Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Ostracized
I enjoy being around smart people; I learn a great deal from them and they help me feel smarter. But when smart people expound on ideas in a naïve and irrational fashion, it doesn’t make me feel smart. It makes me feel sad. That happened today.
This morning, I was to meet with a little group I formed to discuss Jewish topics on Zoom. Unfortunately, the internet wasn’t cooperating, and since we all live in the same area, we were all impacted. But today’s presenter was determined to make our meeting happen, so one of the women offered her home for our meeting. That sounded like a great and generous solution, except for one thing: one of our members hadn’t received her third Covid shot. She’d made that decision because of her concern regarding blood clots. The problem is that the other women in our group don’t want to be with her and the booster-shunner (let’s call her BS for short) knew it; she told me that she was being ostracized, but felt she shouldn’t have the third shot, particularly due to a medication she’s taking which can cause blood clots, too. So, she didn’t join us that morning.
The woman who was presenting picked me up in her car, so I took that opportunity to ask her if she was unwilling to be around the woman without the booster. She said yes. When I asked her why, she said that she thought everyone should have the third shot. When I asked her if she realized that BS was the one more in danger because of her more limited protection, she answered me by saying that was “just the way I felt.”
Right.
So after our meeting, I asked the other three women if they agreed, that BS shouldn’t be able to attend, and they said yes. When I asked their reasons, they told me that they could get Covid from her. I asked if they realized that they could also give her Covid. Well, it wasn’t the same, they said. Then one woman pointed out that they were medical professionals.
Okaaayyyy.
So I offered that people who had all three shots were also getting Covid. Oh, she said, but they have no symptoms, but BS might have Covid. I said, she doesn’t have symptoms either. So all of you or none of you might have Covid.
Silence.
After a moment, I said that I thought she shouldn’t be excluded, but I left it at that.
* * * *
On the drive home, the two of us in the car discussed how much we’d enjoyed being physically together. (We had discussed staying on Zoom or getting together at the end of the year, and all but one person wanted to stay on Zoom, which was fine with me.) Then I said, but if you all agreed to meet in person, what about BS? Oh, that’s right, she said. I wouldn’t want BS to be left out of the group. I immediately countered with a firm statement: BS will not be left out of the group.
* * * *
I’m very disappointed with the group members on a number of counts. First, they have ostracized BS because she’s decided not to be boosted. They are demanding that she conform to the authorities’ “guidelines.” They think they are on righteous high ground. And they are acting in this manner out of fear. I need to decide whether to let this go and just keep meeting on Zoom. Or if I need to make a statement. I asked BS what she thought, and she pointed out that they were unlikely to change their minds if I spoke further on the topic. She’s probably right.
I’m at a loss. So much for compassion.
[photo courtesy of Zoltan Tasi at unsplash.com]
Published in Culture
The cult religion of masks and vaccine mandates is undeniable and irrefutable. They Believe, and so it should be.
I would use the abbreviation BS to mean something else and apply it to the actions of the shunners.
You got it. That was part of my intention. Thanks, @nohaaj
An exclusionary mentality has been a feature of the past two years. Pick a topic: fear or no fear; vaccine or no vaccine; which brand of vaccine; booster or no booster; type of mask; mask or no mask; mandates and edicts and rules and regulations. It is all about creating the Other. Unfortunately the Other campaign has been successful. Very successful.
Wow Susan! I think you should stand your ground, especially since it is your group. It seems the bigger story is everything you described. We’re talking about a little group gathering, not the UN! Did you receive that story about bringing God back into the square by Naomi Wolf recently ? This reminds me of that. Good for you for standing your ground.
It still surprises me that the clear facts alone don’t do the trick here. Now that Omicron is the dominate variant, the vaccines do not hinder transmission, booster or not. What possible reason is there to not want to be with someone who is unbolted? This is now just weird.
I think you have to go back to the issue and try again. You may be able to get them to accept that they are shunning BS out of pure social pressure and not for any legitimate medical reason. I like to start these conversations with the observation that we are primates, a social animal, and that for obvious reasons no one wants to be the “bad monkey” of the troupe and this leads to violent in group/ out group behaviour in primates. This usually gets a laugh. From there I shift into a question – are we in the middle of a “bad monkey” problem? are we being objective or are our genetically programmed desires for social cohesion and fear of being the “bad monkey” leading us astray?
