Of course this thread is here to stir up hatred and division. Why post it otherwise? What is its purpose other than to get people to come together and agree that unvaccinated people are a scourge on society and deserve to die in a gutter?
I have no agenda on this thread other than to try and get people to stop and think for a minute about why they think what they do and where those thoughts are coming from. But it seems not that many people on mumsnet are actually able to think particularly critically and have been so manipulated by the fear-mongering in the media that they now genuinely believe it's perfectly justified to have what are essentially eugenicist beliefs.
Everyone has the right to make whatever choices they want to make about their own bodies. And for people who say 'but their SELFISH choices affect me' - EVERYONE's choices affect everyone else, all the time. This is not a unique situation on that front.
Most of the people in A&E on a Friday and Saturday night are there because of alcohol or drug abuse, taking up the time and space in A&E that could be used for people with other non self inflicted health conditions.
The NHS' biggest expenditure every year is on diabetes care. The most common type of diabetes is caused by obesity. Not to mention cardiac disease, lung cancer - the majority caused by unhealthy life choices.
What about all the people who have car accidents, who are injured doing DIY, or doing sports? Should they not be treated, because they brought their injuries on themselves?
If we start going down this route of selfishness and who is deserving, where does it end? I've never smoked a day in my life, I barely drink, I'm a vegetarian, I keep slim and healthy because I like to look after my health. If I develop a severe health condition, do I get to jump to the top of the queue for treatment over someone else who has smoked fifty a day their whole lives? Are we going to develop a tick list of criteria to decide on who is most worthy, with the most selfish and irresponsible denied access to healthcare altogether? Would you like to live in a society like that?
All of us make decisions about our lives and our bodies based on our experiences and our capacities. Some of us have lower intelligence than others. Some of us have lower levels of education than others. Some of us have experienced trauma or abuse that makes us frightened or hesitant of things other people aren't. Some of us have experienced trauma and abuse that makes us abuse ourselves and our bodies. Some of us are born into families that love us and help us to make good decisions, and some of us aren't. Some of us are easily influenced by what we are told, and others aren't. Some of us have been brought up to mistrust authorities because of historic injustice, some of us haven't.
We're all journeying in this world from different starting points and different perspectives. No one is choosing to not have the vaccine because they want to harm someone else. People who are choosing not to have the vaccine are choosing not to do so because of reasons that make sense to them, because of the experiences they have had.
Calling them stupid, calling them selfish, calling them all manner of names under the sun and advocating for them to be left to die if they become seriously ill, isn't going to change their mind. What just might is compassion, kindness and a willingness to try and understand where they're coming from.
But it seems compassion and kindness are sorely missing in society at the moment. Apparently all the pandemic has taught some people is to turn on one another. Which, as I keep saying, is exactly what the government wants us to do, because it absolves them of all blame and responsibility. It saddens me that so many people - many of them very left wing, supposedly liberal people - have allowed themselves to be so terrified by this virus that it has led them to treat other people as nothing but vectors of disease. It is so dehumanising and divisive.