You seem to be trying to impersonate what a right-winger thinks a progressive type would say.
Pro-tip (from someone who actually embodies a lot – but not all – of what you claim to represent, and is a long term member of the peanut gallery here so there are many others who know my claim to be factual): don’t try so hard. It doesn’t ring true.
Conspiracy theorists, anti-science believers and others have always been with us. However, the world has become ever more interconnected and the ability to spread false ideas and information has allowed this type of thinking to find kindred spirits (I get the irony of me writing this on BoingBoing - a kindred spirit place) and propagate these kinds of beliefs. The current rise of populism also helps drive this. I recently read and enjoyed (also got a bit freaked out by) Kurt Andersen’s “Fantasyland : How America Went Haywire - a 500 Year History”. I’d also recommend Eric Hoffer’s “The True Believer” on mass movements (i.e. populism)
Fair enough. I also drive an SUV when the bike doesn’t work, let the dog poop stay in my back yard all week until there is time to clean it up on the weekend, and use disposable diapers a fair amount, and I buy processed food with too much packaging. We do what is reasonable, but also, sometimes we don’t, and when enough of us don’t but start yelling about anti-vax or climate change deniers as totally “other”, or whatever, it sounds lame.
Some states in the US (including Washington State, home of the current outbreak) provide “naturopaths” with equal perscribing rights as medical doctors. Oh, and Nurse Practitioners can work unsupervised and charge insurance the same amount as doctors in several fields. I don’t see much headway in the future of vaccination v. personal freedom in a country that thinks we can’t even fund research on prevening gun deaths (look, I would fully support it, but let’s be honest with ourselves), but maybe we can work state by state to stop giving snake oil salesmen full perscribing rights here. Best of luck down under.
If people kill themselves with a lousy diet, it’s obviously a bad thing, but it’s much more their own problem, compared to people contributing to the spread of a measles epidemic. (Or any number of other diseases easily prevented by vaccination.)
Yup. But as I said, people kill other people with their lousy diet too. Still, totally on board with getting vaccinations and if the reason someone avoids them is ‘eggs’ (genuine allergies excepted) I will help with the smacking.
I genuinely hope everyone here writes a representative and asks them to stop liscencing naturopathic “medicine” (ick, pass the mouth bleach please). I also genuinely hope one person here gets it stuck in their head that maybe something they do a lot of is something they could cut back on.
If you happen to actually be in Seattle, BTW, there are some immediate opportunities to support science at both the city and state law level that directly impacts science education and evidence based medicine respectively. Just saying.
No, e. coli comes from poop, not dead bodies… Dead bodies, properly handled aren’t all that dangerous, actually. The poop that gets into plants most likely comes from living animals.
Great! E. Coli infections are down, too! I’m happy to acknowledge that there are other ways to combat foodbourn illness, but since salmonella killed 450 people in the USA last year, (and that’s not anomalous, and also not down) maybe we should try a little harder. Right? Because we agree that allowing easily preventable disease to happen in spite of science is Bad?
I think that, if 10 people who read the comments decided to be more careful about how they got their food that would be great. Hell, if 10 people who weren’t interested in an EV decided to test drive one, even if 10/10 decided it wasn’t for them yet, it would be something. Go! Do!
I’m pretty sure my brother and his wife blocked me, my husband, and my daughter on Facebook because they decided not to vaccinate their kids and we’re quite vocal about vaccination. Not only that, but I was FB friends with his wife’s sister and parents and they all unfriended me at some point after my brother did.
My brother didn’t get chicken pox until he was 16, I’d think he’d remember what a completely miserable experience that was but apparently not.
Getting one under my eyelid was annoying as fuck. I don’t remember enjoying it but not really hating it either then again I was a kid and kids be dumb about things.
ETA of course now I am old enough to get shingles… fun fun fun. Yes I have taken the vaccine for it.
Interesting info. I was unaware that there are states where minors can consent to their own vaccines! Not here in VA, but a number of states allow adolescents to go get vaccinated even if their parents refuse.
The thing is, factory farming is a fact of life, and alternatives to that are not easy to come by for everyone - not everyone had the money to buy organic, natural, local goods (as they tend to be more expensive) and many people don’t live in proximity to places where these are produced (local farmer’s markets and the like).
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, mass production is a major part of the problem. The thinking goes that it’s the only way to feed the planet, but that’s only if you think that corporations need to the primary producer of food. Once you begin to think of access to food as a human right, we can change our thinking…
And my point in replying to you was that dead bodies do not cause e. coli (unless it comes from the poop of corpses, because that’s where e. coli lives, in the gut…). Also, it was an excuse to post an Ask a Mortician video!
Now that a great name for a death metal band.
This cannot be overemphasized. As someone who grows a large proportion of our own food, it is a lot of work and time, and requires ~2 acres to do so. Not everyone has access to those kind of resources. And locavore-style eating is not an option for a large proportion of our population. As we move more and more to an urban population, we become more separated from our food supply. Personally, I am very troubled by this, but it is also true that this trend is unlikely to change any time soon.
Agreed. It is, but as you note, it’s a fact of life right now. And this will only intensify as climate change continues to change the global landscape.
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