Sometimes it works, sometimes the monkey are too afraid.
You have completely, utterly, nailed it.
I appreciate that women tend to be more cautious about perceived risks than are men, so I won’t resort to the derogatory expressions I would were this an account of men behaving this way. Vive la différence and all that.
I’ve really no idea, but, given the context of the conflict, perhaps there’s some lesson you can dig up in Judaism to encourage more consideration, compassion, and welcoming from these ladies?
That is an excellent idea, Hank. I’ll consult my Torah colleagues and see what they say. The only difficulty is that only one understands orthodoxy, and she thinks men and women should be able to pray at the Western Wall together. You know, feminism and all that.
It is very frustrating to read this. It’s the same misinformation the Canadian truckers are up against. I’m angry at the medical community–public health officials across the board and pharmaceutical companies and doctors and nurses–for not more assertively getting the truth out there.
There’s been a deluge of news articles on the vaccines ever since they were developed. What was “true” yesterday to the best of everyone’s knowledge yesterday has since been dispelled. To that extent, I am sympathetic to everyone who is operating under out-of-date information.
I think the only way to combat this information-overload situation in which some of the information is accurate and some is not anymore is to speak up whenever any of us individuals has the chance.
I would email all of them a current statement from the CDC on the efficacy of the vaccines vis-a-vis the original “alpha” virus and its many offspring variants. Pick one or two of these. Since the source of their understanding was the CDC, they should be able to respect that.
The CDC’s own reasoning for universal vaccination is an idea that Fauci has been promoting to shame the MMR-hesitant parents for twenty years or more. He has always said if everyone is vaccinated, that those who cannot be vaccinated will be protected because they won’t be exposed to the pathogen by other unvaccinated people. He’s never been happy. Even when 95 percent of schoolchildren were vaccinated against measles, he blamed the 5 percent who weren’t vaccinated for the tiny outbreaks here and there that have occurred over the years. His theory is wrong. He is a communist in his “control” thinking–and since, in our fear of infectious diseases, that’s we hired him to do, I guess it’s forgivable that he’s gone nuts with it. But in his overzealousness about vaccines, he has caused a great deal of harm to unvaccinated children. That’s hard for me to forgive.
I would say in prefatory remarks to giving your friends the CDC information that there are now some people who we know now after eighteen months’ experience with this new vaccine should not have it and our friend is one of them. The questionnaire that is given to third-shot patients includes many new questions about past reactions and heart issues. The questionnaire is trying to discourage some patient populations to not proceed with the third booster. This is the purpose of vaccine exemptions to begin with. (Clearly the drug companies are concerned about heart and circulatory problems.)
In short, the vaccine third booster shot is a sound medical procedure for some but not others. If we accept the CDC’s reasoning that we are mostly protected if those who can still get the vaccine because we don’t have underlying contraindications get it, then those of us who can’t will be protected.
Creating The Other is a perfect title for a post – yes – this is happening on so many levels, not just COVID – climate change, racial relations, gender issues, women’s sports, safety and law enforcement…..it seems there’s The Other everywhere.
Wait . . . I’m confused. How does the vaccine status of BS matter to the other people? Why are people concerned about someone else’s vaccine status? I haven’t heard that discussion around me for 7 or 8 months, ever since it became clear that vaccine status makes no practical difference on transmission (contrary to the original CDC sales pitch for the vaccine). Excluding BS because BS hasn’t had the latest vaccination shot is an irrational action.
Eventually, however, this results in a kind of saturation and desensitization. When enough normal people have been “othered,” it loses its impact. More, the “others” begin to align themselves as an identify group — even if only the group that has no identity other than their shared lack of special status.
I think America is on the brink of that. I think the results will be beneficial, a broad and vehement rejection of the victim-pandering woke elite.
Would someone please provide a link — a credible link — supporting the claim that vaccination does not affect transmission?
It’s hard to get data on this. I found this article, which said that 2 doses of vaccine was ineffective against Omicron, but a third booster shot was somewhat effective against Omicron infection (37%) and very effective against Delta infection (93%).
