By Staff Writer Harvey Fewings
This is not a Coronavirus story. This is not a new story. This is not about personal/human rights. This is about commonsense.
Maybe some perspective might throw some light into the many dark corners that creep people out about medical vaccination against disease.
So, cast your mind back the Rhone Valley in France – as far back as Neanderthal times, when men and women huddled in small communities of about 50/60 people in caves and in hidden valleys where they felt secure. The fundamental elements of living, for them, were, as they still are now for us, shelter, food and water.
Shelter was provided by caves. Food was provided by the men who killed what beast they could and by women who collected grains, herbs and edible vegetation.
Water was always a problem and, it was essential for life. No water. No life.
Now, let’s talk about a community where one particular cave had water running through it, spilling out into the valley. Therefore the majority of people in this little group — we can call them Bribies, for want of a better term — enjoyed this running water. There was enough for everyone to drink and maybe cook with. Washing their bodies may not have been a priority.
Living in this cave was a family of Bribies. The male of the family was called Mog, his woman was called Mag and the three child Neanderthals were called Midges.
For reasons we shall never know, Mog decided one day that the water running from his cave was his water and that he was going to demand his rights over the water and make all the other Bribies pay for it in killed meat, herbs and vegetables, etc. So he blocked off the mouth of his cave and reduced the running water to a tinkling, trickling dribble.
Concerned by this action, the Bribies gathered at the mouth of his cave, where he gave them the news: “You want water? Pay for it! I know my rights, it’s my water and you must pay.”
The mob of Bribies walked back down to the floor of the valley and sat down amongst the rocks. One of the senior Bribies, a man called Brink, commented that this had happened before and that everyone had rights. Mog claimed rights to the water, but by denying the rest of the Bribies the water they needed for life the whole community was threatened.
Brink told all the other Bribies that the rights of the Bribies to live in the valley peacefully with safe access to water were more important than the rights of one man, Mog. So, Brink led all the other Bribies up to Mog’s cave, where they trashed the dam Mog had built, told Mog to get out of the valley, take Mag and the Midges with him and don’t come back! There were a lot of angry Bribies so Mog did what he was told.
And, from then on, the Bribies all lived quite well in the valley, enjoying the water because of their right to protect the tribe rather than just one person.
Now we come to today. The Rider of the Pale Horse gallops amongst us, spreading his foul disease as he goes. All of our tribes are getting sick, many are dying and the only answer, which is better than none, is to become vaccinated against the Pale Horse Rider’s poison.
We know that vaccination is not universally effective; some of us will still wear the poison. Some of us will pass the toxin on to others, unintentionally and unknowingly, but still the vaccination process will take much of the heat out of the problem and render much of our land safe, or at least far safer than it had been.
As usual, there are those amongst us who do not want to have the vaccine because they feel that their human rights are being violated. There may be people who have genuine concerns about being vaccinated, and there is nothing wrong with listening politely to their statements.
Equally, community discussion has to embrace both sides of the story. It is quite reasonable to make the case that the rights of the majority of people in the community must prevail over the rights of the individual where the general well-being of the community is threatened. Those who have genuine concerns over the idea of vaccination should have their concerns noted and sensible and professional explanations provided to them. This process already exists but I wonder if it is being used as effectively as it could be?
I have a couple of questions for those who don’t want the vaccination (and there are quite a few of them—they are the Mogs) because of their weird reasons ranging from Bill Gates’ monitoring of computers to breaching “my yuman rights”:
Do you really think that your personal rights override the rights of the safety of the community?
Do you really expect the community to accept the restrictions and stress placed upon the community because you want to exercise your personal rights?
The answers to those questions will be instructive.
I’ve no doubt my comments will generate a fair bit of heat, but I’m guessing that not much light will be generated by that heat. There will be shouting, insults and so on. But, if we look carefully at any answers about personal human rights overriding the communal rights of the majority, all we will find will be selfishness.
Harsh words, and many won’t like them.
It’s clear to me that unless you have a clear medical reason not to be vaccinated against this Coronavirus, then you should have the vaccine as soon as possible.
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