Surveys show half the WFHers want to stay in their sweats, shun the commute, live in the burbs and never return to full-time office work. But half of employers now say they have no intention of letting that happen, once the pandemic ends.
Hmm. Conflict.
Will the WFH addicts, the majority of whom (61%) are under 34 quit in a huff and look for a new job? Time will tell. This virus has had a weird effect on society, shattering many bonds once taken as norms. Like the idea of going to work. You know, out of the house. With others. Colleagues. Or socializing with and befriending new people. Or joining a crowd of like-minded folks, cheering a team or a rocker on stage. Bonding in a common experience.
Instead, all our personal worlds have become smaller. We inhabit safe little ‘bubbles’. We Zoom instead of meet. We’re nesting as never before. Insulating, sometimes quarantining, self-isolating and generally fearing others. It’s all anti-social. Destructive. It frays the corners of our civility. Everyone’s mask is the symbol of this apartness. And none of it is good.
As this blog has detailed for the past nine months, the economic implications of Covid are bottomless. We save instead of spend. Unemployment has surged. Small businesses are in peril. After the holidays it may be shocking how few local retailers or restaurants remain. Government finances have been shot to hell. The nation’s in recession. The virus has made houses less affordable and increased the wealth gap. Almost 80% of lower-income people have jobs that cannot be done remotely, and suffer. The WFHers don’t much care. And now we have this puzzling vaccine debate. More evidence citizens are becoming hermits.
Most of us are months away from being jabbed, or presented with the chance to be immunized. Between now and then the virus numbers will likely worsen. We are on that trajectory. More people now die in the US than did on Nine Eleven. Every day. In little Canada almost 14,000 are dead since March. This is tragic. It’s about twice the number of Canadians killed at Vimy Ridge or Dieppe, combined. Yet so many people dust it off, and cocoon.
This year the virus has defeated us, causing economic devastation. Half the country is in, or entering, serious new lockdowns. But they haven’t worked thus far. Neither has wide-spread mask wearing, physical distancing, sanitizing everything that moves or leaping off sidewalks. There is only one door to normalcy. And only if enough people go through it. Vaccination.
The anti-vax movement is fuelled by the same whackadoodles who told you Trump never lost and Covid’s a hoax. They link it all to a mythical Great Reset agenda by the cabal of globalist leaders, with some warning the serum contains tracking microchips. All anti-vaxers exaggerate rare side effects and potential personal harm as a way of thwarting herd immunity. They link it to issues of personal liberty and choice, as the anti-maskers do. They are our enemies.
But, the no-jab people say, the infection and death rates from Covid are ridiculously low. I’ll take my chances.
This ignores the fact the entire world has been affected, despite the numbers infected. Poverty has increased, economic activity crushed, public finances eroded and whole industries imperilled. It’s not all about you, as shocking as that may be.
But, they continue. Only old people get sick from the virus and die. They were going to die anyway. What’s the deal?
Lately the largest group being infected are under the age of 40. How many succumb will only be known later. In any case, Covid seems to have a long tail, leading to a cocktail of organ issues after the primary infection departs. Why not try to eradicate it?
Most deaths are among nursing-home residents and other wrinklies, the malcontents cry. Many have other health problems, so this whole thing is overblown.
The vaccine is not just about preventing death. It’s about lessening disease. Hospitalizations are surging. ICUs in many Canadian cities have never seen so many patients. Health care staff and systems are under big stress. Elective surgeries for cardiac and cancer patients in Toronto have been cancelled. Screenings for various cancers have stopped. Many who will never get Covid could sicken and die because of Covid. This can be stopped. Or mitigated.
Why would you not be part of the solution, hiding instead behind one of these false rationales?
Fear, of course. It’s cowardice which makes people resist. And that renders them selfish. Without most getting this serum, the virus will stay.
Deciding not to vax is no free ride. Employers won’t want non-immunized people in the workplace, lest they face liability for infections. No way Air Canada or WestJet is letting you into the passenger cabin without proof of vaccination. Why would Costco, Home Depot or Canadian Tire allow the unvaxed to mingle with other customers? Don’t kid yourself. You might end up being a modern leper.
Do you fear for your kids?
In the 1950s all we little snots had to line up and be vaccinated at school. No exceptions. No jab, no education. And today there is essentially no measles, mumps, chickenpox or polio for your children to worry about or sicken from. We did that for you. Now it’s your turn, so Covid is gone for future generations.
We all have a moral, ethical responsibility and duty to be vaxed. This is our social contract. Break it if you wish, but fear the cost.