How Strongly Should We Object to the Anti-Vaxxers?

There has been so much rubbish from the right wingnuts, including Rand Paul's totally bogus claim about severe 'mental disorders' caused by vaccinations, that is reminiscent of Michele Bachmann's LIE about HPV Vx and mental retardation.

If the language below seems a bit vulgar and excessive, then consider it in the context not only of political liars on the topic of vaccinations, who are blatantly trolling the radical right anti-vaxxers for votes, but also in the context of those who KNOW better, and genuinely do not give a flying .....FIG.....about the painful, debilitating illness or death of you, or your child, or an elderly person in your family that you love, or those with illnesses or injuries that compromise their immune system that you cherish.

Here is an example of the ignorant, arrogant, selfish, foolish, and just plain callously cruel anti-vaxxer attitudes, from azfamily.com:

 In this anti-vax context, the strong language below seems more than justified. If someone told you to your fact that their child was 'pure' and they didn't care if their child caused deafness, brain damage including retardation, sterility, or painful death to your child, you would understandably feel the same way. Many people do. All the more so because what the anti-vaxxers believe is factually false, a myth, one being promoted by extremist, radical right wing religious lunatics. Clearly, except for those who for legitimate medical reasons cannot be vaccinated, it IS time to make vaccinations mandatory, and to end the option of parents choosing not to vaccinate their children for reasons of 'purity' or debunked junk science. I'd like to take it a step further.  If someone does not vaccinate their child, or is an unvaccinated adult, and public health authorities trace another child or adult becoming infected with measles to that decision, to someone in their family who is not vaccinated, then I think the infected individual (or an adult acting for them) should be able to sue for damages.  Also, municipalities and state and federal agencies should be able to pursue those individuals to recover increased public health costs, over and above what is already budgeted for by their taxes, because of the deliberate causation of additional expense by a few people acting intentionally.  These libertarians like to talk about taking responsibility for themselves and their choices; so let's hold them to that.  When they cause damages and loss and expense with their choices -- make them pay!  And/or make them conform to being members of a civilized society. That is really the antithesis of Libertarianism.  But all of us, our society, economy, civilization have a vested interest in living together cooperatively and rationally. If the anti-vaxxers have to own, to pay for the full, actual results of their decisions and choices, then I would venture it will be the anti-vaxxers, not the pro-vaxxers, dropping the f-bomb.  

You can't fix stupid - and stupid kills people

I frequently point out that conservatives routinely, consistently, persistently, and dogmatically believe things which are factually false, are based on flawed reasoning, and is resistant to the obvious evidence of bad outcomes. 

We have the highest incidence of new cases of contagious diseases, disease which had been presumed eradicated, in the last 20 years.  Why? Because of conservative stupidity.

Their rejection of fact and science is ideologically driven to the exclusion of any objective reality that does not conform to that ideology.

It is a system of beliefs that is stupid, not just annoying stupid, but deadly dangerously stupid.

We see right wing nutters like Alex Jones promote factually false fearmongering about vaccines.  The principle vaccine myth - one that is easily debunked - is about mercury.  Child vaccines do not contain mercury; there are only trace amounts in SOME specific adult vaccines -- and then only in the multi-dose containers.  CLEARLY, the benefits of preventing microbial growth far outweighs any negatives.  There is no link, zero link, between vaccines and side effects wrongly attributed to them, like autism.  People DO risk allergic reactions, but we all face that risk, anytime we do or try something new - our first bee sting, the first time we eat shellfish or peanut butter, etc.

There are far more people impaired or killed by these diseases than are harmed by allergy reactions, which while they can be extreme, are mostly quite mild.

The anti-vaxxers are the modern equivalent of the anti-Fluoridation of our water to prevent cavities as a prophylactic.  Then the right wing nuts, like the John Birchers, insisted -- also without any factual evidence to support it -- that fluoridation in water was a communist plot to promote mind control.


The facts are quite different. From Sciencebasedlife.com:

Fluoridation is generally known as the addition of fluoride to the municipal water supply. However, what most people do not know is that fluoridation can also mean the removal of excess fluoride that occurs naturally in groundwater. Fluoride is a natural component of groundwater, and it occurs naturally everywhere in the world, in varying amounts. The process of fluoridation is to adjust the fluoride content of the water to the most healthful level.

Years of research and testing in different cities and states, conducted by the National Health Service, has determined that one part per million is the ideal proportion, giving a substantial protection from tooth decay, and avoiding dental fluorosis. Ever since then, it has been the standard practice to regulate fluoride levels in municipal water supplies to one part per million. There has been broad scientific and medical consensus for decades that one part per million of fluoride is best for health, and exactly zero rigorously conducted scientific trials that have indicated any sign of danger. For all practical purposes, it is an over-and-done-with issue.

An over-and-done-with issue.  Like anthropogenic climate change.  Like the sciences that support Evolution.  Like the concerns about child vaccinations causing autism because of mercury as a preservative in vaccines.