The “Here and Now” reason why people are not getting vaccinated when they can.

Photo by Alexandra Gorn on Unsplash

Pundits are at a loss as to why people are not getting vaccinated siting many reasons but missing the obvious one.

When I was working at a sophisticated supermarket I noticed that low income people with food stamps were buying high priced junk food while wealthy people were presenting discount coupons.

I had asked a lady who was using food stamps, who was buying a product that actually had a coupon for a 25% percent discount, why she didn’t just go over and grab a free paper to get the discount.

Her answer amazed me, she said, “Oh, I had no idea, but anyway, too much hassle.” The fact that she could walk over two steps to get a free coupon newspaper insert that we provided right next to each till was hard for me to understand.

My father and mother were highly educated social intellects and as a result I always was witness to their lengthy dialogs about people and the rationale behind their peculiar behaviour. So that night when I saw my father I laid out the scenario. I added, it would seem to me that people who are poor would want to save and the rich wouldn’t care so much about that hassle around getting dinky discounts.

Can never forget the basic and simplistic wisdom of my father. “Son”, he said, “Poor people have poor ways”.

Now I know there are many reasons why people can be poor, from being born into it or not having access to opportunities. The point of this article is not to justify poverty or impugn those who suffer from it, but to uncover something really basic.

There are situations where people are living in dire conditions, poverty and where there are those who have no opportunities that seem to pull out and become amazingly wealthy. So therefore, there is a factor at play that has nothing to do with their current situation.

This leads me to my point and I will support it in a round about way using the WHY argument.

Why don’t people study and learn more when the can, and it is free, knowing that a good education will lead to a better job and better lifestyle?

Why do people abuse their body with alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and overeating when it is a fact that this will lead to serious health consequences later in life?

Why don’t people buy things they cannot afford?

Why do people go into debt taking on credit at astronomical interest rates?

Why do people own guns that represent more of a threat to their own family’s safety than protection?

Why do people drink and drive or not wear seat belts for themselves or for their children?

Now there are a slew of reasons that you could attach to all of the above, however the overriding commonality in all of them is this.

Some people just have poor ways. They are all about the here and now and don’t care about the future or the big picture. If you don’t care about the future, all of the Why’s above are easily explained.

So, then why are most of these people Republican? And the answer is that the Republican party of today is all about the here and now situation. It appeals to those that care about now, the status quo and not the future.

The Republican politicians will always have to go with the flow of the here and now and deviations will make sure they are not reelected. Trump knows this well, because this is who he is by nature. He is all about the here and now and that is his biggest appeal. If he just follows his own instincts he will lead the here and nows like the pied piper to where ever he wants to take them.

To get vaccinated by reason of caring about others and the future is the wrong message. In France when the Government mandated that to go to a restaurant you had to have proof of vaccination, millions of people went out and got vaccinated.

We have to face it. There are two kinds of people. Those that live the what I do today must benefit my here and now and those that live for what I do today must secure me also for tomorrow. The here and now need to be forced into doing things for tomorrow, which is the reason why we have seat belt laws and no smoking on airplanes.

So, what is the solution to stop the pandemic? Make the here and now pay a now price that is burdensome.

1. Open the flood gates for law suits to be made by victims against those media outlets and politicians who through their actions cause the virus to spread. Even if they don’t win, the burden of constantly protecting themselves from the civil law suit hoards will change their behaviour.
2. Let insurance companies charge more now for the un-vaccinated. With the vaccine being free and available, if they get ill, it is not a pre-existing condition, but something they could have prevented.
3. Set a deadline for the free vaccine and set a price of $1,000/- per shot after that deadline which will endure for a period of 1 year, and make sure the vaccine is a requirement.
4. Give priority of hospital beds to any other patient but not those who are brought in for covid illness when they decided not to get vaccinated, let the horror stories be told.
5. Provide Federal defence for all businesses against law suits brought against them for mandates, and require the losers to pay for all court fees.
6. Prohibit the non-vaccinated from any Federal employment or contract and do not allow them in any property under the control of the Federal Government.
7. Agree with all other foreign governments that only the vaccinated will be allowed to travel.
8. States that have less than 75% vaccination rate do not receive any Federal funding for selected activities that are popular with the here and now people.
9. Create a stigma or a bad sounding name for the unvaccinated that they will not want to have associated with themselves. PWI = People Without Inoculation — pronounced Peewies
10. Focus on the message on the freedom and benefits today for those who are vaccinated and the lack of freedom and cost for those who are not.

So it stands to reason that you cannot reason or use patriotic messages with the here and now people.

Oh, by the way, those people that stormed the capital and the many who push their agenda. They are not the here and now people. They a driven by cause, probably you will find many have businesses and a rather productive life. The fact that they prepared themselves and travelled all the way to DC for this activity proves they are not the typical here and now person.

They don’t represent the majority of the Republican Party. They would be the same people who would join any cause and activity that would give a rush.

I would be willing to bet that most of these people and their promoters have been vaccinated, but would never tell anybody about it — all for political capital.