Commentary on "Should Vaccinations Be Mandatory..."

Christina Mondragon made a post about whether vaccinations should be mandatory or not. Her view on it is that vaccinations are dangerous and shouldn't be forced onto people, as they lead to more possible health risks than they cure.

I can only say, if vaccinations caused more harm than they cured, then vaccinations would not be a viable and popular option to survive. Without vaccinations, many more people would be dead or seriously impaired from dangerous, and now very preventable diseases. People who argue that people still get sick when they have vaccines as a way to prove that they're useless fail to mention that most of the time this happens comes from the fact that so many people have forgone vaccinations, that we are starting to lose herd immunity. While yes, initially after getting a vaccine can make you more susceptible to non-life threatening illnesses, I would argue that's better than you or your child dying from an extremely painful (and one again preventable) disease. 

There are people who are out there than can not physically get vaccinations because of health reasons. When people decided to not get themselves or their children vaccinated because of unfounded scientific "proof", they're putting themselves and others at extreme risk. I personally don't know how someone can go about their day knowing they have literally chosen to risk potentially killing other people, just for the sake of a trend. 

So, I'm just going to say, I think people should be vaccinated, unless for very specific circumstances related to health reasons that prevent vaccinations, and some religious reasons. I think people should care more about those around them, and think about more than just themselves.

However, I don't think the government should be able to decide what people should do to their own bodies, so I will agree to that statement. 

"Paid Parental Leave" Commentary

I think Juliet Government Fall made an excellent point about paid family leave in her commentary. I agree with her that families should be provided more time to be with their children, especially newborns. Infancy is a critical development period where if babies don't get the nurturing and socialization they need, their life can be significantly affected by this period. So by increasing the amount of time that both parents are available to spend with their children during this period would do wonders. I think Juliet made some excellent points, especially in regards to how the USA should be focusing on "lowering suicide rates and creating a better family environment." I really do think that the US needs to reform their family leave accommodations. America loves to be the "best country" and the "land of the free," but how can America have any claim of that when they can't even give its citizens the freedom to raise their baby without fear of losing their job or struggling to make it barely? If America really wants to be the country it claims it is, it should start to focus on its citizens, first and foremost. 

Congress Seats

As I watched the news regarding the funeral for the late President of The United States George H. Bush, I was struck by the announcers talking about the "good ol' days" when politics were not as "tribal." They all seemed set in the fact that the political climate we're in now is the new normal in America and that we will never be able to get back to such a time of civility. I have no idea if this is true or not, but the obvious question for me was, "Why not?" There have been plenty of times where Americans have been divided, only to come together stronger in the end. I hope that this is the case nowadays. I realized that all I heard were people on both sides complaining about the other and no one offering ideas or solutions outside of "It's not my fault, so it's obviously their's." It seems that the only thing everyone can agree on is that our country is divided. I'm not interested in hearing excuses about how or why we are in the situation we are in. I would rather spend my time thinking positively, and doing so has brought me to an idea that won't solve the solution, but might just be a step in the right direction. A new seating chart for the Congress,

When you take a look at the seating chart of the 2016-2018 Congress, it looks almost like a kindergarten classroom where all the boys sat on one side, and the girls sat on the other. By the next day, however, we were all assigned seats that grouped us as evenly as possible. It mixed us up and kept us from secluding each other. This simple kindergarten trick taught us to go out of our way to meet new people and to not be afraid of it.

It's because of this, I propose that Congress sets in alternating red-blue-red-blue seating for at least the first month of every new legislative session. Almost all politicians say that they are willing to "reach across the aisle," but I don't see any reason why there should be an aisle. Because after all, aren't we all American?