Do the Unvaccinated Have Rights?
When the COVID-19 vaccine was released to the public, there were huge efforts made by public health agencies, government and the media to encourage everyone to get vaccinated with it. Big influencers and regular people alike joined these entities in entreating their friends and family to protect themselves and others in the way the government said they should. Several different variations of the vaccine have been and continue to be released around the world and within countries, each with slightly or markedly different compositions and effects on the body, but which specific drug you get is less important than the fact that you get something called a COVID-19 vaccine injected into your arm.
When it became clear that not everyone was voluntarily stepping up to the bat to receive this medical intervention, efforts to encourage the population were intensified. When even that failed to convince us all, the concept of more punitive measures was introduced and quickly made into law or policy, with very little debate. Those who questioned drug safety or argued against mandates were ignored, ridiculed, accused of bad intentions, or silenced altogether. Soon we had mandates barring people from participating in various aspects of public and private life if they made the wrong choice. People were fired from their jobs for refusing to comply, and banned from travel. We are now in a position where many mandates have been dropped or modified, but many restrictions still remain. In Canada in particular, people who have not consented to injections of products made by pharmaceutical giants guilty of felony violations and illegal marketing like Pfizer or Astra-Zeneca are still not allowed to travel by air or rail within their own country, and are also not allowed to leave Canada. By choosing to go against the advice of public health they are now imprisoned in their own country, and there is no sign that such conditions are changing anytime soon. Government sources say the number of people affected by these restrictions is just under 4 million.
There have been massive protests, much maligned in the media, by some of the four million directly affected by the mandates who argue that their rights are not being respected. But those in power say the line in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms that says that “Every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada” among other things, does not apply to “the unvaccinated”. I’m still not sure how and why it doesn’t, and am personally hoping that legal challenges will succeed or that the policy will change.
But in the meantime, there is a bigger philosophical question to ask. In previous years, we didn’t divide people according to medical status, but now that we have created a tribe called “the unvaccinated”, does this tribe actually have rights - to job security? To access to civic life? To freedom from punitive government measures? Do they have the right to respect and compassion from the society in which they live? For that matter, does anyone have these rights?
My answer to this is no.
Rights are an entirely fictional concept. They change with time, with governments, with the social mood. They are bestowed on populations by those in authority, and they are simply a construct of whatever society one lives in. We can find people, organizations and documents who declare their existence, like the UN’s official sounding “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, but there are many so-called rights in that declaration that are regularly ignored by UN member countries.
The reality is that people in power - those who make the rules - choose the rights they wish to bestow on or withdraw from those over whom they rule. People without power are welcome to ask for those rights, demand them, even revolt when they are not given, but ultimately if those in power do not agree with them, they will not be given.
To me, the only actual rights I have are the ones granted by the universe. I have the right to be subject to the law of gravity, the right to get wet when it rains, the right to need food, water and oxygen to survive. What I do with those rights is up to me - the universe does not make a contract with me to then keep me dry, to make sure I eat, drink or breath.
No other human is obliged to give us anything, whether it be food, water, or a plane ticket. There are hundreds of millions of humans for whom the concept of human rights is completely irrelevant in their daily lives, who could never dream of being able to afford to go to a restaurant or fly to another country, whose vaccination status is irrelevant to their ability to get a job since there are no jobs available to them either way. There are people kept behind bars for the rest of their lives - whether rightfully or wrongfully convicted, their supposed human right to freedom to walk around in the world has been quickly and easily taken away, with consent and indeed approval by the rest of society.
When I focus on other humans who are denying me rights, I completely give up my own power. I give up my power to be happy, my power to be internally free, and my power to make choices. I demand for other people to give me my rights or I wait in vain for them, putting my peace, happiness and general experience of life on perpetual hold until those rights are granted.
Do I believe it is fair that I am not allowed to get on a train or cross the border that is less than two hours by car from my home? No, but that is irrelevant to reality, which is that the government is not allowing me to do those things right now. Rather than seethe about the injustice of that reality (which I have definitely done!), my opportunity is to focus on what I do have, and see where my options lie. Take the power away from those who are not bestowing it on me, and give it to myself. I can find new communities that accept me as I am, new ways of living that don’t require travel across the border or in a plane. I am welcome to take whatever action I wish if it gives me joy and satisfaction to do so, but whatever I do, I will feel far more peaceful if I remember that this idea of rights is a fictional concept. If that concept is not working for me, why continue to believe in it? Freedom always comes only from within, and when we give our freedom away to others who then deny it, we suffer. Whatever your medical status or life situation, I encourage you to join me as we take back our freedom, give ourselves the right to peace and happiness no matter what others say or do, and embrace the opportunities and possibilities in front of us each day.