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Showing Original Post only (View all)Fringe benefit of vaccine passports [View all]
This may be obvious, but this thought occurred to me only recently.
Gone are the days of the Jim Crow laws where minority groups are explicitly denied freedoms enjoyed by others. Nowadays the persecution is more subtle. Instead of calling out "undesirable" groups by name, laws are kept on the books which can be disproportionally applied to them. Examples of this include marijuana laws, parole searches, and "bathroom bills". There are many, many others. In addition to laws, there are rules enforced by companies and schools around things like uniforms, hairstyles, and even wedding cakes.
Generally speaking, these tools of discrimination always seems to be wielded by privileged white right-wingers in defiance of the outrage of the left.
Until now.
Now there is discussion of a vaccine passport. Those who opt out of getting a vaccine will encounter headwinds trying to go about their daily routine. They will encounter headwinds boarding a plane, entering an arena, using mass transit, travelling across state lines, etc. Recent polls show that Republicans are three to four times as likely as Democrats to opt out of getting the vaccine. Republicans will be far more likely to get mired in the quagmire of not having a passport as they watch their Democratic peers go merrily about their day.
So it's the proverbial taste of one's own medicine.