Steve Ruis reacts to the millions of people who refuse to be vaccinated, for whatever reason, and concludes that it must be stupidity. They know that more than 600,000 people have died in this country. They know that the vaccine is the only protection against the disease. They know that those who died experienced horrible deaths, but they block it out.
In several “red” states, legislators are passing laws to protect the rights of the unvaccinated. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law banning governments, schools and businesses from requiring proof of coronavirus vaccinations from those seeking their services. Local governments are not allowed to declare states of emergency for longer than seven days at a time. Under an executive order he signed in May, cities may not enforce any sort of COVID-19-related mandate. Florida, a major hub of the cruise industry, has told cruise lines that they may not discriminate against unvaccinated people. Would you board a ship that carries 1,000 plus people not knowing which of them is unvaccinated? Not me.
Hey, fellow Americans, we are in the midst of a deadly pandemic. The vaccination won’t prevent you from getting COVID, but the fully vaccinated are less likely to be hospitalized or die.
As Ruis points out, the American people have accepted many vaccines in the past:
He writes:
Where were all of the anti-vax people when we developed the vaccination scheme for our children? For example, here are the common vaccinations that U.S. children are supposed to get:
Chickenpox
Diphtheria
Hib (protects against Haemophilus influenzae type b)
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis B
Influenza (Flu)
Measles
Meningitis
Mumps
Pertussis (whooping cough)
Polio
Rubella
Tetanus
And for Chicago School Children
In addition to the above:
Invasive Pneumococcal Disease
Varicella
I assume your local community will have similar standards.
There were anti-vax people before, some screaming “religious exemption!” but they were a very small minority, not 40% of the population.…
The state of Montana recently passed what they, euphemistically, called their “Human Rights Act,” which does not bar discrimination based on sexual orientation or against trans children, but now protects a class of people who don’t want to get vaccinated, whether against COVID–19 or the measles. Yes, Montana’s “small government” Republicans have mandated by law that Montana’s citizens cannot refuse to hire unvaccinated people to work in their homes, or as caretakers for their elderly parents, or they will be in violation of the state’s human rights law. O . . . M . . . G!
Okay, let’s consider a hypothetical. Let’s say that a massive number of cases of leprosy break out in Montana and there is a vaccine. Who do you think would be first in line to get that vaccine? Those same assholes who passed this law and others like it under the false flag of “personal liberty,” which is a joke coming from the party that waved the flag of personal responsibility as a protection against government meddling in our public and private lives. Now they are employing government meddling to avoid having to recommend personal responsibility. That they consider COVID-19 and its variants to be basically a case of the flu, and a health basket case like Donald Trump pulled through it quickly telling them it ain’t so much, allows them to play fast and loose with the issue, milking it for political gain. But a nasty disease, such as leprosy, or one that makes your dick fall off, would have those very same Republicans trampling over other people to get their shots.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Ron DeSatan has just made Florida the Dark Shadow state. Astonishing level of idiocy he has.
Ed reform lobby launches yet another voucher expansion push:
“Sen. Alan Clark will present a bill at the Arkansas Senate Education Committee this morning that would allow students who don’t like a public school’s mask policy to flee to private or home school on the state’s dime.
Mike Hernandez, executive director of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators, was on hand and ready to speak out against what he says is a divisive concept (masks) that will become even more divisive by putting money in the mix.
“It appears this is taking a public health emergency and using it as an opportunity to extend vouchers,” he said.”
The “movement’s” sole contribution to “public education” during the pandemic- pushing their ideologically-driven privatization agenda.
Remember way back when these folks sold this to the public as “improving public education” and anyone who said it was about privatization were shouted down? This year they finally revealed it is in fact about privatization and offers absolutely no benefit to any public school student or public school and often harms them or their schools.
https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2021/08/05/up-this-morning-a-bill-to-let-anti-masker-parents-flee-public-schools-and-take-their-public-dollars-with-them
Remember when liberal ed reform politicians assured Democrats “ed reform” wasn’t about vouchers? That they were all staunch supporters of public education and would defend it?
Wow, were we suckers, believing them and putting them in power. We should not make that mistake again.
They havn’t lifted a finger to defend public schools or the concept of public education. They’re either actively supporting privatization efforts or too frightened to buck the echo chamber and object.
