Here we are, fighting about whether or not the government should mandate COVID vaccinations, spreading further division into a country that can’t take much more.

To conservative America, a mandate is unconstitutional; the government doesn’t have the right to force someone to get a shot, any shot. It’s too personal, too invasive. In addition, the CDC’s case/death data is dubious at best, and breakthrough rates in the Omicron chapter are through the roof. If the vaccine doesn’t keep anyone from COVID in the first place, why should this liberal administration force me to take it? Could it be…. Socialism?

Liberals hold the opposite perspective; the shot will keep you out of the hospital, out of the grave, and is our only chance at building the proper immunity required to beat COVID. Unvaxxed people are needlessly taxing our healthcare system and putting others at risk. When one person’s freedom threatens the freedom of another, laws will follow.

We should remember a vital fact about this level of political polarization in the US: every time we’re this divided, one side’s right, the other side’s wrong (see slavery and Civil Rights). I have no problem believing that’s the case here; roughly half of America has embraced the correct side of the story, the other half will go down in history as an example of how not to think.

Which side are you on?

How do you know?

Very cocky questions to be sure, but there’s a simple test you can take that most Americans – liberal AND conservative – will fail.

It takes a qualified expert months to form their professional opinion about COVID, vaccines, public health initiatives, etc., and those are the result of formal, peer reviewed studies that fly 100,000 feet over our heads.

Us? It takes us about 3 minutes to form an opinion. And who needs a formal study? Give me an article from my trusted media outlet that villifies everyone who doesn’t think like me and I’m good to go, ready to jump on social media and spread the hate.

America’s division problems aren’t born from a desire for division, and rest assured that their cause is multifactorial. But underneath them you’ll find a problem with objectivity. So, before we ask who’s right and who’s wrong, we should ask who’s being objective. And, as is always the case in moments of national polarization, we should stop worrying about everyone else and focus on ourselves.

If you’re on the right side of all of this, there’s no need to test your objectivity. But there’s no way to know whether or not you’re on the right side unless you can prove to yourself that you’re being objective.

A Test

For every expert opinion you’ve read that supports your perspective, have you read the one that doesn’t? It exists, and is the result of a formal study by qualified experts.

I’m not talking about opinions from talking heads and media mouths who are just as unqualified to navigate this as you and I are. We should also be wary of medical professionals, smart as they are, claiming to be COVID experts, who aren’t COVID experts.

Below is a great example, a family practice doc at a school board meeting, offering his critique of CDC COVID counter-measures. While just about every fact-checking resource on the internet debunked him, many hailed him a hero.

As you watch this and consider the many big, complicated, sciencey words, remember that this guy is an expert in family medicine, not epidemiology or any other discipline required to affect public policy.

Sounds legit, right? Does the US government have any idea what it’s doing? “The CDC is choosing to ignore science” is a very strong statement, one that plays into the current conspiracy mindset. How do we know there’s not a conspiracy? This guys seems to think there’s one, and he’s a doctor.

There are plenty of pediatricians, family practice docs, cardiologists, RNs and others who are experts in their fields, but their opinion shouldn’t have more weight than someone who specializes in epidemiology, virology, public health, bio statistics, etc.

These experts have published a mountain of things to consider. It may surprise you that they have landed on both sides of our national debate; some have concluded that vaccines are our only way forward, some haven’t.

Who should we believe?

Understand that these scientists aren’t divided on how to move forward, i.e., this isn’t a 50/50 deal. There are many more who land on one side than the other. But I’ve ground that axe too many times to distract you with it here.

I’d rather make an uncomfortable assertion.

If you’ve read 10 articles (from experts) that support your perspective, why haven’t you read the 10 that don’t? Again, they’re out there. Again, they’re written by the people who are most qualified to talk about COVID.

Why completely ignore them?

If you can’t pass this test, you can’t claim to be objective. If you can’t claim to be objective, you have no business adding fuel to our country’s division.

Didn’t Pass?

That’s OK. Neither did I, so I’m working through some articles this week, giving the other side of the story a better chance.

If you’re not sure where to go to find perspectives that are different than yours, it’s pretty easy, but you’ll have to access media outlets from the other side of the fence, and that might make you feel dirty. You don’t have to agree with said outlets, but notice that they’ll quote experts in the fields of virology, epidemiology, public health, etc. Many times you’ll find a direct link to a formal study.

When you find a formal study, you don’t have to read the whole thing. You won’t understand it. Unless you’re qualified you shouldn’t try to analyze it. I simply skip down to the conclusion and go from there. It takes about 5 minutes to get the information I need. Make sure that you don’t read multiple articles about the same study. There’s one medial outlet that loves to quote the same guy over and over again, making it look like there are hundreds of studies that support a particular perspective.

Yesterday, I read an opinion article penned by a Harvard epidemiologist who believes that herd immunity is and always was our best chance of beating COVID. He posted multiple links, many of which took me directly to a formal study that supports his perspective.

Took me about 15 minutes to find and read 3 more articles, all referencing different studies.

I still haven’t budged from my very liberal perspective on COVID counter-measures. While I can’t say that I’m a perfectly objective person, I’m moving in that direction.

I can say that considering the other side of the story gives me compassion for how the other side thinks. Moving towards objectivity has made me less likely to villify the many folks who don’t think like I do, much less likely to multiply America’s division problems.

Photo by Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash