Braveheart
“FREEDOM!!!” They just need some blue face paint and a kilt, and of course Mel Gibson, and they’re all set. “FREEDOM” from the oppression of – vaccinations and face masks? And the “FREEDOM” to risk not just themselves, but their fellow citizens with a COVID variant that can “breakthrough” the vaccines? “FREEDOM” to throw out all of the reasonable expectations of public health, expectations that began during the Black Plague in medieval times?
And who are “they”, crying out “FREEDOM” and threatening to lift their kilts?
Well let’s start with the candidate for Governor of Arkansas, former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Her current platform is her promise of “FREEDOM”, from all of the public health measures designed to protect her potential constituents.
“If I’m elected governor here in Arkansas, we will not have mask mandates. We will not have mandates on the vaccine, we will not shut down churches and schools and other large gatherings, because we believe in personal freedom and responsibility. It’s one of the key cornerstones, frankly, of our country.”
Of course personal freedom and responsibility doesn’t include a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion, or a transgendered child’s right to choose their gender identity. But that’s not really the point of this essay.
Arkansans
Arkansas is 49th in the percentage of the population vaccinated, with only 35% fully covered (Becker). Frankly, one of the “key cornerstones” of the United States is sacrifice for the public good. It’s why we pay taxes, and in times of crisis, accept increased government controls including rationing and even compulsory military service. And the “sacrifice” that Arkansans might be asked to give? Get the vaccination.
Exercising personal “FREEDOM” by not getting vaccinated means risking infection. It means that the non-vaccinated person is choosing not to get a near guaranteed protection from hospitalization and death. And, just like smoking cigarettes, they could argue that it’s their choice, and their fate. And even if you discount the increased costs of medical care for everyone due to infection and hospitalization, again, like cigarettes, it’s their choice.
But here’s where their “personal choice”, their “FREEDOM”, does more than just sicken or kill them. Viruses mutate by widespread infection. Stop the widespread infection, and there’s much less likelihood of the virus changing. Mutations create new risks for all of us; the risk that the virus will change into something not protected by the vaccines. By Arkansans having their “personal freedom and responsibility”, the great state of Arkansas becomes a petri dish for COVID virus mutation. And that’s when their vaunted “FREEDOM” impacts us all.
For Us All
It’s like because you smoke cigarettes, we are all forced to smoke. Not just secondary smoke, but we all have to light up and inhale: men, women and children. Arkansas, and the other states that refuse to take reasonable health measures won’t just have more infections of the COVID viruses we have now, but may well create new ones we don’t know how to control.
Sander’s isn’t the only one in Arkansas demanding “FREEDOM” from masks and vaccines. The state legislature banned schools from imposing mask mandates (though prisons can). So while other national Republican leaders, late to the game, are encouraging vaccination, Arkansas is “doubling down” on “FREEDOM”. And they are likely doubling down on increased COVID infections, hospitalizations and deaths. Let “FREEDOM” ring.
Common Sense
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has finally figured this out. Alabama is 51st in vaccinations, with only 34% fully covered (Becker). When asked about the rising infection and hospitalization rate in her state, Ivey replied:
“Folks are supposed to have common sense. But it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down…The new cases of COVID are because of unvaccinated folks. Almost 100% of the new hospitalizations are with unvaccinated folks. And the deaths are certainly occurring with unvaccinated folks.”
Somehow, both Governor Ivey and Candidate Sanders have determined that the “common sense” of the good people of Alabama and Arkansas will save the day. They will mask, social distance, and even close down, all on their own. But even if COVID hadn’t become intertwined with Trumpian politics, it’s not likely that citizens would lead in sacrificing. We have always looked to our leadership, in hurricanes and forest fires, in wars and now in disease.
But some of those leaders are more interested in following than leading. They don’t want to be up front with the hard realities of COVID and viral infection. Instead – they find it better to lead with phrases steeped in “Red, White and Blue”: FREEDOM. Freedom to infect us all.