There are tens of supposedly “liberal” ed reform groups with hundreds of employees. I wonder what they do all day, now that public education is no longer something they support.
Staunch voice for privatization- Boston Globe.
“Crux and Knights of Columbus to Partner”, posted at the K of C site,
a quote by Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, “We appreciate the Boston Globe having provided the start up of Crux and are confident that the Knights of Columbus under the capable leadership of Supreme Knight Carl Anderson will achieve new levels of success with this new important communication tool on behalf of the Church and the good of the wider community.”
Carl Anderson was a former legislative aide to Jesse Helms.
State Catholic Conferences promote school choice. At least two Catholic Conference executive directors take credit for the school choice legislation in their states.
“Nina Rees charteralliances very own
RonaldCRiceon educationgadfly
’s podcast talking about critical funding for charter schools alongside MichaelPetrilli
and David Griffith.”
The whole ed reform echo chamber can devote an entire month to defending for-profit charter management companies but not one of them can find time to contribute anything positive or productive for public schools.
Our schools got anti-CRT laws and anti-mask laws this legislative session from the echo chamber. That’s the sum total “work” that is even relevant to students in public schools.
100% negative.
People have been given confusing and sometimes faulty info by the CDC. They do not believe nor trust Fauci who himself has flip-flipped on what he says. There are many out there who doubt what they are being told (rightly so) and want to see full approval by the FDA and not emergency status. For full approval, however, the FDA also requires duration data, meaning documentation of efficacy for an extended period of time. For the vaccines currently available, the six-month period of observation ends in April/May, and the nine-month period in July/August.
It’s anticipated that the FDA will reconvene the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the end of those periods to determine whether full approval will be recommended to the FDA….They think around January 2022, FDA will give full approval.
The CDC is still learning about this disease and the delta variant is a whole new ballgame. The CDC isn’t contradicting itself; it’s going where the science leads.
Troll alert on aisle 1!
By the way, the FDA is expected to give final approval to the Pfizer vaccine by this Labor Day.
LOL. This is what this blog has become. There is nothing non-factual and no mis/disinformation in sprawler’s comment, yet this is the response that anything outside of the approved silo of thinking gets around here.
In case y’all haven’t noticed, this place is an echo chamber and responses like this are why.
Dienne,
Since you are so disappointed by the blog, unsubscribe.
I was going to say something to you, Dienne, but you will never listen, so I won’t feed either of you trolls further.
dienne77, if you aren’t spurning the vaccine for you and your children aged 12-17, you must be a hypocrite. You clearly believe there is a lot of evidence that the CDC is untrustworthy and you equate changing your mind as new information arises as if it is something bad.
This isn’t like ed reform, with billionaires demanding public schools treat students in a way they would never allow their own children to be treated.
The people advocating for the vaccine, including at the CDC, are giving it to their own families. So are the scientists and doctors. Maybe they are all stupid — it is certainly a possibility. But they clearly believe what they are saying.
Which is in direct contrast to the rich right wing Republicans who are giving themselves and their families the vaccine but trying to sow distrust among other people. They are telling other people not to trust the word of the people they clearly trust themselves. Are you like them, or are you like the people who think that if rich billionaires are pushing propaganda about how the vaccine shouldn’t be trusted, you should believe the propaganda and ignore that those rich people are getting the vaccine themselves and demanding access to medicines that they likely would not get if they do get COVID. And fyi – you might have noticed that those rich Republicans were never demanding access to hydroxychloroquine. Because when it comes to their own health, they trust the very scientists and doctors they want their followers not to trust.
Science isn’t partisan. It doesn’t “contradict itself” to be partisan. It contradicts itself as new information arises. Except during the Trump administration, when scientists were ordered to act politically.
The health insurance industry may be raising the rates of the unvaccinated. One factor in insurance rates is a risk assessment. The unvaccinated are putting themselves at increased risk when there is a vaccine available to them. Once the vaccines are fully authorized and vetted, the unvaccinated may pay more for insurance. Some employers are already making the vaccine a condition of employment, and more restrictions on the unvaccinated will follow. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/anti-vax-prepared-pay-insurance-analysis/story?id=79289445
I think that’s an excellent idea by insurance companies. One of the few times I actually applaud what they’re doing.
