Self-Limiting Crisis

Sitting on my city council one winter evening, a citizen rose to point out that some of his neighbors in a townhome complex were warming up their cars in their garages before driving off to work in the morning. Since the homes were all closely connected exhaust fumes had become a problem for other homes. The concern was carbon monoxide entering homes and killing residents. Could something be done about this?

The council discussed the issue a bit, then one alderman muttered under his breath, “a self-limited problem.” That tickled me and I chuckled audibly and the alderman slyly caught my glance.

It was funny then, and still is. Tragic as a casualty from such stupidity is, the truth of the matter is the stupid will eliminate themselves from humankind by their own actions. Like Darwin’s Theory of Survival of the Fittest, the theory applies equally to humanity as to the animal world.

Same goes for anti-vaxxers. The facts are becoming clearer that COVID-19 vaccines are working. They work for the original strain of the virus, and appear to be quite effective against later strains of the virus. Even the most recent strain from India, the vaccines show solid results protecting those vaccinated.

Recent reports indicate one region has experienced COVID deaths for only those who have not been vaccinated.

Read that line again. Only those unvaccinated patients were the ones who died. Now, some unvaccinated patients survived, to be sure, but think about it. If you have not been vaccinated and contract the virus, you are more likely to die of the disease.

Is that proof enough for an anti-vaxxer? Not sure they will be moved by such logic. Their reasoning does not include facts. They are ideologues who believe in conspiracy theories.

Fine. Let them. Survival of the Fittest theory says they will eventually disappear leaving the rest of us hale and hearty. Self-limiting crisis. Indeed.

I rather like surviving. Following directions and competent scientists, health professionals and leaders is one method of surviving. Another method is luck. It works some of the time. But what about improving those odds?

Hmmmmm?

July 15, 2021