I'm not an anti-vax guy, I'm not a pro-vax guy. I am a guy that thinks the entire Covid thing is blown way out of proportion and I am naturally inclined to think that anytime the government wants you to do something that there is a really good chance that the end result is self-serving and not in your own real interest.
Where I live in the USA, the vaccine is still completely optional and no one (yet) is being forced to do it. I haven't done it yet because I don't see the point, however, I am not going to try to force my ideals on other people: Do what you want to do and stay off my lawn is basically how I live my life.
So when I started to see certain incentives being offered by corporations to compel people to get vaccinated, I found it a little alarming.
src
Budweiser is going to give you a free beer if you get the jab. They are not alone in this either, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, some cheesecake manufacturer, and also White Castle burgers can be yours for free if you just go and get the shot!
I am a redneck. I have been all of my life. My community is plagued with poor dietary decisions and alcoholism already and I have seen these poor life choices negatively affect the health and well-being of a lot of people. The fact that these particular organizations are the ones offering free stuff to incentivize getting the vaccine is just disgusting to me. I think it says a lot about how the government and the corporations don't really care about your health, they just pretend to in order to get you to bend the knee.
src
Statistics have shown that nearly 80% of all the people that were hospitalized from Covid were obese or overweight so what better way to celebrate getting a not-so-thoroughly-tested vaccine than to give people stuff that is a major contributor to obesity and therefore, overall poor health?
Why not give them a free gym membership? Why not give them a discount on running shoes? Why not give them a coupon for fruit and vegetables? I know the answer: Because the government doesn't give a damn about you and your health.
I am unusual in my community because I am one of the few people at the Elk's lodge (my regular watering hole) that isn't overweight. Most of the guys that I talk to when I go in there never get any exercise at all and probably already drink plenty of Budweiser and are regulars at the Krispy Kreme drive-through. They do NOT need more of this stuff.
src
I think we have reached a new point of lunacy as far as Covid is concerned to the point where it is almost like the government is just effing with us now to see how far they can push us.
I am very thankful that I live where I do right now because our county decided quite some time ago that we were not going to participate in the State-mandated lockdowns or mask requirements either.
Nay sayers who think we are all a bunch of backwoods hicks who don't know nothing will say things like "you are going to infect everyone!" or something about flattening the curve that we have been talking about for 15 months but in the meantime our local hospital is practically empty and I know 2 nurses that actually had to move out of the region because they were part time and weren't getting enough hours - because there is no emergency - there is no increase in cases because we don't social distance or wear masks.
The sheriff has refused to enforce the mandates that are passed down by the state government and the governor actually DOES have the power to remove him from office but because the governor, like most governors is more interested in keeping his job than actually doing it, he won't remove this or the other sheriffs who are also refusing to enforce the executive orders. Our governor is worried that doing so will sway public opinion away from him and lose him votes. What he doesn't realize, is that at least in my community, virtually no one was voting for his ass anyway.
But we should get vaccinated anyway right? Because free donuts and beer! By the way beer and donuts together is a horrible combination :)