“The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” Chicken Little screamed after she was hit in the head with an acorn, jumping to the worst possible conclusion. Day in and day out, we are inundated by a relentless stream of Henny-Penny’s telling us the sky is falling. One of the most motivating emotions in a human being is fear. If you can put the fear of God into someone, he will do almost anything to eliminate that fear.
Our politicians are experts at creating fear. In their efforts to get everyone vaccinated, the current administration is using fear, not knowledge and information, to control people’s behavior. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the CDC recently said, “99.5% of deaths from Covid-19 in the United States were in unvaccinated people.” This is classic fear-mongering. That statistic does not inform us intellectually, it stirs our emotions. When our minds read, “99.5%”, “unvaccinated people”, and “deaths” in the same sentence, we are struck with fear, because we process it as 99.5% of unvaccinated people are dying. When that is the exact opposite of the facts. Of course, the breakdown of those who are dying from Covid is almost exclusive the unvaccinated, but the death rate of the unvaccinated is not 99.5%, but closer to 0.5%.
The most relevant statistics to make an informed decision are, what is the current death rate of Covid now that those over 70, and those with comorbidities have been vaccinated? Is the death rate higher than the seasonal flu for the young and the healthy? And what are the statistics regarding the long-term side-effects of these vaccines? Those answers are hard to come by. These vaccines were only in the testing stage less than a year ago, and the FDA has yet to approve them for anything more than “emergency” use. How can the people who tell us to follow the science, claim that these vaccines are completely safe when they have only been existence for less than a year, and no one knows their long-term side-effects? There is not one scientific study concerning the potential side-effects 5 years from now from these vaccines. It’s impossible. Why are those who take a measured approach to life decisions painted as conspiracy theorist nut-cases, and those who act hysterically, and make decisions based on fear and panic presented as sane.
I have said from the beginning that I would get the vaccine when it is fully approved by the FDA. I’m not in a high-risk group for Covid, and the FDA only approved these vaccines for “emergency” use, those in the high-risk group. Why am I considered a “tin foil hat wearing lunatic” because I’m waiting to find out the long-term side-effects of a vaccine for a virus that has a 0.5% chance of causing a negative outcome for me? Some will argue that the side-effects for the vaccines are less than 0.5%, so if you do the numbers, you’re better off getting the vaccine than the virus. Not necessarily. What are my chances of contracting the virus? If 33 million people have been infected in the United States, the infection rate is 10%. So, multiplying 10% by 0.5%, gives my chance of dying from Covid as 0.05%. But when you decide to get the vaccine, you have a 100% chance of getting the vaccine which makes your chance of getting the side-effects equal to the chances of getting the side-effects. My mother is 85 years old. I was totally in favor of her getting the vaccine. She is in the high-risk group of dying from the virus so the risk of long-term side-effects of the vaccine is worth the benefits for her, but that does not apply to every person.
I am not a conspiracy theorist. I don’t believe the government is pushing these vaccines so they can control our lives, or Bill Gates is trying to inject a microchip into our systems so he can track us. I don’t believe any of that. I do believe that people are making decisions based on fear and panic, and when people make decisions based on those emotions, they usually make bad decisions.
The head of the NIH, Dr. Fauci said, it is “stunning” and a “folly of thinking” that people do not want to get vaccinated. Dr. Fauci and the current administration cannot understand why people are not just blindly following their orders on vaccines. They fail to acknowledge that this is one of the most dishonest administrations in the history of our country. This administration lies to us on a daily basis, from there is not a crisis at the border to January 6 was an “insurrection” and an “existential crisis” worse than Pearl Harbor and 9/11 to the 2020 election were held to the highest standards to voter ID is 21st century Jim Crow to white supremacy is the biggest threat to our country. All of these statements made by the administration are demonstrably false, but yet they are continually repeated as if they are proven fact.
Dr. Fauci has been lying to the American people for over a year. He told us that masks don’t work and they do more harm than good. Then, he told us to wear one mask. Then he said, it is “common sense” to wear two masks. He claims that the vaccines work better than natural immunity, but then he says we must wear masks even if we are fully vaccinated. He told us that the NIH did not fund the gain of function research in Wuhan, and that the virus didn’t come from a lab. We now know, Fauci did help fund the gain of function research in Wuhan, and most likely the virus did come from that lab. So, with their own self-inflicted daily assaults on their own credibility, they scratch their heads and wonder why everyone is not just blindly following their orders? This is the problem with liars. People tend not believe them, even when they are telling the truth.
