It’s not a vaccine problem, it’s an education problem. A large portion of Americans are exceptionally gullible to propaganda and Republicans have weaponized it very well. The anti-vax narrative is not present in large portions of the population in other developed nations. We need to look within, not at the solution to disease.
Edit: Unfortunately others are informing me that this is a problem in other countries as well, which is sad. My partners family is from a country in Europe that doesn’t appear to have this issue at scale so I foolishly extrapolated.
I dont know, large portions of other nations are just as gullible and susceptible to propaganda. I mean no one is immune to it, but a lot of the developed nations do believe immigrants and not the rich are causing all their problems, because that’s what the media has told them.
In the US it is ridiculously blatant because so much of our media thinks subtext is for The Gays. But think about how often the villain is an Evil Scientist or even just A Teacher Who Has It Out For The Protagonist? What began as an active effort has mostly just become the cultural zeitgeist where “people with advanced degrees have no common sense or street smarts” and “too much knowledge turns you into a monster” (see also: The Frankenstein Complex).
Hell, for something more blatant: Go look at the various threads about the US changing its COVID vaccination guidelines. Plenty of Europeans will pop in and say “Yeah. That lines up with what we have. You don’t need a booster every year if you are healthy”. I’ll leave it to the experts as to what defines “need” but… as someone who has somehow managed to catch COVID three or four times, I want those boosters in my muscles because it is the difference between a weekend of “I feel kinda shitty and have a headache in the center of my eyes and… fuck” versus being curled up in a bed coughing and hoping I lose consciousness for a few hours.
I promise you, anti-vax sentiments are alive and well in many countries. I’m from the UK, the birth place of Andrew Wakefield and in some areas, rates of uptake of the MMR vaccine is as low as 60% and the National average for England currently sits at 88%, down from 93% 10 years ago.
Well, not quite. It got started from genuine concern among actual parents who love and care for their children who were unfortunately manipulated by bad actors using incorrect and fabricated evidence to make money out of them.
But like, this is not new. It’s been there throughout human history. That’s why some religions incorporated important life lessons in them (don’t touch feces, don’t fuck your cousins, etc.). Because it’s education via religion.
It’s not a vaccine problem, it’s an education problem. A large portion of Americans are exceptionally gullible to propaganda and Republicans have weaponized it very well. The anti-vax narrative is not present in large portions of the population in other developed nations. We need to look within, not at the solution to disease.
Edit: Unfortunately others are informing me that this is a problem in other countries as well, which is sad. My partners family is from a country in Europe that doesn’t appear to have this issue at scale so I foolishly extrapolated.
I dont know, large portions of other nations are just as gullible and susceptible to propaganda. I mean no one is immune to it, but a lot of the developed nations do believe immigrants and not the rich are causing all their problems, because that’s what the media has told them.
Anti-intellectualism is global.
In the US it is ridiculously blatant because so much of our media thinks subtext is for The Gays. But think about how often the villain is an Evil Scientist or even just A Teacher Who Has It Out For The Protagonist? What began as an active effort has mostly just become the cultural zeitgeist where “people with advanced degrees have no common sense or street smarts” and “too much knowledge turns you into a monster” (see also: The Frankenstein Complex).
Hell, for something more blatant: Go look at the various threads about the US changing its COVID vaccination guidelines. Plenty of Europeans will pop in and say “Yeah. That lines up with what we have. You don’t need a booster every year if you are healthy”. I’ll leave it to the experts as to what defines “need” but… as someone who has somehow managed to catch COVID three or four times, I want those boosters in my muscles because it is the difference between a weekend of “I feel kinda shitty and have a headache in the center of my eyes and… fuck” versus being curled up in a bed coughing and hoping I lose consciousness for a few hours.
I promise you, anti-vax sentiments are alive and well in many countries. I’m from the UK, the birth place of Andrew Wakefield and in some areas, rates of uptake of the MMR vaccine is as low as 60% and the National average for England currently sits at 88%, down from 93% 10 years ago.
Let’s not forget anti autism bigotry here, that’s how it all got started
Well, not quite. It got started from genuine concern among actual parents who love and care for their children who were unfortunately manipulated by bad actors using incorrect and fabricated evidence to make money out of them.
It’s not an education problem. Education isn’t happening because idiots decided it was their enemy, so their entire life is “attack this thing”.
Until they see that doesn’t help them, they’ll continue making that same mistake. They’d learn just fine if they decided to do it instead of fight it.
anecdotal evidence
But like, this is not new. It’s been there throughout human history. That’s why some religions incorporated important life lessons in them (don’t touch feces, don’t fuck your cousins, etc.). Because it’s education via religion.