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> The antivax movement is powered by the same propagandistic and diversionary tactics that powers all conspiracy. Yes -- and their ability to recruit and susta
by NotAnEconomist 8y ago
> The antivax movement is powered by the same propagandistic and diversionary tactics that powers all conspiracy.
Yes -- and their ability to recruit and sustain their movement, like all movements, owes to a serious social problem that has a great deal of associated latent stress that they give an outlet to.
Namely, medical professionals have two serious problems:
1. They don't respect and communicate with their patients, as a matter of course. Just look at the standard discourse around medical treatment -- including the standard "15 minute blowoff" appointment.
2. (This is related, in that 1 likely caused 2, but --) They've utterly failed to explain modern medicine in a way understandable to their patients, forcing people to decide if they trust the same people who, eg, over-prescribed opiates based on shoddy science, leading to a national emergency. For a lot of people the answer is "no"; for some, it's "fuck no -- are you serious?"
The anti-vaxxer movement stems from these two facts of modern medicine, as much as whatever else you're trying to attribute.
The response that it's acceptable to use force against people for refusing to just shut up and trust you silently when you've routinely betrayed their trust without taking full, public accountability is psychotic.
- fzeroracer 8y agoI don't see any factual statements in your argument, just broad generalizations about a specific medical industry on a site used by people across the world, when talking about a problem that spans the world. At this point you're supporting pseudoscience and ranting about modern medicine in a very conspiratorial way.
- NotAnEconomist 8y agoI'm not sure what you want for evidence here: those two topics are common themes across a range of medical failures, across a range of areas, when you look at say, reports on why vaccination or mental health education programs fail. That: 1. People don't trust doctors, partly due to how doctors act. 2. Doctors don't do a good job sharing medical knowledge. I'm open to bets by anyone who wants to bet that either doctors are widely trusted by their patients or that they do a good job sharing medical knowledge, and am open to hearing ways to scientifically measure either. But if you're not willing to bet against those two claims, then you probably agree with my conclusion -- that those two real problems are causing upset that's being (irrationally) channeled into things like anti-vaxxer movements. Edit: I can't find great quantified surveys, but this is a concern doctors have too -- https://www.physiciansweekly.com/doctors-losing-publics-trust/ https://www.physiciansweekly.com/doctors-losing-publics-trus... https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterubel/2014/12/19/why-dont-americans-trust-doctors/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterubel/2014/12/19/why-dont-a... https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Trust_Between_Doctors_and_Patients_is_Culprit_in_Efforts_to_Cross_Racial_Divide_in_Medical_Research https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Trust_Be... https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-peter-rost/dont-trust-your-doctor_b_18977.html https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-peter-rost/dont-trust-your... http://mhealthwatch.com/more-than-half-of-all-americans-dont-trust-their-doctors-27077/ http://mhealthwatch.com/more-than-half-of-all-americans-dont...
- mcny 8y agoThat explains why people wouldn't trust MDs in the US where a medical license practically comes with a half million dollar loan that hangs over the doctor's head for decades and they're doing things that are bad for patients like the opiate crisis. But what about other developed countries? Do they have similar trust issues? Why do these Western Europe countries have antivac problems?