I had a conversation with my sister today, and she asked me what I thought about the whole "vaccinations or regular COVID testing for companies with 100+ people."

I told her I like the way Japan has been doing it, which is no mandatory anything, but if you don't wear a mask you're looked at like something's wrong with you.

So while the U.S. leads Japan in its vaccination rate (Japan only recently crossed the 50% threshold), COVID cases here are still just a fraction of those in the U.S. (The Olympics "spike" in cases here would have been no more than a bump in the U.S.)

I see the U.S. as being so focused on individual rights that we miss the bigger picture, and I think that's too bad. I dislike strong-arm tactics, but I also dislike the amount of misinformation that's negatively influencing people.

She liked the way I phrased the following, and wanted me to write this down, so I'll put it here:

"I would like to see people make decisions based on what's best for society, but what I see is that people tend to make decisions based on what they perceive is best for themselves."

Japan suffers from a higher suicide rate than the U.S. because of its emphasis on social obligations, but I still think there's value in placing others before ourselves.