To be fair, women don’t have to worry about their “Richards” falling off. On a sad note: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an anti-vaccine advocate and is vehemently against taking the Covid-19 vaccines. With friends like that, who needs enemies.
RFK jr. may be as well informed as anyone in the field. And he certainly not stupid. He and many doctors I know of are not taking the vaccine and advocating that other not risk the side effects when the mortality rate among normal people is very low. Let’s did into the facts an not just parrot the media.
Aside from endocarditis in young men (which my nephew got), what other documented side effects are there?
William Bronson,
If so many doctors believe this, why did RFK Jr. have to edit a doctor’s comments to present them as anti-vax to support his views when they did not?
This is like Putin saying that he’s really popular. When you are really popular, you don’t actually have to murder your political rivals — it puts into question your claims about popularity.
And if RFK Jr. had so many real doctors on his side, he would not have to mislead people into believing that a doctor who supports those vaccines (and took them herself) actually questions them.
I don’t buy that Trump and Putin are so wildly popular and that’s why the Republicans have to disenfranchise so many voters and Putin has to kill his political rivals. And I don’t buy that so many doctors oppose vaccines that anti-vaxxers have to misleadingly edit pro-vaccine doctors as if they were anti-vax.
I am opposed to voter fraud. That doesn’t mean that I believe liars who insist there is voter fraud but can’t find any evidence of it. Some people just need someone they admire to tell them something is true to believe it — those kinds of people paid lots of money for Trump University, too.
RFK Jr. being a medical expert makes as much sense as Trump being an administrative expert or Bill Gates being an education expert. Why do some people who achieve success in one field think that carries over into any other field they feel like dabbling in? Or, lacking expertise in anything, but born into money, think they are experts in everything? Maybe my auto mechanic does dentistry on the side…
I don’t recall what RFK He’s expertise is.
Environment?
William Bronson-
If I’m relying on myself and a garden hose to put out my house fire, I won’t call firemen to come out and I won’t buy fire insurance.
If you think your immune system is better than a vaccine, then, when you get Covid don’t seek medical care.
I don’t want you or RFK Jr. raising my medical insurance premiums.
Have the courage of your convictions.
José can’t you see
By the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we wailed
At the spotlight’s last gleaming
Whose broad yipes and fight stars
Through the ridiculous fight
Over the webparts we watched
Were so gallantly screaming
And the word cannons red glare
The words bursting in air
Gave spoof to the plight
That our swag was still there
Okay does that myth sprinkled banter
Still save
Over the land of foolery
And the home of the knave…
Ignorance.
I don’t think it helps that we increasingly teach “skills” instead of knowledge. The skills curriculum is, insofar as it scorns and neglects transmission of knowledge, the ignorance curriculum. Our schools deserve some of the blame here.
Do home schoolers and private/charter schools deserve some of the blame here?
I’m sure some do, but there’s no doubt in my mind that many homeschoolers and private schoolers get a far richer education than they would in our public Common Core skill-drill schools. This year I have a girl who attended Christian online Abeka academy last year. She is far better informed about many subjects than her public school peers. Ironically, the Christian school is doing a better job at informing its students (Creationism aside). It’s hard to overstate how bankrupt the conventional K-8 public school curriculum is. They learn nothing.
“Our schools deserve some of the blame here” Shhhh…..you’re not supposed to say that here.
Yes, our schools deserve some of the blame for not teaching enough critical thinking, but you also need to realize that we often do not have the luxury of teaching critical thinking because that’s not what’s on the Big Standardized Test. Those of us in “failing” schools can only teach what is on the test.
Our teachers justify teaching zero content by telling us that they’re devoting all their time to teaching skills like critical thinking skills. It’s a crock. The kids are learning almost nothing. Teach knowledge and critical thinking follow. Teach “skills” and only ignorance follows.
I beg to disagree. Clearly the kids are learning because the teachers are doing a good job still teaching despite all the difficulties placed on them by outsiders who have no idea what they are talking about.
And maybe those critical thinking advocates supported by billionaires make a huge miscalculation. Turns out that our young people are very good critical thinkers and have rejected Trumpism and embraced progressive ideas in large numbers. Which contrasts with so many of the older folks where Trumpism runs rampant who were taught all that content and apparently can’t think critically at all!
