DAISY LUTHER
All over the world, the hot-button subject of the moment is the Covid vaccination. Many governments discuss making it mandatory, a terrifying concept for people who believe that the vaccine is unsafe. But perhaps even more appalling are the shocking things that people are saying about those who are unvaccinated.
This article isn't about whether the vaccine is safe or not. I'm not urging anyone to get the vaccine, nor am I urging anyone to avoid it. I believe that my health decisions are my choice, and yours are your choice.
I hope that when you read these comments, whatever side of the debate you are on, you stop and think about your humanity. If this were done to any other group of people, it would be considered hate speech. Because the mainstream media and the narrative are tightly controlled right now, this isn't just thought of as acceptable but a signal of superior virtue.
The danger of "othering"
We already talked about how people would be "encouraged" to get the vaccine through a loss of liberty "privileges." By now, those eager to get the vaccine have done so. Also, those with valid reasons (like loss of income) have also gotten the jab. Therefore, holdouts who remain adamant they won't get the vaccine are now being exposed to a whole new level of "encouragement" via extreme social pressure.
A phenomenon called "othering" is used in both the violence dynamics world and in brainwashing. Othering is when a person determines that another person is unworthy, threatening, or all-around inadequate and hardly even the same species.
Othering is a process whereby a group of people is made to seem fundamentally different, even to the point of making that group seem less than human. This process can trigger instinctive emotional reactions towards members of that group. In many instances, othering has been used to degrade, isolate, and render possible a group's discrimination, abuse, or persecution.
Those who don't learn from history...
It has happened many times in history: when human beings were used as slaves and property, when human beings were the subject of horrific experiments when the media and people in power deliberately manipulated human beings to believe that other humans weren't like them and, therefore, it was permissible to mistreat or abuse them.
As the saying goes, those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And repeat it, they are. I think, regardless of our stance, we can all agree that fervently wishing for bad things to happen to those who believe differently and dehumanizing them for their beliefs is pretty awful.
People have come out with appalling suggestions for those who aren't vaccinated.
Don Lemon of CNN believes the unvaccinated should not be allowed to buy food or work. Does this mean he believes that they should starve to death?
"How many people have to die," Lemon asked, saying "if behavior is idiotic and nonsensical, I think that you need to tell people that their behavior is idiotic and nonsensical."
CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner says that unvaccinated people shouldn't go to bars and restaurants. A doctor pondered the ethics of whether he could refuse to see unvaccinated patients in The New York Times.
It's becoming popular to blame the unvaccinated for all future cases of Covid
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