellence?
What to say about this time last year, huh? When ‘antivaxxer’ was the epithet for the lowest of society’s low, the worst kind of antisocial wingnut we had to offer, a maniac, a conspiracy theorist, a right-wing nutjob?
Full disclosure, I’m one of those ‘antivaxxers’ (a bullshit term, but let’s keep it for the sake of simplicity). I never got the first shot, or the second, or the third or the fourth, and at this stage, there’s no hope I ever will. I’m healthy, and I stand by my original decision one hundred per cent — what’s come out since regarding the drug trials has only vindicated my decision. I’m not gonna bother to post any articles here; either you agree, in retrospect, that there was something rash and predatory about the whole coronavirus response (Albert Bourla, ching-ching), and something deeply suspect, or you’re doubling down and standing by your decision to support the official narrative. Hey, no problem either way; if you got the shots and you’re in good health, and feel the medicine kept you out of hospital, then good for you. I respect that. What I do object to, and is not so easy to forget, is the disgusting behaviour by the large percentage of people who railed against those of us who held onto a healthy level of scepticism and decided to maintain our bodily integrity and the right to decide for ourselves what to put in our veins. Regardless of how you feel about government response to the pandemic, this was an experimental medical procedure and we had every right to deny it. Maybe some of you will maintain that we didn’t, and if so, let us rest in disagreement, our beliefs polarised and never to be reconciled. One thing is undeniable though: The pitchforks were out and the torches were lit, and you were ready for burning us at the stake. Isn’t there any shame out there, or are we happy to forget all about it and scream our support for Zelensky instead, or whatever the latest thing to grab our attentions?
It feels like the whole thing’s been buried. Maybe you are ashamed. Or maybe you just have a short memory. But let’s not pretend any longer that your vitriol against the ‘vaccine-shy’ was in any way vindicated, or that the vaccine had any part to play in eradicating, or even slowing, the virus. That was all horseshit — demonstrable horseshit at that. Maybe you’re not willing to admit that you were manipulated by the media in being instructed to ostracise a whole minority in society, but maybe this time around when we question the whole monkeypox circus (or the next, for that matter), you think twice before lighting the torches and raising the pitchforks, what do ya say?
Regardless of your stance on the shots, feel free to comment below. Free discussion welcomed.
