It really amuses me that the entire “anti-vax” movement began as a Hollywood liberal, rich suburban mom movement —then somehow migrated to being a far right wing stance. Wow, that was quick. Sort of mirrored the “video games make kids violent” myth. This nation we live in? We’re absolutely ludicrous. Well, maybe “you” aren’t, but the entire political stratosphere vacillates so regualry on people, media, and topics that their stance on almost anything is never to be taken seriously.
People were anti-vax from the start. Napoleon Bonaparte himself endorsed the smallpox vaccine, but after his fall, that made the French distrust the vaccine half a century later in the Franco-Prussion War. But then smallpox was almost eliminated shortly after. Meanwhile Polio is so close to being eliminated itself. Who do you know that gets tuberculosis or the measles anymore? These things have historically been effective. But nobody trusts healthcare or the government anymore. And that is understandable. That said…
Nobody knows what the hell they believe in our internet era. Disinformed. Sean Hannity? No journalism education. Alex Jones? No journalism education. Tucker Carlson? Took him three different colleges before getting a BA at “Trinity University.” Are these the best people to report unbiased truths in the shoes of Walter Cronkite? Obsessed with conspiracy theories and stones cast?
It’s circumstantial, it’s in a given moment, and it’s almost always a decision made on bad faith in response to a demographic they don’t care for. In other words, it’s for money. It’s for your fandom and hatred. You know who’s “ruining this country?” It isn’t Biden. It’s not Trump. Or Pelosi or McConnell. It’s the people who enable them and the media and echo chambers they exist in. And they don’t even realize they’re stuck in it, so maybe “you” actually ARE a cog in this problem.
How to fix it? Start with yourself. Remember how you questioned yourself with your own answers in school growing up? Or maybe you trusted your education more. Why are you so sure about not questioning your decisions now? Now that you’re being more manipulated by major outlets and politicians than ever before. That’s not “healthy skepticism.” You’ve probably never been more wrong, but you don’t see it that way. You’ve been manipulated to view that everyone else is an idiot, and you’ve now suddenly got it all figured out. You found the rabbit hole and the red pill!
You haven’t. You’re a product in a system of people who want you to be their pawns. You create your own truths by listening to pundits instead of actual journalists. You look down upon your fellow countrymen. You discriminate rather than try to understand. This isn’t a personal attack, because this is just modern America. We’ve been scoffed at for years by other first world nations.
The CDC in general been underfunded since the 1980s. Whereas private “Big Pharma,” which is across the board disrespected by everyone for price gouging in the US, is more in control of what is happening here. Of course it’s quicker to develop a vaccine now with modern medicine, but we’ve fallen into a position where we all trust no one. Which is not a great place to land in when dealing with modern medicine, which is supposed to be what saves lives.
Neo-liberalism has its own faults. Given too many choices, suddenly we are simply ignoring the advice of people who are medical experts. This is equally as irresponsible as seeking no healthcare at all. It seems our distrust in doctors and scientists is posing a greater threat to our lives than ever before in modern history. And this is a system that WE have created.
You don’t need a vaccine to validate anything for yourself. Everyone I know who’s gotten one has been perfectly fine, yet many of them still ended getting the newer strains of Covid. It’s how viruses work. Concerning, but not atypical of how evolving diseases behave. I personally did not contract Covid. I believe in medical science, because it’s what kept me alive longer than the people who only lived to be 33 in the 15th century.
But yes, our medical and insurance system has become greedy and corrupted. That however is simply how capitalism works, which seems to be in direct conflict with how healthcare should work for us. So which way are you really trying to lean? Anti-pharma or anti-capitalism?
Medical science is our friend. Money driving medical science is not. You don’t need to support or oppose Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carey or any particular party narrative. Because your decision is ultimately yours alone. Just always know it could be the difference in life or death.