This data indicates that a booster shot is particularly important now, due to the Omicron variant. The effectiveness against Omicron infection isn’t great, but it’s better than nothing.
So, not having a booster shot does appear to increase the risk of Omicron infection, which then increases the risk of passing such infection on to others, at least according to this data.
Other news sources indicate that the booster shot is effective against serious consequences from Omicron (like hospitalization or death), though this is a bit beyond the scope of the present post. I probably ought to consider getting that booster shot.
Thanks for your suggestion, Marci. A big part of the problem is that two of them are “medical professionals” (I think one is a pharmacist) and even so, are not persuaded by data and reason. I’d have to ask myself if I’m prepared for the group to disband because they feel put upon.
I’ll wait for your post on this! ;-)
I believe I wrote here that I explained that to them. They don’t care. At least not yet.
From your lips to G-d’s ears . . .
I fear, though, that there has always been a human instinct to create another. We seem to abound in those subjects; it’s so satisfying to others to elevate themselves and discount others.
Oh, my. That is a group I would want no part of.
We have been extraordinarily lucky. We have almost no friends at all who I’d describe as covid hysterical, so perhaps it is easy for me to say because I haven’t had to deal with it. One friend from high school who we hadn’t seen in at least 10 years; we saw him briefly over Christmas and were excited to hang out, but he refused once he found out that I’m not vaccinated. And we have friends – one couple and their kids – in Seattle who we haven’t seen in over 2 years.
But apart from that… There is something to be said for quality of life, and not bothering with people who are going to make life extremely difficult in the manner that your little group seems to be doing, is something I consider to be an increase in quality of life. But I can also sympathize with how difficult it might also sometimes be.
I don’t envy your position, but I’d also make it clear that the behavior is unacceptable by withdrawing from the group.
Or perhaps we should be thankful that this pretty benign strain of the virus is spreading quickly and creating a more robust natural immunity. In that case, conferring a temporary boosted immunity might be counter-productive in the long run.
I hope I was clear that I would not withdraw from the group, and I already told BS that if she’s enjoying the group, I fully support her participation. Whether others choose to withdraw is up to them; they’re all adults. Although they aren’t acting like it. Thanks, Ryan.
I think the next iteration of Covid hysteria is going to be very interesting, because I think it will be exemplified by the interchangeable ladies of The View. One of them (I don’t know which one–although I subscribe to the idea that it’s quite ironic that three of the unhappiest women in America are named Whoopi, Sunny, and Joy) was on a rant sometime in the last day or two, apparently because she fears that the CDC is about to relax its recommendations on masking. (Indoor/outdoor, no idea, but apparently, they’re expecting something to be said shortly.)
Whoever it was isn’t happy. Suddenly, “follow the science,” by listening to the CDC and doing what they tell you doesn’t work any more for her. So she’s going off on her own non-compliant little toot, much in the manner of those she’s been scorning and excoriating for the past 24 months, and has announced that she may wear a mask for the rest of her life.
If she is part of a much larger cohort of like-minded ninnies–and I bet she is, because it looks like some of them are in Susan’t group–it’s going to be very interesting to try to watch those nominally in charge try to untangle this new mess and walk back these absurd behaviors between now and the mid-term elections.
That is funny!
That fits with my acquaintances too. One believes the mask kept her safe for the past two years and she’s not giving it up. Another said the masks have meant she had fewer colds than ever before in her life so she doesn’t care what anyone says, she’s sticking with it and thinks everyone else should too.
I don’t have links, but the explanations I read were that the virus spreads by distribution from places in the body that are outside the areas affected by the body’s vaccine-induced immunity systems. The simplistic gist I got was the virus gets caught someplace like the nose, from which it is then breathed out. Transmission does not depend on the virus getting past the body’s surface defenses to actually infect the transmitter.
I agree that better information would be valuable, because the answer to that issue is central to whether mandating vaccination has any effect on public health.
Hank, I haven’t looked carefully at the figures recently. I just did so, prompted by your comment. This is just a quick-and-dirty estimate, based on Worldometer data (here).
