It’s not just locally-grown idiots, although we have more than enough of those. Those notoriously fringe fayk gnus outlets Forbes and The Guardian recently published stories that indicate a Russian hand helping it along. Nothing like making the enemy sicker and more science-averse while dividing people.
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Yeah. This would probably fall under Conquest’s sway.
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“Arizona kills ignorant”
Your subject line was longer than needed.
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I think the problem is that we have this idiot cult of pioneer individuality that makes a lot of USAians feel that they KNOW, WITHOUT A DOUBT, that they are always right. Another problem is that this minority of extremely dumb, loud-mouthed, narcissistic people can swing the whole country in crazy ways, which I think is an unintended fault of our governmental system.
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WhyNotBoth.gif
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And some of the first cancer drugs (like chlorambucil, which our cat is on for lymphoma, now in remission) are in the same family as mustard gas.
Your point?
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People always forget about Ronnie. Pity, because he is so en vouge these days.
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I think that you’re correct that Americans are taught from an early age about the importance and vitality of freedom of speech in this country, and for a lot of people, that has the unfortunate effect of leading them to think “I’m free to believe absolutely any crazy notion and shout it from the rooftops and nobody’s allowed to stop me!”. I know someone will probably post xkcd in response to this, but it’s true that a ton of Americans are confused about the difference between ‘freedom of speech’ and ‘lack of consequences of speaking freely’.
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My point is that my cousin is well meaning but reads way too much bullshit on the internet, and believes it without question, harming others in the process. I’ve tried to steer him right when I can, but I visit maybe once a year, can’t tolerate any of his Facebook rants (let alone Facebook anymore) and frankly I’m always nervous when we visit and my daughter plays with her three cousins (all of them preschool/kindergarten age). She’s vaccinated, but it still scares me.
I’m half convinced to remind him that tomatoes and nightshade are related to see if he lays off the spaghetti sauce.
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And potatoes. That should put a crimp in his diet.
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Also peppers and eggplants.
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“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
― Issac Asimov
This is always, always worth keeping in mind when analyzing why we believe some of the stupid shit we do.
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And in Good Omens, Pestilence retired to be replaced by Pollution, because Pratchett and Gaiman did not forsee people becoming so bloody stupid as to mass abandon vaccination.
Man, did they get that one wrong.
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I did like the history of the Four Horsemen in Good Omens. War became a newspaper war correspondant (which is just cheating to be honest), Famine made a fortune flogging diet food with all the nutrition removed, Pestilence retired and was replaced by Pollution and Death continues as ever, TALKING LIKE THIS.
Spoilers covered, isn’t that book a TV series now?
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I would also add, “and the innocent,” since the kids have no say in this. Plus other complications can occur that spread out into the vaccinated populace.
It’s coming on Amazon Prime next year, I do believe.
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Do what Australia does: no vaccines = no benefits or school places.
Extend it to banning unvaccinated people from college or university.
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Just FTR, this is personal. Immune suppressed family member, only protection: herd immunity. Antivaxxers endanger her life.
I seriously think we need a communication strategy against antivax bullshit. Hypothesis 1: antivaxxers are a loud and willfully ignorant minority which cannot be convinced. Hypothesis 2: the majority of people are at least slightly sceptical about medicine.
We need to reach those people, emotionally as well as intellectually - every pseudo-argument of antivaxxers must be countered on both levels.
This also means campaigns for vaccination must continue. Which in turn means, very concrete: if you know someone in Arizona, make them pressure their representatives to bring a new start to vaccination campaigns. They should at least have the urge to call their representatives.
I still haven’t seen a comprehensive, elegantly and clealy designed website which does help to convince the rather undecided. Maybe that’s one project I should start as soon as I climb out of the current mess, but I fear I would loose myself in it … again.
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A good part of the European outbreak is down to the collapse of vaccination in parts of Ukraine (for war reasons). So the effect of anti vaccination bastards aren’t quite as bad as they appear - although the current mad government in Italy seems set on winding things back to the 17th Century.
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I’m sorry, but I find this sort if thing really annoying. You think if the general public was expected to vote on every issue all the time things would be better? It’s easier to pick the best candidate than review a million issues, but instead the majority of voters (who are inherently smarter than the people who are too lazy or too “pure” to vote) have consistently voted for people who have consistently pursued division and destructive policies. What you’re suggesting is the worst kind of magical thinking.
