A Liberal Dose, August 26, 2021 "To Vax or not to Vax: That Is the Question"

 

A Liberal Dose

August 26, 2021

Troy D. Smith

“To Vax or Not to Vax? That Is the Question”

 

Recently, the CDC recommended a vaccine booster for those with health issues that affect the immune system. My wife and I got ours on Tuesday. It was a remarkably easy process -I suspect, in part, because pharmacies have so many vaccine doses that are in danger of going bad because no one is taking them, but that’s just a guess. Point is, we got them. Next day I had a sore arm, and felt like you do when you have a bad cold coming on. It’s a small price to pay for my safety and that of everyone around me.

And yet. According to various sites I’ve checked (I’d cite them but they are numerous and easy to find), Tennessee is hovering around 40% full vaccination rate for those who are eligible for the vaccine. When you add in the people who took one shot but haven’t taken the second, it rises to 47%. Fewer than half. And believe it or not, Tennessee has one of the higher rates in the South. There are still a lot of people, here and around the country, who refuse to get the shot. Since the vaccines became widely available, I’ve personally known three people who have died of COVID-19 -two of them here in Sparta, both my age or younger. Why would people take that risk -not just to themselves, but to others? For that matter, why have so many people been so adamantly opposed to wearing masks?

I’ve heard a lot of justifications. Personal freedom of choice is the most common. Others say that to wear a mask or get a shot would display a lack of faith in God. I would point those people to Leviticus 13, where God commanded anyone who seems to have leprosy to have it inspected by an expert, and if they have it they must practice “social distance,” warn people who approach them, and cover their mouth and nose if anyone gets too close. Or perhaps to Matthew 4:7, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Or even “Love thy neighbor.” I’ve also heard concerns about the vaccines’ safety. One person said they hadn’t gotten it because they heard it makes you sterile. Another told me they don’t trust scientists because first they said Pluto was a planet, now they say it’s not. And there are a lot of QAnon folks out there who believe the whole thing is a scam to inject computer chips into your bloodstream so Bill Gates can control your mind, as if he hasn’t already done that with computers. Some people, though, raise valid points. Is it really safe to take something that was developed so quickly without waiting to see its long-term effects? I had this initial concern myself. I would make two points here: first, the reason it was developed so fast is because scientists have been studying other corona virus strains for decades, and second, you have to weigh the dangers in the balance. If your hotel is on fire and it is full of people, and there is a fire extinguisher handy, is that the time for an internal debate about the possible long-term effects of fire extinguisher foam?

The “personal freedom” folks raise a point worth considering. I’ve frequently argued that I believe in striking a balance between personal liberty and community good. But your personal liberty reaches its limit when it endangers the life and liberty of someone else. If this virus is allowed to keep spreading it will mutate into stronger versions.

Libertarians and conservatives argue that the government should not meddle in individual moral choices. But that implies the belief that, if left on their own, people will usually do the right thing without having to be forced to do so.

If you believe that and haven’t been vaccinated, folks, you’re proving my point and not your own.

--Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.

A complete list of Liberal Dose columns can be found HERE

A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE

Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com

The author's historical lectures on youtube can be found HERE

A Liberal Dose, August 12, 2021 "What Do You Hope to Accomplish?"

 

A Liberal Dose

August 12, 2021

Troy D. Smith

“What Do You Hope to Accomplish?”

I’ve received a good bit of private feedback from readers about my column in the six months or so I’ve been doing it. Though I am not privy to any letters the newspaper receives on the subject, and suspect there are some from people who don’t like what I may say, what I have personally received has been overwhelmingly positive. A lot of it is from people who align with me politically and are happy to see their perspective being presented. If voting trends are any indication, that is anywhere from 20 to 30 percent of people in White County, which is a minority but still represents several thousand people. I have been surprised, though, at the number of positive comments I have received from self-professed conservatives who are disturbed at the direction the Republican Party has gone the past few years.

Recently I have been corresponding with an old, dear friend of mine whom I respect very much and who takes exception to some of the things I have written. We are able to discuss these areas of disagreement without rancor or nastiness, with reasoned discourse. He frequently makes what I concede to be good points. He asked me a couple of questions recently that I thought deserved a response in this forum. I paraphrase:

“Why have you spent the last several columns denigrating the opinions of people who disagree with you? What do you hope to accomplish -do you really think you will change people’s minds by being so negative? Why don’t you say what you are for rather than running down what you are against?”

Like I said, I think these are very good, and very valid, questions. I generally try to earn the reputation of being fair, of trying to bring opposite sides together, and of basing my arguments on evidence instead of partisan rhetoric. It is a point of pride to me that in ten years of teaching at TTU, and several thousand students, there have only been one or two who hinted in their evaluations they thought I was “too liberal”, whereas there have probably been over 100 comments in that time about how I try to present things fairly.