Now, this administration is working with social media to censor posts they do not like. How exactly is that building a level of trust in the administration for the people to follow what they say? If what they are saying is true, it should stand up against the most rigorous challenges. If the facts and the evidence are on their side, then all they have to do is present the facts and evidence to prove their case; like what are the real efficacy rates of the vaccine? And what are these vaccines actual adverse side-effects and rates? But instead of providing evidence and data to counter claims made on social media, they censor all dissenting views, and make a blanket unsupported statement that the vaccines are completely safe and effective. We all know that’s a lie which further hurts their credibility.
Dr. Fauci recently called the process of getting these vaccines fully approved by the FDA a “technical issue.” And by doing so, he undercut the credibility of the FDA. Is the FDA filled with serious doctors and scientists doing legitimate medical and scientific work, or are they just a bunch of paper pushers? Fauci’s statement about their approval being a technicality, leads us to believe they are paper pushers. This is another problem with serial liars like Dr Fauci; they paint themselves into corners where they have to make foolish statements like this.
Fauci claimed that he made his initial statements against the use of masks because he feared there would be a run-on N-95 masks, and our medical professionals would not have enough to do their job. So, he admitted that he is willing to tell a “noble lie” to people to manipulate their behavior to get a desired result. He did not trust people with the truth. So, if Fauci believes 100% vaccinations is what’s best for the country, he would lie about their safety and efficacy to get us there; he would push for everyone to get the vaccine regardless of necessity, and if a healthy 15-year-old whose chances of dying from the virus are next to nothing, dies from the vaccine, so be it. The greater good was served. He is willing to take that chance with your child, but are you?
Why would a medical doctor like Fauci treat a completely healthy 15-year-old, the same way he would treat an 80-year-old patient with emphysema, especially when there are stark contrasts of how the virus affects people based on age and health? Because the individual does not matter to him. We are nothing more than lab rats.
Now, Fauci wants 2-year-olds to be fully masked even though studies show they are harmful to young children, but says nothing about the dangers of 1 million illegal immigrants ushered into our country who have not been vaccinated, and have not been tested for Covid-19. If he really cared about stopping the spread of this virus in the country, he would be pleading to stop illegal immigration, but he has said nothing about it, just as he has said nothing about the 5 months of mask-less, non-social distanced BLM riots last summer. But to him, it’s life or death that your 2-year-old wears a mask.
Why haven’t we seen the hard numbers? What are the infection rates and death rates of Covid among all the different age groups? What are the rates of side-effects among the same groups so we, the patient, can do risk-benefit analysis, weighing the death rate versus side-effect rate for people in our age group and health status, before making our medical decision? For over a year, we were inundated with the running totals of Infections and Deaths, statistics that did very little for us other than scare us, but the statistics that would actually inform us, are not readily available, why? Have they not kept those numbers? Hundreds of millions of people have been vaccinated, and they don’t know those numbers? We quantify everything these days. Big tech tracks and quantifies everything we buy, do and say, but the Federal Government doesn’t know the rates of infection and side-effects of those vaccinated? Maybe they do, and they’re just not telling us.
All five of the state representative who fled Texas to go to Washington, DC and tested positive for Covid, were fully vaccinated. So, a simple question; how effective are these medications if fully vaccinated people are still contracting and spreading the virus? What are the numbers? After meeting with these congresspeople from Texas, Vice President Kamala Harris went to Walter Reed Hospital to be tested for the virus even though she is fully vaccinated. Why? Does she not believe in the effectiveness of the vaccines? Does she know something the rest of us don’t know? Kamala Harris’ office put out a statement claiming she was not tested, then Jen Psaki subsequently said she had been tested. VP Harris acting contrary to the official position of the administration, and then putting out contradictory statements, does not establish confidence in the people they want to blindly follow them.
Masks mandates, lockdowns, vaccine passports, censorship, serial dishonesty have all been about social control. No wonder why there’s pushback. It only makes sense. Here’s a hint, if you want people to believe you, stop lying and stop acting like a totalitarian dictator. Trust us with the truth, trust us with the evidence, trust us with the facts, just don’t tell us to obey and comply. The reason why many people don’t believe the administration is because they have lost all of their credibility due to their dishonesty and their totalitarian tendencies. Just give us the facts, and allow us to make the best decision for ourselves. Remember, we still live in a Constitutional Republic, not a Totalitarian Dictatorship yet.
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Judd Garrett is a graduate from Princeton University, and a former NFL player, coach, and executive. He has been a contributor to the website Real Clear Politics. He has recently published his first novel, No Wind.