Death Is Bad for Business

So today’s blog is a little bit off the usual topic I guess, I hope you will indulge me.

I was just sitting here cogitating the other day, and I came across the little contradiction which I just couldn’t leave alone.  The question was, why do various government agencies require vaccinations of people who don’t want them?  I mean, assuming the vaccinations work (and most of them seem to), if you and your kids all get vaccinated, why not just leave it at that?  If some crackpot wants to take a chance on getting the swine flu, who cares?

I guess what bothers me about this is that I sensed there is a general implication that somehow, in order for the vaccines to work, everybody has to get vaccinated.  Somehow, even if you are vaccinated, if the kids next door aren’t vaccinated and get some sort of pox, supposedly this will pose some sort of medical danger to you.  And again, if the vaccinations work, and they generally do, what do you care what the neighbors kids get?

And then it dawned on me.  Sickness and death are bad for business.

People who are sick or dead, generally speaking, don’t work as much.  Also, kids that are sick don’t go to school.  This messes up lesson plans like you wouldn’t believe, is very inconvenient to school bureaucracy, and it sometimes pulls a working parent out of their job in order to care for them.

So even if you are vaccinated for the current flu crisis, if enough other people get the flu, you might not be able to buy gas, get groceries, or who knows what services might get shut down if enough people are home sucking down tamiflu with a thermometer in their mouth.

So now I understand why the government wants me to get a flu vaccine instead of my taking nine days off work to just let my immune system fix things all by itself the old-fashioned way.  It’s bad for business.

We could, of course, have less illness through better nutrition, adequate sleep, regular exercise, improved immune response thru less stress, and maybe by not concentrating thousands of kids into daily contact with one another.  But maintenance of health that way is so time-consuming and inefficient, when we can maintain functionality thru a simple 5 minute procedure. 

I’m not getting a flu shot, but you should definitely get one for yourself. 

©Justin Locke