Let me briefly outline what being liberal means to me. It means I believe in the Constitution, and I believe in it as a living, growing document. I believe in union, and in working to make that union “more perfect.” I believe in the vision laid out by Thomas Paine, of a government that equally protects individual freedom and the greater community good, with an equal seat at the table for everyone regardless of race, gender, religion, class, region, sexual orientation, or any other form of self-identification. I believe in a union that promotes the general welfare and provides for the common defense. That means no one gets left out, left behind, or suppressed. I believe in everyone pulling together instead of every man for himself.

I do not believe traditional conservatism is antithetical to that vision; I believe that the tension of left and right contributes to a system of checks and balances that ensures both individual liberty and common good are protected.

But I believe that, over the last twenty years and especially the last five, the Republican Party establishment and many of its voters have become something different. Note I said many, not all. But enough. What I see now is a disregard for democracy, morality, compassion, and decency. I see a cult built around a con artist who stokes the rage of people who are frightened, goading them to un-American actions. I cannot present that as “both sides are equal.” There is a time when you have to stand firm.

I may not win over people on the other side- but I might get through to some of the people in the middle, and that could make all the difference.

 

--Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.

 

A complete list of Liberal Dose columns can be found HERE

A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE

Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com

The author's historical lectures on youtube can be found HERE

A Liberal Dose, Aug. 5, 2021 "When White County Was Blue, part 3"

 

A Liberal Dose

August 5, 2021

Troy D. Smith

“When White County Was Blue, part 3”

 

In this column I hope to tie together several things that I have been discussing the last several weeks. I’ve talked about the conservative shift away from facts, and how that has coincided with White County turning from dark blue to dark red. A few months ago I wrote about the differences between liberals and conservatives, and a couple of people pointed out to me that I was describing traditional conservatives, not present-day ones. And that is true, for the most part. A lot of conservatives do still believe in governmental fiscal responsibility, everyone getting a fair shot to work hard and become their own boss, lower taxes and fewer social programs to foster individual initiative. But I don’t believe White County residents’ attitudes about those things reversed between 2000 and 2004 (when Republicans started winning elections here). White County supported Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale over Ronald Reagan. White County knew that Democrats were liberal in the 1990s, but still voted for them.

The change that occurred was not really about political theory or philosophy, or objective facts. The change was due to a change in feelings. America post 9/11 became a land of “truthiness,” where truth is defined by how you feel about it rather than what the facts are. And, after 9/11, what people felt was scared and angry. Threatened. In such an atmosphere it is easy to get caught up in “us and them.” “Them” was initially Muslims and/or Arabs, but quickly expanded to anyone foreign, then to anyone liberal or a minority. All those groups came to be seen as threats to America -that is, America as the frightened people had known it. The Bush administration used that fear as a means to drum public support for their adventure in Iraq. The Republican Party made an art form out of using it to get votes.

When I heard hardcore Tea Partiers a decade ago, or hard-core Trump supporters now, they sound just like the people I heard around town in the years right after 9/11 when they talked about anyone Mideastern. Or South Asian, which is totally different, but is still “different.” I hear the same anger… and, behind it, the same fear.

And along comes someone like Donald Trump -a con artist who loves only money and his own hide -who is a master at stoking that anger and fear. Stoking it to the point of conflagration. To the point that large numbers of people are speaking seriously about armed rebellion with a view to executing their enemies in the street and imposing their own view of what America is. People who lack the historical perspective or context to understand what happened in Nazi Germany and why, and who may soon lack any historical perspective at all due to the Republicans’ war on teaching history.

And please realize, most Republican politicians do not really buy into what they are selling- they know their base has bought it, and want to keep getting elected. Take notice that when Republican legislatures want to redraw districts, or impose voting restriction laws that target groups who vote Democratic, they suddenly have a brilliant grasp of math and computers. They know what facts are. They just don’t care. And their base knows what facts are, too -but all that is registering with them now is their feelings.

And here’s what they just don’t get. This chain of events -this slow-motion implosion -means that Osama bin Laden’s plan succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. He wanted to bring us down by terrorizing us to the point we acted without thinking, turned on each other, and destroyed ourselves. If people in our country -and in our community -don’t get ahold of themselves, take a step back, take a deep breath, and calm down -and stop listening to Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson -we may well be handing bin Laden the win.

 --Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.

A complete list of Liberal Dose columns can be found HERE

A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE

Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com

The author's historical lectures on youtube can be found HERE