LogFAQs > #958917687

MrMallard posted...

Also I just want to say that like any of these topics I make, I try to sum up my point in the last paragraph of the post, which is usually the shortest paragraph or at least a solid, rounded summation of what I was trying to say. So in this case the tl;dr would be:

MrMallard posted...

This isn't a civil debate. This is you getting the vaccine or shutting the fuck up about it if you're that upset about it, because whatever alternative you want to push will harm more people than it will ever save.

I was going to wait until I read the whole thing to respond, I only read some, but by highlighting this I guess you are encouraging people to be able to respond to just this right now. I might respond further when I have read everything.

It is clear you are angry. It's fine to be angry. It's fine to have strong feelings. That said, when it comes to the best course of action feelings don't really matter. What matters is science.

Studies have shown the most effective way to convince vaccine skeptics is with empathy and acknowledging their concerns. Browbeating and vitriol often hardens people into their stance.

While vaccine skeptics are wrong to believe current science suggests the vaccines are an unsafe unhelpful strategy, they aren't wrong to distrust institutions. There is a large swath of the vaccine hesitant who are poor (often PoC) who have been fucked over by government and the medical industry all their lives. In a country where it's a meme to say "don't call an ambulance, call an uber instead" it's reasonable to have distrust in government/healthcare.

So, if your goal is truly to get the most people vaccinated as possible, evidence shows vitriol isn't working. You can do a mandate. I think it's the wrong move, many reasonable people think it's the wrong move, but you can do it. When it comes to those who think it's wrong saying it's wrong, again you can try to be angry enough at those people they submit, but again I don't think that's a helpful or prudent tactic.

At the end of the day people have their opinion and you have yours, venting your anger is fine. I hear your frustration and it's real. I'm frustrated too (but much more at the institutions than my fellow man).

But still, a mandate IMO is a bad precedent to set. And even if we do it for some jobs it's not going to get to everybody, we need to implement solutions that actually reach those who currently choose not to get vaccinated. And we also need to be open to anything that can help.

Being reductive, or angry, or "us vs them" may feel good, but it really doesn't help anything.

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