@coyote. I am intrigued by your analysis that willingness to get vaccinated involves social trust. I think of it instead as high levels of social responsibility.
The conservative pundit Ann Coulter sneered at progressives (in an interview with John Stewart) as being filled with overly serious people driving around listening to National Public Radio while "her" people, the red state people, drive around listening to happy music and also that her people were Christian.
What she was actually seeing was that progressives are more likely not so much to trust the state, but to feel a responsibility to take the right actions to help the whole Collective. To do that, progressives bother to get factual information, especially scientific information and social science, so in the case of the pandemic, they know the science. That's why progressives drive around listening to NPR. (Okay, now someone is going to post that they never drive around listening to NPR but only great music. But I still say that progressives feel more social responsibility.
(Okay, now someone is going to post that they never drive around listening to NPR but only great music. But I still say that progressives feel more social responsibility.
NPR is better in podcast form in the office ?. Note: I didn't say ... THAT exactly ?? (Love you Jeanne!)
@jeanne-mayell. I guess I am a progressive because I always listen to NPR while driving. My favorite is Science Fridays, and I also love the author interviews and book reviews. Weekends it’s “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell,” and favorite host is Meghna-Chakrabarti. She has a great voice with great comments and questions.
I'm always listening to music in the car, tho I do have NPR on the last preset. My friend whom I drive to work with usually has it on as we drive. She always tells me goodies she's heard there.
I just ventured out to Lowes & Wallyworld for the first time since the restriction changes were made. I was one of 3 wearing a mask in Lowes. There were a few more masks in WM, but there were exponenrially more people there. I wasn't surprised at this. Sunday I went to our local produce "stand". It's a small open air tented store, complete with 4 refrigerated units for local dairy & some local seafood or meats. It was packed as always for a weekend & there was no social distancing & I was 1 of 2 masked ahoppers.
As other NC residents have noted here, there are clusters of progressives in some of our cities, but just a stone's throw away you'll hit absolute red.
My sister and I took our first post Covid two day trip and went to Yosemite (3 hours from home). We had a reservation for day use. We were quite surprised at the crowds, given the reservation necessity. We were more disappointed with the road work and controlled burn, than the crowds. So we spent our time in the small town of Groveland. And were quite pleased with the mask use when inside. We met a couple of ladies from South Carolina and they commented on the extended California restrictions, but they didn't seem to mind. I was very cautious all of last year, but felt comfortable being way from home since we are both fully vaccinated. Things seems to be looking up in that regard.
Social trust and responsibility are two sides of the same coin; if your neighbors are being responsible, then you'll trust them. If your neighbors trust you, then you want to act responsibly. I only wrote about social trust because I remember reading an article about how successfully Vermont was managing the pandemic, and the author noted the well-documented culture of social trust in the Green Mountain State.
I had a dream about the societal reopening process on Monday morning. I was in the passenger seat of a minivan and a cousin of mine was at the wheel. We were driving in my hometown to the local high school, where a major football game - something like homecoming - would be taking place. Apparently my extended family would be throwing a tailgate celebration in conjunction with the game, and my and my cousin's job was to stake out a spot before the crowds arrived. I had the phone number of one of the event organizers, and apparently I would call this person once we were on the school grounds so that we would know where to park.
But once we got to the school, we had to navigate a labyrinth of roadways I had never encountered before, and I couldn't reach the event organizer on my phone. Eventually my cousin and I were driving through the hallways of the school, and I realized we were completely lost. The next moment, we were seated in a room in the school with a bunch of other people; the other people had also arrived early for the game. The intercom turned on and a voice announced that we'd have to wait inside because the weather was unsettled; we wouldn't be let out until the organizers decided whether or not the game would go forward as planned.
There wasn't any direct reference to COVID in the dream, but I knew this was a covid dream when I woke up. The family celebration is a metaphor for the collective desire to celebrate and put the hard times behind us. The homecoming football game stands in for the mass social gatherings (like the Olympics) we've been deprived of. But there will be challenges as we emerge from our foxholes (the labyrinth of roads), and unforeseen obstacles could get in the way (unsettled weather). The fact that this dream took place at a school is a symbol of how this entire pandemic is a spiritual learning experience.
@coyote. Okay, two parts to your response. 1. The dream is amazing and I will need more time to respond to it. And (2) You are so right bout the two sides of the same coin of social trust and social responsibility. I wrote that post then hopped in my car and drove off to an appointment thinking, wait, both are correct, it's just facets of the same issue. And the issue is complex.
AND I love these discussions.
New York public schools will be full in-person with no remote learning option. My concern is that it might not be safe.
@jeanne-mayell Why does it not surprise me that Georgia ranks 47th on the list with only 30% ish vaccinated? and illustrious Gov.Kemp in the news today with this screaming headline " Kemp to ban school mask mandates"
Seems that once again a lot of Darwin awards are being passed out.
@journeywithme2. Agree. Florida is the most shameful, though, because they have a second highest percent elderly in the country yet they rank 29th in vaccine rate. Vaccine rates are complex and it is difficult to get certain groups to get vaccinated even when the governor makes it a priority, but states with high elderly populations should not see such extremely low vaccination rankings as with Florida.
States Ranked by Percent Elderly.
1. Maine (ranks 2nd in vaccination rate)
2. Florida (ranks 29th in vaccination rate)
3. West VA (ranks 40th in vaccination rate)
4. Vermont (ranks first in vaccination rate)
5. Delaware (ranks 22nd in vaccination rate)
6. Montana (ranks 32 in vaccination rate)
7. Hawaii (ranks 7th in vaccination rate)
8. Pennsylvania (ranks 19th in vaccination rate)
9. New Hampshire (ranks 24th in vaccination rate)
10. South Carolina (ranks 42nd in vaccination rate)
11. Oregon (ranks 17th in vaccination rate)
12 Arizona (ranks 36th in vaccination rates)
- Red color shows high elderly, but low vaccine standing;
- Blue color shows high elderly and high vaccine standing.