Chicken Littles

“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.