In the 1990 film “The Hunt for Red October,” Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius defects to the United States in the thick of the Cold War with one of the USSR’s most powerful ships.
During the harrowing mission, Ramius’ co-conspirator, Captain Borodin, dreams of arriving in the U.S. to enjoy freedom. “I will have a pick-up truck,” he says, “or possibly even a recreational vehicle and drive from state to state. Do they let you do that?”
Ramius responds, “Oh yes.”
“No papers?” Borodin asks.
“No papers.” Ramius responds confidently.
No papers indeed.
Last Thursday, President Joe Biden mandated that all federal employees and all employees of businesses with more than 100 employees take the COVID-19 vaccine. “Our patience is wearing thin,” Joe Biden chided us.
Some cities were ahead of Biden in mandating the vaccine, requiring proof of vaccination to enter most indoor establishments in the form of a digital QR code or a wallet-sized piece of paper.
In Michigan, Biden’s mandate means about half of the state’s workforce must become vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID-19 tests. Those who are vaccinated must show their papers to prove it.
But even our ruling class can’t seem to convince itself of its draconian measures. Just this Saturday, in a ceremony honoring those killed in the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Democratic politicians such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dutifully wore masks—until the cameras turned away. Then, mask-free and huddled together, the politicians were photographed flouting their own COVID-19 protocols.
On the campaign trail in 2020, Biden himself wasn’t convinced a vaccine mandate was permissible. “I don’t think it should be mandatory. I wouldn’t demand it be mandatory,” he said at an event in Wilmington, Delaware.
If our rulers don’t believe in these mandates themselves, why should you?
Biden and his administration are forcing you to take a vaccine for a virus that has a less than one-half of a percent chance of killing young people. Those who are vaccinated are, apparently, still at risk from those who aren’t, and in many cases, must still adhere to masking and social distancing protocols.
Politicians want school children muzzled all day while they hold their fundraisers and fashion galas, and they expect you not to notice.
But many of you will be graduating this spring, myself included. And when you do, you will be uniquely equipped to defy these mandates. Then, you will be released onto the job market young, healthy, and with an education most college students could only dream of receiving. Hillsdale students are in high demand. If each of us simply refuses to work for a business that requires its employees to be vaccinated, businesses might grow the backbone to skirt Biden’s rules. It is for this reason that I encourage fellow students entering the workforce to defy these mandates—Biden’s rule is only as strong as our compliance makes it.
If you are vaccinated, refuse to show your papers and participate in the divisive charade being forced upon us. If you are unvaccinated, do not become vaccinated unless you have made the decision to do so out of your own free will, and not because a petty autocrat told you you must.
Hillsdale College stood against the COVID-19 mandates from the beginning—when we held commencement for graduates in the summer of 2020 to when we held in-person classes during the fall 2020 semester.
Hillsdale College exposed bureaucrats for the spineless scarecrows they are by not complying, and you, as a soon-to-be-graduate of the college, can do the same.
Defying Biden’s vaccine mandate will be hard. But after all, strength rejoices in the challenge.