Don’t get me wrong, I think ed reform is lousy. But I think our young people are – as a whole – far better critical thinkers than their elders.
Perhaps what we really need is for many adults to be forced to go back to school and pass a standardized test demonstrating they can think critically before they are allowed to vote! (Just kidding…)
NYCPSP,
Maybe it’s just me, but I have this idea that knowing about the body, disease and vaccine science is itself a vaccine against disinformation. Of course practice in schools varies, but the reigning dogma these days is that it’s more important to teach generic thinking skills than particular science (or history or ELA or math) facts. I don’t think this bodes well for our future.
Ponderosa,
I agree that it should be. But how to explain all the older Trump voters — Trump’s popularity is highest among the oldest voters, not the youngest.
I don’t know what challenges you are facing in the community you are teaching. And I don’t have first hand experience with the challenges teachers in my community are facing.
But I do know that my kid learned a lot more content than I did, despite the ideas of ed reform. That’s not because of ed reform, but because of the teachers.
I am skeptical of “names” given to new ideas for teaching – my only frame of reference is what I see as a parent. And all the “facts” that I had to memorize and promptly forgot didn’t make me or my friends more able to think critically than what I see in my kid’s classroom.
Young people seem very smart these days. Maybe they lack “facts” but they do seem to understand what is true, which I wish more of their elders who blindly follow Trump did.
“knowing about the body, disease and vaccine science is itself a vaccine against disinformation”. I am mystified that you think those things aren’t taught in schools anymore just like they were in my day — in fact, much better! I was shocked at how much better the science education in elementary school is now. Maybe I once had to memorize the water cycle and promptly forgot it in elementary school but whether or not it is required to be memorized, students are still learning about it and a lot more, too.
Back in my day, students who weren’t interested in academics left school. Now they are tested and found to be lacking. But overall, the students interested in learning are still learning.
I don’t like Common Core testing and how that forced the curriculum toward answering standardized test questions. But I did like some of the ideas behind it although in practice it turned out so lousy. I was a good student but my elementary school, junior high, high school classes made me hate science and math – I memorized what I needed to do well and forgot it. So when I hear “teach knowledge”, I recall that dull and boring “knowledge-based” curriculum and I don’t see the appeal.
Again, a lot of this is semantics. If you remove all Common Core testing, it is possible a curriculum in which students do more than “learn knowledge” is a good thing.
Let’s calm down and not call people stupid who don’t agree with you. The vaccine is not the only protection from the virus. The natural immune system is the best protection. If one’s immune system is not up to par, it becomes a risk/benefit analysis where scientific minds differ. We need to dig deeper into the history of vaccinations to make an informed choice. I have done that. Don’t call me stupid.
Over 90% of those now hospitalized are unvaccinated. It is stupid not to get vaccinated for a deadly virus.
I need to dig them up, but there’ve been a few articles where those folks who wouldn’t vaccinate before suddenly were asking for the vaccine WHILE being treated for Covid in the hospital. It’s too late then, and these healthcare workers had to keep telling them that.
“The natural immune system is the best protection.” Really? If you die from Covid-19, the natural immune system is not of much use and it does not protect you from lasting disabilities if you happen to survive the plague. Get vaccinated, the vaccine will reduce the seriousness of the virus and probably keep you out of the hospital. Nothing is 100% perfect but the vaccinations are much better than not getting vaccinated.
“The natural immune system is the best protection.” —Try that with rabies or polio or…..oh–we already did!
Nope, still in moderation. Oh well. That’s what happens when intelligence is artificial.
William Bronson
Put your money where your mouth is. Decline medical treatment if you get Covid. You are a personal responsibility kind of guy. Why should my and other people’s medical insurance premiums go up to cover your unnecessary costs? You think your immune system is sufficient. Why should medical personnel be exposed to a variant that you get, they didn’t put their faith in your immune system, you did.
You’re not stupid, but due to the immune system deficiency you mention, William, you might seriously consider asking the advice of a physician and keeping an open mind to what your doctor might say. A science teacher who occasionally refuses to wear a mask while at my school tells me he thinks we are all weakening our immune systems by wearing masks. He says we need to be exposed to corona viruses, rhinoviruses, and such to build tolerance of them.
