In a chaotic world where hundreds of millions of people are begging for a vaccine, our country is throwing away thousands of doses a day because Americans refuse to get vaccinated.
I felt like I was fatherless because of what we call American exceptionalism. He is still alive, I must make it clear. But our relationship is really over. In this divided country, our situation is not uncommon. Anger over the election results last November seems to have cooled down, and homes and streets have begun to quieten again. However, the instability that former President Donald Trump sparked continues, as Americans choose sides in the longer war: “Who on Earth matters?”. Opposition between the two factions One faction thinks it is right to worry about others, who are different from them, and for those they need to protect. The other side also claims to be right in worrying about themselves, their like-minded people, and even those they see as needing protection. Exceptionalism is a deeply rooted belief in America. We Americans have always believed that we are better than others. God, the universe, the gods – all supernatural powers that bless humanity – have given Americans a special freedom. Even now, in the middle of summer 2021, we can decide whether we want to believe in the existence of a global pandemic, and if we want to participate in controlling the spread of the coronavirus. While many Americans have to endure starvation, poverty or experience fear and loss because of the Covid-19 pandemic; On the contrary, millions of other Americans still believe that tragedy will never come. Those experiencing the pain of Covid-19, or those who have witnessed others go hungry or lose friends and family forever, believe that we are all in a very difficult situation. We’re just fine until everyone else is safe. Often, the only difference between these groups of people is the news channel they watch, and how that channel covers science or conspiracy theories. In a chaotic world where hundreds of millions of people are begging for a vaccine, this country is throwing away thousands of doses a day because Americans – in so many places – refuse to get vaccinated before the vaccine expires. My father is one of them. Influence from news sources During the pandemic, while we were following the government’s lockdown and social distancing requirements, I didn’t get a chance to visit him. But now, I don’t know when I’ll be able to see you again. I, you and everyone around will not be safe if you do not get vaccinated. I myself do not know how long he will hold out to witness this situation. My dad and I both spent a lot of time reading news during the pandemic, from different sources, of course. To be honest, I am proud to have opened up and changed my mind about SARS-CoV-2 and the threat to humanity since it was discovered. Every day, I try to stay up to date with the latest epidemiological information and public health recommendations. I’m the type of American who believes my sources are trustworthy. As a nurse, I believe I am knowledgeable enough to read published medical studies and draw my own conclusions. I’m on the side of science. On the contrary, my father is also very proud because he follows the news every night, reads and shares articles he finds online, and is careful with the advice he receives. He is the type of American who believes that Fox News is the only news channel that tells the truth, even if they are influenced by other news sources, by big corporations and the “bad guys” of the Democratic Party in power. in Washington, DC He was the kind of American who taught himself enough to understand what was going on in the world, to know who to believe. But he chose to believe the seemingly secret information his friends shared on Facebook about the conspiracy of scientists and the government. He read an article saying that hundreds of people died from vaccination, so now he claims to never vaccinate. Not one of his acquaintances has died from Covid-19. As a white middle-class man with a military pension and lifelong medical care for veterans, he never had to fear poverty, disease, loss, or disease. To him, the threat posed by the coronavirus is nothing more than the exaggeration of the press and propaganda apparatus. In a country house with a beautiful lawn and large backyard, is it wrong for you to hold fast to American exceptionalism, even if it causes your relationship with your son to fall apart? The son you believe he is the victim of corona virus conspiracies? Lots of other people don’t have the privilege of choosing like my dad. Millions of Americans are grieving the loss of someone they love, a job, and what we once called “normal”. They are fighting every day for their lives, while those around them angrily protest against the restrictions, even if it is to protect public health. Each person chooses to listen to a separate news channel, so the way they suffer is also very different. The influence of paranoid conspiracy theories My best friend, a wonderful couple, belongs to a group of Americans convinced that free public education is a tool of government propaganda and oppression. So they let the kids learn at home. When some people start to believe in paranoid conspiracy theories and let it affect children, it’s hard to tell them to give up their beliefs. There is a very small gap between homeschooling and believing in untested medical methods. It’s like believing in the magical qualities of crystals or some type of oil with herbal extracts that can heal diseases. And so, the road from believing in an untested cure to becoming an anti-vaccine is also very short. I wonder when those kind people are trapped in the trap of unscientific information and far from reality, do they ever question whether the news they receive every day can be trusted or not? Such is the situation of my friends. They are neither white nor financially stable, their jobs are difficult during the pandemic, and they know people who have lost loved ones to Covid-19. They do not have the privilege of sitting on the lawn mower in their front yard while waiting for the inconvenience of the blockade to end. They are forced to look for other sources of information and monitor the spread of the virus and listen to warnings about the disease. They surreptitiously and shamefully vaccinate themselves and their children. A discreet wife told me this secret. She also talks about how dozens of parents share supporting information and materials in homeschooling advocacy groups. They talk non-stop about the threat vaccines pose to children, echoing conspiracy theories about the dangers of masks and social distancing. She confided in me about the feeling of letting people down when she got vaccinated. American exceptionalism gives people the belief that they can avoid the difficulties others face. White and affluent parents believe they can “escape” the infection, but not everyone can. Definitely not my friends. When comparing two streams of information, what will they believe? Only fools believe in science without proof, and with the expectation that truth cannot be false. Science changes when new research is published. News channels are gaining a reputation for distinguishing between bad science and good science, and then they deliver news to readers who are increasingly confused about what is good and bad. Freedom goes too? “Why?” – some people may ask – “Can I believe what I hear, only to hear something completely different after a few months? Should I believe something dangerous is happening when no one I know is suffering?” It was my father, who read the news about the racist cases he had never heard of, and then deduced that the broadcaster would be full of lies to advance his own policy purposes. It was my friends who heard the online community say the truth was nothing compared to what their families went through. American pride is shaken when many cannot distinguish between science and conspiracy theory. And they are afraid. So I lost my dad to American exceptionalism. During the pandemic, I couldn’t see him. With an underlying medical condition, I am at high risk of death if I contract Covid-19. I could not speak to him without often ending in a heated argument. “Why doesn’t the other person come to his senses when he falls into conspiracies?” – Each of us asked ourselves the same. Why do some people believe that they are special, blessed by God, the universe, the gods? Just because something bad hasn’t happened, doesn’t mean it never will. We Americans are free to decide whether or not to believe in the existence of a global pandemic; as well as believing it affects all of us; Or do we participate in preventing deaths by simply getting two shots and wearing masks in public? We are free to decide who on Earth matters while expired, unopened vaccines are rejected across the country. I often wonder, do we have too much freedom?
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