Thread by @FreedomFriesInc

(1) The pandemic is triggering events like this worldwide.

Those who say "share the vaccines with all" do not realize how that would work in practice.

If the US becomes unable to afford to send aid to its existing recipient countries, those countries will be even worse off.

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1414338725207752708

(2) Even if every "spare" vaccine in the world was re-routed to countries that don't have enough, it still would not prevent the existing and coming catastrophes.

And there is a sound logical AND ETHICAL case for not doing that, too.

(3) I'm saying this from a country (NZ) that is way behind on it's own vaccine program and is vulnerable to a large number of preventable Covid deaths if the next 90 days don't go well.

So I hardly have a vested interest against such countries.

(4) People seem to have an impression that everyone who wants a vaccine in the US is able to get one, and that no additional vaccines will be needed in the future.

They also ignore the existing & current donation of huge numbers of vaccines to the COVAX program worldwide.

(5) The US #WeCanDoThis program is one of the best in the world. Only Israel springs to mind as performing this task as well as the US. I'm happy to hear of additional examples.

Yet there will always be small groups of individuals with (solvable) barriers to access.

(6) The constitutional right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is an individual right. If one individual US citizen needs help to access Covid vaccines in a timely fashion, then government has a duty to do all it can to ensure those barriers are removed.

(7) There is a tendency for people everywhere to think about pandemic response at a population level, and to tolerate "collateral damage" when it impacts a small number of people.

This is ethically, morally, and (US) constitutionally wrong.

(8) The contemporary "America First" movement has given the protection of individual rights in the US a very bad name. It will take years, maybe generations, to repair the damage.

(9) Yes, citizens are free to be generous with their private property. Governments are not ethically/morally free to do that with taxpayer funds. It's part of the centuries old "social contract" that government is entrusted with resources in order to seek the greater good. Kinda.

(10) I and many other right of center and left of center moderates believe the top priorities of government should be the maintenance of national security, the rule of law, and the ability of individuals to participate in free markets as much as possible.

(11) Pandemics come under "national security." NatSec does NOT just mean external security. It includes internal security.

It includes avoiding things that compromise a country's ability to produce & distribute vital resources like energy, water, comms, first responders etc.

(12) Western US states are having their second extreme heatwave in 2 weeks. Almost 200 people died in the first one.

That kind of weather worsens the danger of wildfires, too.

Peak hurricane season is approaching.

(13) The number and level of internal and external threats to life for Americans continues to grow.

This is no time to increase the number of vaccine doses already being given to other countries.

It's a harsh truth, which is why few politicians talk about it.

(14) The US is already doing all it reasonably can to help other countries make their own vaccines or be able to obtain them from elsewhere.

If the US goes into rapid decline of resource production and distribution, it will not be able to keep doing even that.

(15) Again, I mention NZ because there is always someone who thinks I shouldn't talk about the US at all.

It's lame, lazy, logical fallacy, used when the person has no actual argument against what I am saying.

NZ needs the US to be as functional as possible. We all do.

(16) That's why I express concern about government mishandling of the pandemic in my own country, and wherever else I see it.

Australia's population is around 26 million. Together with NZ (5 M) we are the main supports for Pacific Island countries during emergencies.

(17) The Covid situation in AU is at a tipping point. Largely because of government mishandling, which has and still is occurring in NZ, too.

It is winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

Fiji (900k) is already like India was a few months ago. Healthcare system has collapsed.

(18) AU is better equipped than NZ to minimize the loss of life when its biggest Covid wave hits. (Imminently.)

No one in the region can expect AU to send much in the way of equipment, supplies, & personnel if we are hit at the same time.

AU & NZ are already aiding the PIs.

(19) Here's how the 43 million residents of Oceania / Australasia / South Pacific are distributed. (Source: Wikipedia, today.)

Most of these countries are very poor.

(20) As a healthy human being with a working moral compass I of course want people in every country to have the same chance of surviving this pandemic as we do in our countries.

Sadly, that is not reality and it is never going to be reality.

(21) I guess the point of this thread is to encourage you to look around at what's happening in other countries.

Content warning: It is pretty upsetting.

No country was sufficiently prepared for the pandemic, and we should have been.

(22) The media (whichever flavor you use) tells you the stories they want you to see, because their only goal is to maximize clicks and ratings (or they are vanity projects, and thereby even less economical with the truth.) It's pointless to expect them to change.

(23) So I try to access information about other countries through a range of sources. It takes more effort, but I believe you can get a more accurate picture this way.

Become part of the solution, not part of the problem. Take control of your own information intake.

(24) My approach to the pandemic is the same as my approach to any other disaster.

a. Put on your own oxygen mask first
b. Charity begins at home
c. Look out for your neighbors
d. Get out of the way of the problem solvers
e. Stay relentlessly positive.

#WeCanDoThis

(25) Erratum:

I meant to type 42 M iso 43 M in tweet (19).

Media vanity projects are MORE economical with the truth, ie they lie more than others, tweet (22).

FML😊