Posted by: syncro
There's also the factor of privilege to consider in the sense that most of us aren't really aware how a lifetime and generations of being oppressed can affect the way someone thinks.You both are right, but not quite for the reasons you think. IE rural/poor is a big factor, but it's the effects of being poor that are at play, not just the fact of being poor as poor people can get access. Same for politics, it's the effect of the political system that are at play, not necessarily who's in power or what they're pushing. So in a way you're both right and you're both wrong. What's at issue is the psychology of the people that aren't getting vax'd and the reasons why come down to many different things. It's some combination of politics, education, upbringing, peers, affluence, finances and others. It's a huge confluence of social factors that accumulate over a person's lifetime. You can get people that are educated and financially well off who are anti-vax and "hugs over mask" types as well as people who are uneducated and poor.
I think what steers people's beliefs typically comes down to just a few factors tho; belief in religion, trust in authority, political views and peer group influence and acceptance - huge factors of personal identity. I think that last one though, peer group influence and acceptance, is the strongest factor. And rejection from the more established group can be a bigger influence than anything else in driving someone's views.
Identity coupled with the non stop propaganda plays the biggest role for sure. I am sure if the vaccine roll out was under Trump or Bush the numbers would be very different because Fox News would be praising the effort which would allow them to be OK with it. Once you lock into the identity of a specific group you become really easy to manipulate.
The hugs over masks type are also motivated by their identity. My sister is typical of a very health conscious woman in her 50s (Gwyneth's target audience), especially when it comes to food, so the idea of not having full control over what she puts in her body opens the door to propaganda that focuses on nothing but the personal risks. At the same time she has been trained for years to believe that western medicine is 99.9% detrimental and that by eating well and exercising she is bulletproof to disease because that is how it is all caused. Any time anyone we know gets cancer her and her friends will always find a health choice that they made as the cause, as though genetics were not relevant. If you try to discuss the community benefit of vaccines with most people like her you will typically get stonewalled because they already have a gut reaction that the jab is dangerous to their pristine system so they can't follow that logic. I have a buddy that is trying to convince his wife to get the vax and she is legit scared to do so. The fact that most everyone she knows has had it as is fine doesn't seem to help.
