The Biden Administration Hates Poor People

Why Support of These Vaccination Mandates Are a Direct Assault on the Dignity and Welfare of the Poor and Working Class

People who say they care about the working class, about people struggling paycheck to paycheck, should see the harm that these mandates and other “COVID protocols” have done to poor and working class families. Throughout the pandemic, small businesses have been permanently shuttered, people struggling to make ends meet lost their jobs, and some even committed suicide. Many of those who became unemployed during the shutdown no longer had healthcare insurance in case they did get sick, needed to treat an underlying illness, or talk to a mental health professional about the stress they were under.

And then there were the “essential” frontline workers, many of whom are poor or working class with not much in the bank. 

While many of us got to be “pajama workers” in the comfort and safety of our own homes while the pandemic went on, there were many people who never had that luxury. During the bulk of this pandemic, we relied on them to stock our toilet paper, deliver our food, give us medical care, and keep the supply chain running with their physical labor -- all the while putting themselves and their families at risk. Risks most of us were never willing to take. These people, many of them blue-collar, saved lives and made possible our ability to live comfortably while risking their own.

And now what? How are we thanking them?

With mandates. Forced vaccinations. Including upon many who are ALREADY at low risk because of immunity acquired from previous infection. Infections they got making sure the rest of us got our DoorDash while we hunkered down to binge-watch TV or the flour we needed to make our sourdough bread for our friends on Instagram. 

And why? 

People want to feel “safe.” That bit I get. But what these mandates are doing is imposing a medical intervention onto people who do not want it, including many who do not need it, and the net safety impact is debatable.

Remember, based on overwhelming data, those with a prior infection are FAR less likely to get reinfected or spread the virus without ever taking the vaccine. That’s right, they are "safer” to be around than those who are fully-vaccinated and have yet to get COVID. (Here’s the latest study from the Lancet on that). So if it’s safety and reducing the spread you’re looking for, you should feel safer around COVID-recovered people, whether or not they choose to get vaccinated.

But instead, the irony is lost on so many, including those in the Biden Administration,  as they scream “DO YOUR PART” to the people who propped up this country’s economy and allowed us to stay safe and comfortable for months on end while many of the rest of us sat on our asses afraid to go anywhere. If you think I’m throwing stones, I’m not. I still have the luxury of sitting on my ass in my living room while I work. The point is that we shouldn’t be so self-righteous and blind. These vaccine mandates HARM people’s financial well-being, which in turn harms their general well-being, including their physical and mental health. 

These are largely people who live paycheck to paycheck. They are a racially and ethnically diverse group. And they are all human beings with families to feed, rent to pay, and ostensibly their own autonomy.

Losing their ability to choose is dehumanizing. 

These mandates send a loud and clear message that this country doesn’t view the poor and working class as intelligent or capable of making their own decisions. 

Of course, the OSHA ETS does give the option for weekly testing. But guess what? It puts the burden of procuring and paying for tests onto the employee. It’s not a stretch to think that powerful and wealthy corporations that fall under this new rule lobbied the Administration so that they wouldn’t have to bear the cost. So what does the Administration do? They placed the financial burden on the employees. It’s easier to disrupt the entire life of the little guys than it is to upset CEOs that donate to political causes and reelections, right? 

Another laughable, if not entirely pathetic, portion of the OSHA ETS also discusses how the Administration has made every effort to make testing available in areas of “underserved” populations. Of course, in the document that section is pretty far away from the section that says those underserved populations still have to shell out money they might not have. 

I think about this, and the impact it will have on my own family. My step-father is a 61-year-old, COVID-recovered, Hispanic, blue-collar man that works his ass off doing 12-hour shifts of physically demanding labor. He also has a history of blood clots. He doesn’t NEED the vaccine. And he doesn’t WANT it. He makes a very modest income, but one that he works hard for. And he doesn’t have the protection of a union. So these mandates will put a financial burden on him that he will not be able to sustain. He is in jeopardy of losing his job, his income, and his health coverage, not just for him, but for his wife — my mother — a 60-year-old breast cancer survivor who is still recovering from the effects of cancer treatment. 

This is a situation that we have all been heartsick and stressed about since September 9, when the President, who ran on “unity” and representing the working man announced the mandates he once disavowed, and wagged his finger at them through the television. 

These mandates strip away the dignity of choice for people like my parents. They offer an illusion of choice and empty lip service to it, but that falsity is carved out in a way that threatens to bleed whatever money they might have saved, and to pressure them into compliance for something they do not want or need. 

So to anyone who gives a shit about the plight of the poor and working class, please consider what these mandates are doing to them. Consider the financial burden, the social burden and the mental health toll they are taking on people that worked through the pandemic and kept us all happy and safe. Show them you care about their humanity, their dignity, and their ability to keep working and feeding their families. Fight these mandates. Whether you are vaccinated or not makes no difference. If you care about the poor and the working class, stand up and fight these mandates. Tell the Biden Administration to stop hurting working class families.

Call your Congressman. Call your Senator. Fight for them.