COVID-19 is a hypochondriac’s nightmare. As a lifelong one, I had more than a few panic attacks early on in the pandemic, and I know folks who engaged in truly strange rituals because of their hypochondria so as to avoid the bug. But once I got vaccinated, all those fears faded away.
All the many folks I know who have avoided the shot are smart, some brilliant. That is heartbreaking as not getting vaccinated endangers everyone they come into contact with. It goes to show that even smart people can make bad decisions.
At 77, I’m still alive because I always play the odds in my favor regarding health and safety. A smart person choosing not to vaccinate is sort of like deciding to walk against the light in heavy traffic. At some point, you’ll get hit.
After nearly two years of this, everyone likely knows many people who got COVID-19 and one or more who died from it. I’ve known three.
A pandemic can crash a thriving economy very quickly. Just ask Donald Trump. But we now know that if government acts just as quickly with massive financial relief to the masses, the economy can rebound almost as quickly. Just ask Joe Biden. COVID-19 made the case for democratic socialism.
More than 800,000 Americans have succumbed to COVID-19. Our total is about 15% of the world’s COVID-19 death total. This in a country with just 4% of the world’s population. For that to occur in the richest country in the world with world-class medicine is a grotesque disgrace.
When Trump called Biden a wimp for masking and promoting vaccination, a good hunk of America said, “Right on,” and didn’t mask, maintain social distance or vaccinate. Why would someone seeking votes want potential voters to die?
— Walt Zlotow, Glen Ellyn
Who is the most vulnerable?
After reading the article “Pritzker: ‘Most vulnerable’ were punished by law” (Dec. 19), about the governor signing the repeal of the parent notification law for abortions by minors, I couldn’t help but think the identity of the most vulnerable was incorrect.
The unborn child is always the most vulnerable in the abortion debate.
— Cathy Rennau, Oak Park
Spending trillions not a fix
First we were told by the Biden administration that the high rate of inflation was transitory. When everyone realized that wasn’t true, President Joe Biden attempted to make us believe that while the current rate of inflation is not transitory, the pending bills, if enacted, would lower the rate of inflation.
It certainly can’t be the Build Back Better plan. If enacted, it would have the opposite effect. Spending trillions of dollars more will only serve to increase the rate of inflation.
Continuing to spend trillions can’t continue without eventually devaluing the dollar. We are headed for financial disaster unless Congress has the will to stop this fiscal lunacy. Instead of Build Back Better, it should be called the Bankrupt America bill.
— Dan Schuchardt, Glen Ellyn
Let’s not become China
I just finished reading the Dec. 20 editorial on the Cook County Democratic Party’s loyalty pledge (“It’s anachronistic, silly and undemocratic”). I agree with the Tribune Editorial Board that the pledge is completely in opposition to what democracy is supposed to be. Democracy can survive only when there is discussion of different opinions.
That brought to mind the Republican Party’s insistence on everyone toeing the party line. Over the last year or two, the GOP has punished and exiled party members who have expressed an opinion that doesn’t agree with the main position.
What made this worse was when I turned a few pages over and saw an article about the low turnout in Hong Kong elections (“Hong Kong turnout low in election of loyalists to China”). That article states that laws have been amended to reduce the numbers of directly elected lawmakers and to ensure that the candidates who do run are only those loyal to China. The similarities were frightening to me.
We need more lawmakers who will think for themselves and not merely go along with what they’re told. And party leaders who stop beating their members into submission but instead allow free thought. We are not China — yet.
— Thelma Hulka, Darien
Contradiction in action
The city of Chicago now will require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for entry to restaurants and entertainment venues. Yet when we vote, there is no requirement for voter identification.
Am I missing something?
— Roberto Garcia, Chicago
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