As I drive up to the intersection, a sensor trips the light green and I sail through. Perfect! I’ve entered the iWorld where I always go to the head of the line, noisy neighbors move away, and roads I want to drive on are never being repaired.
In the iWorld, everybody but me gets vaccinated. I benefit from herd immunity because everyone else is vaccinated, yet I don’t risk any side effects from the procedure. It’s only fair. Wait a minute! What everyone reasoned like that? What about the seven billion other people in the world who are just as worthy as I am? As Steven Pinker puts it, “I can’t act as if my interests are special just because I’m me and you’re not.”*
We can all win, just not all at the same time. By waiting our turn we can all go through intersections. By getting vaccinated we contribute to herd immunity and as a bonus, we’re protected from preventable diseases.
*Pinker: The Better Angels of Our Nature p 182
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