His theory makes some sense. He’s not stupid. He teaches science and knows something, not everything, but something about the subject. There are a couple reasons why his theory could have some holes poked through it, though. First, he’s not a licensed physician. Laypeople are better off refraining from offering medical advice to themselves and especially to others. The best advice is, ask your physician. Teachers give educational advice. Lawyers give legal advice. Doctors give medical advice. Right? Right. Listen to your doctor.
Second, I have devised a way to test theories about the strengths of immune systems. I’m a professional educator — I must respond professionally to the science teacher who says masks weaken immune systems. I say okay, I understand, but please put your mask on for the students, thanks. What I would like to say: Test your theory. Take your finger, the middle one — this one — and stick it into a fresh pile of dog poo. Leave it in there for a good 20 seconds or so. Then, suck your finger. 20 seconds. The feces has millions of disease causing microbes to which you can inoculate yourself by putting them in your mouth. If your theory is right, and your immune system is stronger than poo, you will be healthy, even strengthened! Again, not calling anyone stupid. Just a little experiment to test a theory.
Disclaimer: Do not try the above mentioned experiment. It was just a joke. Keep your fingers clean and away from your face. Wash them. 20 seconds. Take it easy.
lol!! I’d love to see his face if you suggested that.
My fault I went into moderation this time. Typo in the email address, I think. Attempt number two:
You’re not stupid, but due to the immune system deficiency you mention, William, you might seriously consider asking the advice of a physician and keeping an open mind to what your doctor might say. A science teacher who occasionally refuses to wear a mask while at my school tells me he thinks we are all weakening our immune systems by wearing masks. He says we need to be exposed to corona viruses, rhinoviruses, and such to build tolerance of them.
His theory makes some sense. He’s not stupid. He teaches science and knows something, not everything, but something about the subject. There are a couple reasons why his theory could have some holes poked through it, though. First, he’s not a licensed physician. Laypeople are better off refraining from offering medical advice to themselves and especially to others. Teachers give educational advice. Lawyers give legal advice. Doctors give medical advice. Right? Right. Listen to your doctor.
Second, I have devised a way to test theories about the strengths of immune systems. I’m a professional educator — I must respond professionally to the science teacher who says masks weaken immune systems. I say okay, I understand, but please put your mask on for the students, thanks. What I would like to say: Test your theory. Take your finger, the middle one — this one — and stick it into a fresh pile of dog poo. Leave it in there for a good 20 seconds or so. Then, suck your finger. 20 seconds. The feces has millions of disease causing microbes to which you can inoculate yourself by putting them in your mouth. If your theory is right, and your immune system is stronger than poo, you will be healthy, even strengthened. Again, not calling anyone stupid. Just a little experiment to test a theory.
Disclaimer: Do not try the above mentioned experiment. It was just a joke. Keep your fingers clean and away from your face. Wash them. 20 seconds. Take it easy.
The sad thing is that mandating vaccines was already approved by the US Supreme Court back in 1905 in Jacobson vs. Massachusetts. Public health comes before personal “liberty,” and no one has the liberty to infect the population with their stupidity.
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1900-1940/197us11
That”s why I’m at home. My neighbor works in the medical field, got the jab, STILL got Covid, but her experience was a helluva lot easier to deal with than when her hubby got it a couple months before the vaccines. Her kids had to come over to use my shower because they only had one working one and he had to use it, quarantined in his half of the house. The look on their faces over the weeks waiting for him to either get better or end up in the ER was awful. She had it bad for a week and is just riding out the rest of her quarantine, from what I heard.
But because of possible exposure before she knew she had it, and with my new job working with young kids (most of whom don’t wanna keep the mask on, keep wiping their nose and touching their face), I figured I’d better be cautious and stay home after getting a Covid test yesterday. Plus, numbers are skyrocketing around here and nobody wants to wear a mask anymore, so I’m more than happy to stay at home, away from neighbors who still insist it’s all a hoax. Now I’m gonna take the opportunity to look for strictly online work and quit my part-time job ASAP. Glad my family’s not one for driving all this way and popping in randomly, because I know they think it’s all b.s. and wouldn’t take precautions even if I asked.
