They Will Come for You

Martin Niemöller’s Famous Quote

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists

Who Is Coming?

Niemöller did not specify who “they” is, so I’ll be circumspect myself to identify them. I will only point out that there has been a steady drumbeat of voices that have almost entirely captured our institutions of higher learning, the mainstream media, and even the corporate boardroom in America today.

Who Are They Coming For?

Think about this list:

• The non- politically correct
• Donald Trump and his supporters
• Conservative Free-Thinkers
• The Unvaccinated (what?)

I’ll admit to being in the first three categories. I’ve occasionally spoken up because I and others like myself have already been deeply affected. Now I’m speaking up for a category I do not belong to. I challenge you to also speak up if you do not belong to all of the above categories.

What Are They Coming to Do?

In a word, silence them. In the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, where the freedom of speech is proudly enshrined in the First Amendment to our Constitution, some people are being bullied by the mob for speaking what they think.

Why Is What They Are Doing Wrong?

I’m responding to a statement made yesterday by our President of the United States. The one whose very first words on taking office included a plea for national unity.

Our nation (and the world) has been trying since early 2020 to respond to the appearance of a novel coronavirus which has caused a world-wide epidemic, i.e. a pandemic.

Being a type of SARS (Severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus, COVID-19 causes potentially life-threatening impairment of respiratory function. But because of its much greater transmissibility compared to SARS CoV-1, there was concern that rapid spread could overwhelm the ability of hospitals to accommodate the treatment of severe cases, and deplete supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Largely voluntary responses by the US Population, under guidance of the CDC, effectively avoided these catastrophic consequences, while the epidemic nevertheless caused significant harm during the course of the year. Deaths peaked in April 2020 and January 2021 at several thousand per day (about 1 per 100,000 population). Beginning with the Summer of 2020, the response devolved into politically-motivated disputes about whether restricting people’s freedom was warranted.

In December 2020, two types of vaccine were made available (with another to follow shortly) by emergency use authorization. In most places, efforts were made to make this vaccine freely available to the most vulnerable population. By April-May of 2021, vaccines were available to practically everyone in the United States. Administration of this vaccine resulted in steep declines in both cases (85%) and deaths (95%) between January and July of 2021.

And under these conditions, the President makes the following statements:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4971514/user-clip-smart-who

Reporter:
Will you require all Federal employees to get vaccinated?

Biden:
That’s under consideration right now, but if you’re not vaccinated, you’re not nearly as smart as I thought you were.

Reporter:
Are you concerned that the CDC’s new mask guidance could sow confusion?

Biden:
We have a pandemic because of the unvaccinated and they’re sowing enormous confusion and the more we learn , the more we learn about this virus and the Delta variation the more we have to be worried, concerned. And there’s only one thing we know for sure – if those other 100 million people got vaccinated, we’d be in a very different world. So get vaccinated – if you haven’t you’re not nearly as smart as I think you are.

C-SPAN – President Biden’s Remarks to the Intelligence Community July 27, 2021

A lot of misinformation here:

• “We have a pandemic …”
  We have been part of a world-wide pandemic which is now waning. According to CDC data, we are now only slightly above the “epidemic” threshold, which was set based on combined influenza and pneumonia case history, pre-COVID. By any practical standard, the “epidemic” in the US is over.
• “… because of the unvaccinated …”
  There is no causation here. Because the vaccine is so effective, the small number of cases happening currently is naturally predominantly among the unvaccinated.
• “… they’re sowing enormous confusion …”
  Many people are speaking out, some with different voices. When trust in our institutions is at an all-time low, and for sometimes very good reasons, it is easier for representatives of those institutions to blame others’ stupidity for their disagreement rather than argue from the known and agreed-upon facts.
• “… the more we learn about … the Delta variation …”
  There is no monopoly by government officials on what we know about the COVID variants. Most people understand that the Delta variant spreads more easily (up to twice as effectively), and has effects very similar to the original, though they may be more severe. The common vaccines seem to be about 80% effective at preventing infections, slightly less than against the original.
• “… the more we have to be worried, concerned.”
  This is a continuation of the straight-up fear-mongering emergent in the media over most of the last year. If we are worried, we can get the readily available vaccine. If we decide the risk to ourselves is minimal, it’s fair (in a free country) to take that risk. The current prevalence of the vaccine has already had the dramatic effects needed on uncontrolled spread. An arbitrary fear that we must act because we haven’t reached 70% (supposed “herd immunity”) is irrational.
• “… if those other 100 million people got vaccinated …”
  I’m going to ignore the 25 million young people between ages 12 and 18, except to point out that they have minimal effect on spread or mortality, and they are already 40% vaccinated. As for adults 18 and over, there are just about 80 million who have not been vaccinated. Considering the approximately 30+ million survivors of COVID, there are probably about 20 million more people who have some significant immunity out of the total unvaccinated. That leaves 60 million in a population of 258 million adults.
• “… we’d be in a very different world.”
  Yo, we’ve already been in a different world for at least the last 3 months. Where have you been, President Biden? Less than 4 deaths per million population per day, currently about 1 per million. We haven’t seen mortality that low since the earliest beginnings of the epidemic in the US (April 2020). And it’s less than half the death rate of pneumonia.

Enter the Unvaccinated

So after all of the groups some have played identity politics with, now it’s apparently OK (for our President at least) to cast aspersions on the intelligence of the “unvaccinated.” Ask yourself if you want to live in a world where that’s OK? And speak up against:

• Continuing public mask mandates (of questionable effectiveness for a long time, now practically worthless, beyond actual medical facilities treating vulnerable patients). People have learned to live with some reasonable measures which may continue: attention to hygiene, social distancing from strangers, barriers in places where people come into frequent contact. But we no longer need masks.
• “Vaccine passports” – It is abhorrent in America to require vaccination and to force people to identify as “vaccinated” or “unvaccinated.” International travel may be an exception, but I don’t have to like it.
• Employers and schools (other than in medical facilities) requiring vaccination. We don’t give up our rights to control our own medical treatment. But who talks about “right to privacy” and “right to control our own bodies” anymore? Neither of those is part of our constitution, but freedom of speech is. Defend it.

And don’t give in to indoctrination and persecution if you can possibly avoid it.

References

Statistics used in this essay are from my analysis of CDC-reported data, current as of publication.

– https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html

– https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations

– https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/#S2

Here’s another rational and fact-based discussion of this issue that I recommend:

– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O9c85vxxhk