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OT: The News Thread

hockeylover said:
I used to think this way too so I get it. I'm a normal reasonably healthy young woman in my 20s. Big deal, right? It's just the flu.

But there's a reason they try and get as many people as possible to get the flu shot and it's not to keep you healthy, so much as it is to stop you from getting the flu, infecting others, say at work or school, who will return home, visit family in nursing homes, hospitals, give it to their kids who'll take it to their school, etc. That's herd immunity.

And look, I'm not trying to be high and mighty about anything or lecture, it's just that the thought had never really occurred to me up until recently so I thought I'd share the mentality behind it at least.
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I've heard this before many times, but I find it really creepy for some reason. Almost totalitarian.

It's not my responsibility if some people have shitty immunity.
 
JaysCyYoung said:
I've heard this before many times, but I find it really creepy for some reason. Almost totalitarian.

It's not my responsibility if some people have shitty immunity.
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(note: I haven't gotten a flu shot in ages, just never bother, no strong stance)

The thing is, those people with shitty immunity are usually your grandparents, or your baby nephew or something similar. In which case it sorta is your responsibility
 
No, it's not.

That's downright fascist thinking.

And ironically enough, both of the groups most vulnerable to the flu happen to the the most irritating demographics anyways. A few less seniors is good in my books - less leeches sucking out health care dollars.
 
hockeylover said:
Uh. It kinda is. We pay for it.
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Uh. It kinda isn't. We already pay for people who smoke and eat shitty, high-fat foods, neither of which I engage in. And we're both in the demographic with by far the least health care costs age-wise.

And I'm less expensive than you by virtue of being a male to boot.

If they want to avoid getting the flu they should get the shot themselves and stay out of crowded areas during flu season, wash their hands, and take precautions.

But I'm not getting a potentially dangerous vaccination just so some old man might not get sick.
 
JaysCyYoung said:
No, it's not.

That's downright fascist thinking.

And ironically enough, both of the groups most vulnerable to the flu happen to the the most irritating demographics anyways. A few less seniors is good in my books - less leeches sucking out health care dollars.
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Or more because they got the flu and we give them care we might not have needed to if a few more people had just gotten the damn shot.
 
We're going to have to agree to disagree here. I believe in self-determination and democracy, therefore the right to choose the health care for one's own personal interests.

Getting the flu shot, or not, should remain an individual choice.
 
JaysCyYoung said:
We're going to have to agree to disagree here. I believe in self-determination and democracy, therefore the right to choose the health care for one's own personal interests.

Getting the flu shot, or not, should remain an individual choice.
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You can do what you'd like but quite frankly, I think your logic is extremely faulty and you're saying things that just aren't true ie) year behind, super-viruses, etc.

And it's in your personal interest IMO, even if you don't see it. You're paying for seniors/kids whether you like it or not. We all are.
 
hockeylover said:
You can do what you'd like but quite frankly, I think your logic is extremely faulty and you're saying things that just aren't true ie) year behind, super-viruses, etc.
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Most of the science I've seen around the flu is so contradictory and specious that it warrants extreme skepticism. I just don't trust the data I've seen that suggests getting a shot is a good preventative measure.

Especially when so many other outlets suggest the opposite.

And it's in your personal interest IMO, even if you don't see it. You're paying for seniors/kids whether you like it or not. We all are.
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Absolutely. Which is why I take extreme offence to the notion that I'm responsible for getting the shot to prevent others from getting sick, which isn't guaranteed by any stretch to begin with.

The only obligation I have is the one I already uphold: that little percentage that gets deducted from my pay stub every two weeks that goes into funding health care. So I've already done my part.
 
hockeylover said:
I used to think this way too so I get it. I'm a normal reasonably healthy young woman in my 20s. Big deal, right? It's just the flu.

But there's a reason they try and get as many people as possible to get the flu shot and it's not to keep you healthy, so much as it is to stop you from getting the flu, infecting others, say at work or school, who will return home, visit family in nursing homes, hospitals, give it to their kids who'll take it to their school, etc. That's herd immunity.

And look, I'm not trying to be high and mighty about anything or lecture, it's just that the thought had never really occurred to me up until recently so I thought I'd share the mentality behind it at least.
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I've heard that argument, and I get the logic behind it. And maybe it's selfish and irrational---but it still doesn't sway me. I'm not going to get an injection for the potential benefit to society as a whole when I don't feel that it gives me any personal benefit.
 
JaysCyYoung said:
Absolutely. Which is why I take extreme offence to the notion that I'm responsible for getting the shot to prevent others from getting sick, which isn't guaranteed by any stretch to begin with.
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As someone who chooses not to get the flu shot, you benefit from herd immunity too... you see that right?

I guess it changes your mind about things when you have to see the sick people every day and they're not just some "irritating demographic", I'll leave it at that. Different perspective.
 
hockeylover said:
As someone who chooses not to get the flu shot, you benefit from herd immunity too... you see that right?

I guess it changes your mind about things when you have to see the sick people every day and they're not just some "irritating demographic", I'll leave it at that. Different perspective.
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That's your personal decision to work with those people. But again, it's specious logic to try and attribute the same reasoning to me. As LeafGM pointed out, it confers no benefit onto me.
 
JaysCyYoung said:
That's your personal decision to work with those people. But again, it's specious logic to try and attribute the same reasoning to me. As LeafGM pointed out, it confers no benefit onto me.
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If you put aside what you said earlier about not believing the flu shot works at all, it's got the benefit of you being less likely not only to get the flu, but to have a loved one sick from the flu. This is pretty simple stuff. It's the same as coughing in your sleeve in an elevator, and not visiting a new born baby when you are sick.
 
Just to be clear, now you're suggesting that not only does it help, it hurts?

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You sound positively teeds-esque right now.
 
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