“Is YOUR trip necessary?”
“When You Ride Alone, You Ride with Hitler!”
“Use it up - Wear it out - Make do.”
“Do with less - So they’ll have enough!”
The above slogans are just a few that were publicized widely during World War II. Their purpose was to encourage Americans to support the war effort. Americans faced enormous hardships, and the slogans reminded everyone why these were necessary.
During the war, ration books were issued to everyone. It was illegal to buy more than was allowed. Sugar, meat, dairy products and other foods were severely rationed. People had to learn new ways to cook.
Shoes and other items of clothing were rationed, as well as gas and tires. Car pooling became a patriotic duty. Anyone circumventing the rationing rules was disgraced.
Daily life was impacted in more ways than rationing. To protect against possible air raids, blackout rules were imposed around the country. Car headlights and streetlights had to be covered except for a small exposed area.
Windows had blackout curtains. If an air raid siren sounded, all lights were turned off. If any light was visible, air raid wardens would tell people to turn it off immediately. Even lighting a cigarette near a window was prohibited. Everyone’s rights were severely curtailed.
Why is this pertinent now? We are facing an enemy which has killed more than 5.5 million people worldwide, including over 855,000 Americans. This enemy is not only killing people and sickening millions more, it has caused disruptions in our daily lives which are crippling many aspects of society. The appropriate response would seem to be the kind we showed after the attack on Pearl Harbor, uniting together to defeat the enemy and win the war.
Instead, our battle is split along political lines. One side acknowledges the dangers of COVID-19 and how it’s crippling our country. That side is using every weapon available to keep people safe and get us back to normal.
The other side expresses disbelief in the threat, downplaying the risks and refusing to use the tools we have. They say the danger is small and we’re getting hysterical over nothing.
One argument these people use is that COVID is no worse than flu. In fact, Harvard’s School of Public Health notes the mortality rate from flu is 1.8 deaths per 100,000 people who become ill. COVID’s mortality rate is 254 deaths per 100,000, a pretty significant difference.
Others say the survival rate is over 99 percent, so why worry? Here’s one way to illustrate the risk. Every day, there are approximately 100,000 commercial flights around the world. A 99.9 percent success rate would mean 100 planes crashing every day. Overall, that’s a tiny chance of crashing. Would the anti-vaxxers be prepared to fly with those odds? Maybe they’re that stupid; I hope not.
Besides the unnecessary deaths resulting from this “pro-COVID” stance, the vilification of the COVID vaccine has resulted in other vaccines being suspect. We are losing ground against diseases we had basically conquered. Vaccines protect us as individuals; when a high percentage of the population is vaccinated, society as a whole is protected.
As fewer people, especially children, get vaccinated, diseases most of us have never seen could re-emerge. Preventing measles requires at least a 95 percent vaccination rate. Polio requires over 80 percent vaccination. (Washington Post, Nov. 7, 2021)
So if we start seeing a resurgence of measles, mumps, polio, diphtheria, whooping cough and other deadly diseases that crippled and killed millions of people, you can thank the anti-vaxxers. They’ve worked hard to make people disparage and distrust vaccines. The anti-vaxxer, anti-masker slogan seems to be “My right to infect you is more important than your right to live.”
If we were 95 percent vaccinated against COVID, we would very likely be getting back to almost normal. Because of the anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers, we’re still struggling. Those refusing to get vaccinated, mostly for political reasons, continue to endanger our lives, our economy and our society. That should never be acceptable.
I’ve read comments from WWII veterans saying that if they could have won the war by wearing masks and getting vaccinated instead of running across a battlefield getting shot at, they would have been thrilled. Today’s anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers can’t even be bothered to do two simple things that would help us win this war against COVID.
If the American people had had that attitude during WWII, we most certainly would have lost. I just pray we don’t lose this war.
Jeanette Strong, whose column appears every other week, is a Nevada Press Association award-winning columnist. She may be reached at news@lahontanvalleynews.com.
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