Vaccine Passports and the Categorical Impermissibility of Inconveniencing Republicans

[Nevilledog]

https://modelcitizen.substack.com/p/vaccine-passports-and-the-categorical

Conservatives have been freaking out about the mere possibility of vaccine passports, government-issued documents certifying the bearer’s Covid jabs.

The idea isn’t that the government will require proof of vaccination for anything. The idea is that the ability to credibly prove vaccination status will speed the restoration of normal social and economic life. This works by allowing businesses, schools, sports leagues, etc. to discriminate against those who haven’t been vaccinated. Now, because a lot of wealthier white folks have been butting in line and members of some less privileged groups are less likely to have gotten their shots, there are real, legitimate worries about discrimination on the basis of vaccine status. It could conceivably exacerbate invidious inequalities based on race, class, and so forth.

But these obviously aren’t the concerns that have conservatives exercised. Indeed, one of the bright lines dividing American liberals and conservatives concerns the limits of freedom of association. Conservatives, and especially those with a libertarian streak, are far more likely to be absolutists about the right to exclude anyone from your property, business, or private club or association for any reason. Rand Paul, who infamously opposes the part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits private businesses from discrimination on race, is a good example. Remember when Rachel Maddow asked him about the integration of lunch counters and he said, “Does the owner of the restaurant own his restaurant? Or does the government own his restaurant?”

If the Civil Rights Act is problematic because it infringes on freedom of association, the permissibility of discriminating against customers who might carry a fatal infection is a total no-brainer. Right? Ha!

Jesse Kelly, an eleventh-rate Limbaugh wannabe who bills himself as “the greatest mind of the 21st century,” has beautifully encapsulated the Orwellian doublethink inherent in the ersatz “libertarianism” of the authoritarian right.

*snip*

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. I believe in vaccine passports

The fact that these passports will piss off low IQ conservatives is a bonus. Again, idiots who are too stupid to take the vaccine should be excluded from going to functions with sane and intelligent people

[Dorian Gray]

5. I'm with you

Love when these people won't be able to go to hotels and travel overseas because of their obstinance.

[kairos12]

3. No smoking sections.

Same thing.

[The Magistrate]

4. That's An Excellent Piece, Ma'am

Thank you for sharing it.

[Nevilledog]

6. You're welcome, my dear.