I won’t take a COVID vaccine. Here’s why.

In 1783 the Treaty of Paris formalised American independence from Great Britain. Having been preoccupied with a military victory, the statesmen of the new nation had spent little time pondering their post-war constitutional structure. At first, the 13 states were loosely united under the ad hoc Articles of Confederation. Several states began erecting interstate tariffs and so a consensus emerged that a revamped constitution was required.

The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia 1787 was the finest gathering of political thinkers since Ancient Athens – Thomas Jefferson considered it ‘an assembly of demigods’. Politics is, however, inherently factional and the often bitter divide in the drafting of the constitution was between the Federalists (who wanted a powerful central government) and the poorly named Anti-Federalists.

The Federalists won the first round, and the constitution ratified in 1788 centralised power. The Anti-Federalists launched a comeback, and in 1791 the Bill of Rights was added to the constitution in the form of ten amendments. The Anti-Federalists were the libertarians of their day – preoccupied with individual liberty and suspicious of concentrated power.

The Bill of Rights is of greater significance than the prosaic constitution. Woven through the ten amendments was the sacred principle that majorities under the guise of democracy cannot brutalise minorities. Minorities were given the freedom to practice any religion, to say whatever they wanted, and to publicly protest whatever cause. Americans were acutely sensitive about protecting minority rights because the nation was a glorious hodgepodge of endless freedom-loving minorities.

The New World inspired the Old World.

19^th century European politics, in summary, is the struggle of the people to establish a constitution. Previously, the power of a monarch had no bound and their victims were routinely minorities. The fall of communism (1989-91) was dramatic, but impacted only half of Europe and was largely peaceful. The Revolutions of 1848 were Europe-wide and drenched in blood. The upshot was that reasonably liberalised constitutions became the norm – citizens were free, the state was limited and minorities had inalienable rights.

Why do liberal nations have such a preoccupation with protecting minority rights?

Because the history of mankind has been littered with the demonic persecution of … them! The descendants of Abraham have suffered the worst from this dark side of our nature, but there are endless other examples: 3^rd century Christians, teenage girls in Salem, the nobility in 1790s France, Tutsi’s in Rwanda, the Rohingya in Burma, Uyghurs in western China and ‘witches’ in Papuan Highlands. This summary is a gross disservice to endless other victims and their gruesome stories.

Minority persecution starts with murmurs of them (!) being a threat and then it gets whipped up by ‘leaders’ to become a tempest of irrational malice. It’s mankind at our worst. Civilised societies are meant to have overcome this primeval urge.

The mobs of history share one characteristic – a self-righteousness intoxication that those unclean bastards must be harmed. When it’s pointed out they resemble the mobs of the past they reply, ‘We reject past mobs, but this contemporary situation is nothing like that. Just shut up and let’s get ‘em!’

Today’s defenceless minority are those who have resisted the COVID vaccine. The world is against us – politicians, the public service, corporate media, big business, courts, police, and too often our friends. We cannot compare the treatment of the unvaccinated to the pogroms of the past but there are unmistakable early warning signs.

When an unintellectual dope with a soapbox like Ray Hadley compares the unvaccinated to supporters of Hitler and paedophiles we are on a dark downward trajectory. Disgraced former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian said with disgust she didn’t want to be in the same room as an unvaccinated person – you’d think an Armenian-Australian wouldn’t be so foul towards a persecuted minority.

Is it possible the COVID threat justifies treating the unvaccinated as lepers? 79 per cent of COVID cases in Australia have been under the age of 50 (137,311 individuals). In that category, 61 have died with/from COVID – what a pandemic!

But, but, but … what about other countries?

Germany’s new chancellor Olaf Scholz has speculated about a compulsory universal vaccination program. That nation has a population of 82 million and 0.12 per cent have died with/from COVID with an average fatality age of 81. Hate to bring up the 1940s, Mr Chancellor, but your um … ‘illiberal’ great grandparents brought enormous shame to your people in their treatment of a minority. Wise up, pal.

An overview of the vaccination program surely demonstrates that some COVID vaccine scepticism can be tolerated.

When five pharmaceutical companies announced in 2020 their intention to develop a COVID vaccine, headlines trumpeted they would not be making a profit (we’re all in this together etc). The public were not told that only AstraZeneca made that commitment. Two weeks ago, AstraZeneca backslid telling shareholders they will reap as much profit as they can. The reversal barely made the news.

The vaccines were brought to market in ‘warp speed.’ Gee, what could go wrong? Hopefully nothing, but prior vaccines have always taken years to get to market because of unforeseen side-effects. There is a debate in the world’s pre-eminent cardiac journal (Circulation) that COVID vaccines may be responsible for heart problems. It’s hard to know what the truth is because corporate media ignores the debate.

Big Pharma has always been preoccupied with not releasing harmful drugs because of massive financial liability. They had somehow largely exempted themselves from US liability pre-COVID, but that blank cheque was strengthened and globalised under COVID. Endless government and media product endorsement with zero risk – what a business model!

In February, Dr Anthony Fauci gave interviews claiming the COVID vaccines were brilliant – one shot and you won’t even catch COVID! Didn’t take long for that to be dispelled, and now we’re being told boosters ‘without end’ is the go. The consensus is the vaccine won’t stop you catching or transmitting COVID. Some governments say it’s fine to mix and match vaccine brands, and some say that it’s not permitted. Some governments say you can take a booster if you are under 65, but some don’t. It reeks of guesswork.

Tens of thousands of Australians have lost their jobs because they didn’t take this vaccine. And which profession was most resistant worldwide? Plumbers? Architects? Bus drivers? No – nurses, the ones who at least claim to see vaccine injuries first-hand. Those making those claims are either brilliant actors (but with no motive to lie) or gallant truth-tellers.

I asked a doctor recently why nurses are quitting instead of doctors. His answer was simple – many nurses have a partner they can rely on financially, but doctors are breadwinners and can’t afford to dissent.

Even if those who haven’t taken the COVID vaccine are, with the passage of time, confirmed as fools then surely society is doing far more damage by setting ugly precedents around the power of the state and the curtailing of individual freedom. The worst case is the tiny proportion of unvaccinated cause chaotic hospitals for a brief period (doubtful as the unvaccinated are generally healthier) and some of us die because of our own poor but voluntary decision – these are small prices to pay to ensure this generation passes onto the next our ancient hard-fought liberties.

The escalating malice towards the unvaccinated is the early stages of mankind’s worst impulses. The good news is that mobs eventually burn out – the only question is how much damage will be done to the liberal fabric between now and then?

John Ruddick is the Liberal Democrat’s senate candidate in New South Wales.