Yeah, watching my brother nearly die of Covid last winter was horrible, and he still is dealing with the side effects and probably will be for the rest of his life. He spent a month in ICU. And that’s before this newest variant, which may have worse symptoms. It’s something to mess with, y’all.
Yes, most of the unvaccinated are stupid (making them dangerous for the rest of us that are not stupid like them), but a few might be ignorant because they are not following the news about the pandemic and the vaccines.
Ignorance implies a lack of awareness, while stupidity implies the inability to understand. … Ignorance can be removed by the acquisition of knowledge, while a stupid person is intrinsically so, and therefore difficult to reform.
http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-beteen-ignorance-and-stupidity/
One example was someone I know that said during an online meet-up that he didn’t want to take the vaccine because he didn’t want to have a virus injected into his body.
The facts:
What Makes an RNA Vaccine Different From a Conventional Vaccine?
Unlike conventional vaccines, which can take months to produce by growing weakened forms of the virus, RNA vaccines can be constructed quickly using only the pathogen’s genetic code.
To be clear: RNA vaccines do not use a weakened form of the virus. RNA vaccines do not have any form of the virus.
https://www.breakthroughs.com/advancing-medical-research/what-makes-rna-vaccine-different-conventional-vaccine
It’s a little more complicated than Ruis makes it out to be. There are a heck of a lot of people out there who were raised to use denial as a defense against fear. Their ears close up: “it can’t be true” [because if it were, I couldn’t handle it]. And a surprising number who sense of tribalism is stronger than their survival instinct [they make excellent combat soldiers]. Plus the ignorance of many people older than my millennial children [raised with it] who believe what they read on social media. Although Ruis has a point, as illustrated by the maxim “stupid is as stupid does”…
Smart comment, as always. I’ve never heard denial explained that way, but it perfectly describes one instance of it that I can think of.
I’ve seen tweets calling for boycotts of “count day”
One parent stated the intent of the boycott is to “punish school boards” with Covid-related mandates…. by blocking the per-pupil funding.
Huh?!?
This boycott might affect future elections (appointments or recalls); HOWEVER….
The most immediate impact of impeding per-PUPIL funding is on….pupils (not talking about eyes here).
Still, these parents plan on enabling (or compelling) truancy on count day.
This means their own kids’ schools will receive several thousand FEWER dollars than they would if their child attended, or was excused, that day.
Take THAT school board!
Intentionally degrading your kids’ educational experience to own the school board is a perverse take on school choice.
What a boat load of speculation
Firstly this “vaccine” based off SARS 1.
Was in the works for a long time but had no actual traction because of it’s failure rate. Pre 2019 this was not going to be accepted as a “game changer” as it was sold to us later.
Second why is a “vaccine” that is supposedly saving the world making billions in profit for the two companies authorized to provide it to the American people – ethic and moral governance required here
Third. How many politicians bought Moderna stock between 10/2019 and 8/20 when the price was low? They were definitely “in the know”. How many sold when it peaked at $430
Fourth why are Doctors “forced” under penalty of licence loss. Not to be allowed to use treatments that they deem fit – after all they spend 6 years becoming doctors and now admin staff tell them how to practice medicine
Fifth why are dr. Collin’s and Fauci operating private labs that they own and control ( that receive funding and contracts ) Collin’s especially retires and goes to his lab which has received funding for many years from the very agency he governs ? Are we blind or too blinkered to see the ovbvious breach of ethics and fiduciary responsibility
Sixth. Why are the details of all the long term and negative effects of these new “vaccines” not being highlighted – unlike standard vaccines that you identify are these causing the immune system to become dependent Where are the reports of liver contamination but these treatments that cause the gut microbiome to be disrupted and effectively cause the disease to come back more frequently requiring more treatment.
I have had Covid 1 time 12/2019 before it was identified as Covid and 2/ 2022 I have 2 doses but no booster. My friends who are boosted to the max allowed have had Covid 3-4 times and are constantly feeling unwell ( otherwise healthy individuals )
Seventh. Fauci states that the “ vaccines” are not working as they were supposed to so why are we forcing vaccination
Eighth. Immunology 101 states to separate your healthy and at risk and sick.
Allow the healthy to socialize and observe. We didn’t follow the basic rule from the book. And now the mess we are in from shut downs is economic and health care compromised