I’ve been reading some articles lately about how one might be able to persuade vaccine-skeptics and anti-maskers that it really would be better it they were to change their positions to come into tune with public health guidelines.

Screw that, I say.

Do we try to convince drivers that it’s not a good idea to drive drunk? No. We arrest them and put them in jail.

In Massachusetts we have “social host liability,” for crying out loud, where you can be held legally liable if you host a party and one of your guests gets drunk, drives home, and causes an accident on the way.

The scientific evidence for vaccines are overwhelming. If fact, unlike Jesus Christ, these vaccines really are a miracle!

The scientific evidence for masking the unvaccinated is overwhelming. (The evidence for masking the vaccinated is more ambiguous.)

Let’s stop arguing with these people. Make new rules:

• If you want to be a state or federal employee, get the vaccine.
• If you want to be a health care worker, get the vaccine.
• If you want to work in a job that has regular customer contact, get the vaccine.
• If you want to eat in a restaurant, get the vaccine.
• If you want to go see a movie or a show, get the vaccine.
• If you want to go into a ballpark, get the vaccine.
• If you want to go on a cruise, get the vaccine.
• If you want to fly to another country, get the vaccine.

If you don’t want to get the vaccine, then kiss your job goodbye.

If you don’t want to get the vaccine, then kiss goodbye the opportunity for eating out, for recreating, for vacationing, or for traveling.

If you don’t want to get the vaccine, then at least mask up.

If you don’t want to do any of these things, then sit at home and complain about vaccine-fascism on the Internet. But stay out of the rest of our lives, because you’re as irresponsible as a drunk driver, and we’re tired of arguing with you.