We had a spike in cases and deaths around August-September 2021, which I think was Delta. It was annoying, because until then, it looked like the vaccinations had beaten this darned thing. The case spike was around 168,000/day (around Sep. 1) and the death spike was around 2,000/day (around Sep. 20). That’s a CFR of about 1.2%.
I realize that the IFR is probably quite a bit lower, because not all infections would be reported.
For Omicron, we just had a case spike of about 820,000/day (around Jan 14) and a death spike of about 2,600/day (around Feb. 1). That’s a CFR of about 0.3%.
This does suggest that Omicron is significantly less deadly than the prior versions, though part of this may be explained by increased levels of vaccination, and by the boosters.
Still, over the past month, we’ve been running an average of 2,000 deaths/day or more. It has declined a bit over the past week or two.
That is a lot of deaths, though. Basically a Pearl Harbor-level event every day.
There does seem to be some pretty solid science supporting the efficacy of the booster, including against Omicron, though it’s not as good against Omicron as it was against the prior variants. As before, the efficacy against serious results like hospitalization or death appear to be running higher than the efficacy against infection.
I think that the timing of both the Delta and Omicron variants have been unfortunate. As noted previously, it looked like we had this thing licked in mid-2021 after the first round of vaccinations, and then Delta showed up, and we had another spike (a somewhat shallow spike, like a wave, but big in effect — deaths jumped from around 250/day to around 2,000/day).
Then, when the Delta wave was passing, here comes Omicron. So we get another spike, worse than Delta.
Each time, people and governments are inclined to relax controls when things get a bit better, but then, wham-o, here comes the next spike. So they tighten again, and we all get annoyed.
I guess I am just shocked that this was even a subject for discussion. The only social media I participate in is Nextdoor and it is just predominated by the vaccine and mask Nazis (I never participate in any of those discussions). But I have gone almost nowhere where vaccine status is even brought up. I mean nowhere. Since I am still selling all my excess “stuff” on Nextdoor I welcome quite a few people into my home. Some ask if I want them to wear a mask (of course not) and a very, very few volunteer that they are “fully vaccinated” (I don’t care) but they never, never ask me. In any group I socialize with the topic is just not discussed.
Susan you are just way to nice and tolerant. I’d vote that group off the island.
I am willing to concede that mask-wearing very well might reduce respiratory illnesses. I think the experiences of some Asian cultures in which mask-wearing is more common lend credence to that idea. But, anybody in the United States advocating for more mask-wearing should be prepared to acknowledge that more common mask-wearing will significantly change American society. Is a reduction in respiratory illness really worth a more fearful, more insular, less trusting, less open society?
Here’s an article that talks about transmissibility post-vaccination:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02689-y
I was surprised to read this:
The fact that a person, 2 weeks post-vaccine, the chance of an infected person transmitting the virus to a “close contact” was 57% seems alarmingly high to me, although they’re portraying that as the “success” story of the vaccines. 67% chance, after three months, doesn’t seem like all that much of a difference to me.
It’s talking largely about Delta, but I think there’s general agreement (or at least, I sense there is) that Omicron is more susceptible of transmission post-vaccination than previous versions, and that the only way to try to fend that off is to sign up for possibly infinite boosters every 5-4-3… months as instructed.
Jerry, I always appreciate your detailed responses.
My impression is that the evidence suggests natural immunity — that is, that conferred by infection rather than vaccine — is more efficacious, and probably longer lasting, than vaccination. Given that, and given that there is no guarantee that the next wildly infectious strain of the virus won’t be an order of magnitude more lethal, lethal to children, etc., I still think it makes sense to let low-risk people get Omicron and be done with it.
And I remain somewhat skeptical of fatality counts, given the dying of/dying with issue.
On another topic: I turned in my “contributor” badge a few days ago, wishing to rejoin other Ricochet members back in coach. Now I have the word limit counter on my responses, which is new to me. Given the absurdly low cost of disk space, I’d vote for having the counter either removed or, at the very least, doubled.
I think she will have her followers. I think you’re right: there will be an entire segment of the population that will plan to wear masks forever. Whether they do or not, we’ll see. At least my group isn’t wearing masks, even in person. I’m not sure why. . .