Live After Quit

Vaccinate for Global Democracy? The US Empire Turns Therapeutic

After twenty years of failure in Afghanistan, the US government is embarking upon yet another unwinnable war. This time around, however, the military-industrial-congressional complex isn’t pulling the strings.

In a Washington Post editorial published shortly before the United Nations General Assembly’s global summit on fighting the pandemic, editors made the case that President Joe Biden and European leaders should use the tools provided by the UN to “reach tangible outcomes to help the global south.”

Yes, while many states challenge Biden’s national vaccine mandate, legacy media pushes to turn the US into a world vaccine provider, making the case for “vaccine equity.” 

That includes serving as “the world’s arsenal of vaccines,” a goal put forth by Biden in early June.

What needs to happen now is to accelerate dose delivery [of covid-19 vaccines] to lower- and middle-income countries. As the White House plan for the summit notes, rich countries could swap places in delivery schedules with poorer countries, and expedite delivery of those doses already pledged….

China has been adept at vaccine diplomacy in poor corners of the world—and earning goodwill points. The summit is a chance for Mr. Biden to show that the United States will live up to his goal.

But what does living up to his goal really look like? Would foreign nationals have the ability to seek compensation for damages caused by the vaccine in a local or global court? Better yet, does anyone have a say on whether they get injected with a vaccine they do not want or trust?

From Bombs to Needles

Earlier this month, Biden unilaterally decreed that all businesses with a hundred or more employees must implement vaccine mandates or face hefty fines. Immediately after announcing his order, at least twenty-four state representatives, including governors and attorney generals, vowed to resist. Many states already have laws forbidding such mandates and are unwilling to comply.

At the heart of the debate are questions related to the vaccines’ efficacy, especially in light of the growing reports showing the currently available shots are harmful, especially to the young.

But that’s not the only problem.

When it comes to medical treatments, patients have a right to make a decision on whether they will or will not participate. It is their body and their decision what ultimately happens to it. Furthermore, if a vaccine is indeed effective, the vaccinated should not fear the unvaccinated. There should be no major push by either the US government or its health czar, Dr. Anthony Fauci, to ensure all are vaccinated. The fact that there is, however, shows that this is yet another fearmongering tactic, put forth in order to coerce a greater number of Americans into participating in the novel medical experiment, all the while making no arrangements to ensure Americans have any legal protection in case something goes wrong.

As a matter of fact, Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar invoked the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act while President Donald Trump was still in the White House in order to shield the vaccine manufacturers from legal actions.

When Biden assumed the presidency, his administration failed to reverse the immunity rules protecting vaccine manufacturers. Until 2024, when the rules are set to expire, the American people are unable to hold vaccine manufacturers, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the employers who mandate inoculation as a condition of employment accountable if they are severely injured.

With America serving as the world’s vaccine distributor, when will foreign countries begin to feel like they are guinea pigs in the US-backed experiment?

Instead of spreading “democracy” by bombing foreign nations, America will be spreading “health” by delivering vaccines produced by untouchable pharmaceutical conglomerates to some of the poorest countries in the world.

Is that what some are now calling the vaccine- or covid-industrial complex?

In his Business Times piece arguing for caution when it comes to private and government interests dictating covid policy, financial analyst Ahmed Sule wrote that much like the military-industrial complex benefits directly from prolonged conflicts around the world, the same could eventually happen for the pharmaceutical and biotech firms as well as the members of Congress whose campaign donations are directly tied to the distribution of the novel vaccines. 

Since the end of World War II, a strong military-industrial complex has ensured massive profits for weapons suppliers in government procurement programmes and prolonged armed conflicts around the world. Could the same be possible for the preventive medical solutions to the pandemic? After all, in order to maintain the current valuations that companies which make Covid-related vaccines and diagnostic tests enjoy, the pandemic will have to become perpetual.

As Dr. Ron Paul stated recently, there’s good reason for people to resist vaccine mandates. Most importantly, “if [the] government can force people to take a potentially dangerous vaccine to protect against a hypothetical harm to others, the same reasoning would support the imposing of many additional liberty violations.”

By putting America in charge of implementing similar policies around the world with the help of the UN, how much further can it go?