Valerian’s Realm is my realm – my little corner of the web where I can collect the various topics that are hitting the digital newsstands. This site acts as my very own, very public RSS aggregator – where I can – in one single location – my very own home on the web – browse through the headlines and excerpts from the countless sites I am curious about and interested in. If a particular topic catches my eye – the source is linked and I can follow it through to the originating site – to read the full article.
I am attempting to curate these RSS feeds – but the caveat remains – the posting of these RSS feeds does not equate to endorsement of the stances or opinions expressed by the respective authors. If anything, the presentation of differing points of view serves to keep me out of my echo chamber and to keep my my mind open to understanding how others may perceive the world.
In fact – a recent post on “forced vaccinations” presents an interesting challenge. Do I curate more tightly to limit these perspectives on my blog? I don’t personally think that’s the best course of action. But I can’t simply ignore such posts either. I suspect that “forced vaccinations” will be a topic ( one among many) that will be revisited in my own blog postings here. It’s an interesting question. Do individuals have the right to control what enters their bodies? If I believe in bodily autonomy then it seems logical to think that I do NOT believe in State force upon my person.
When folks discuss vaccinations, the phrase “herd immunity” invariably surfaces. When I hear that phrase, I can’t help but think of “the tragedy of the commons” – described by Wikipedia this way: “The tragedy of the commons is a term used in environmental science to describe a situation in a shared-resource system where individual users acting independently according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling that resource through their collective action.” It’s fascinating to me that folks repeatedly dismiss the “tragedy of the commons” in their arguments against mandatory/forced vaccinations.
This, to me, is a topic worth exploring more in depth. Does the state have the right to mandate or force individuals to accept vaccinations? How do I reconcile my belief that the State does NOT have the right to compel me with my belief in necessity of vaccinations? Perhaps there is a middle ground where the state cannot mandate/require/force vaccines but can deny people access to public spaces “the commons” if they have not been vaccinated. I do not know how such a policy could be implemented practically. These are thoughts for another blog post.