In varied contexts, de-emphasizing individual choice in favor of structural causes has become de rigeur. In this light, the covid-era construction of “the unvaccinated” as a class of individuals who carry a moral responsibility for society’s health is a remarkable development./1

Hence, crime is not seen as caused by individual criminals, just as addiction is not seen as caused by individual addicts’ choices, same re: homelessness, etc (to be clear, I don’t dismiss the value of identifying structural causes at all). But covid is caused by Bad People./2

These Bad People, once identified more precisely with the unvaccinated, could be subjected to the same sorts of stigma and exclusion that advocates of structural causality want us to avoid, with little or no objection from the latter, or even any recognition of similarity./3

Consider, for example, that there was a long and vigorous campaign, on these grounds, to get employers and states to abandon criminal background checks and the like as precondition for hiring. How many people who advocated for this supported firing unvaccinated workers?/4