A few days ago, I was driving across the Brooklyn Bridge heading towards Brooklyn and saw that the Manhattan-bound side of the bridge was closed by a demonstration. I couldn’t make out what the signs said, so I turned on the local all-news radio station, 1010 WINS, to learn what was happening. It turns out it was a protest against the city’s vaccine mandate for teachers. About 90% or more of the city’s school staff are vaccinated. This was a demonstration by the holdouts.
One of them was interviewed. She said it was unfair that she is locked out of museums, Broadway plays, and soon, her workplace, because she refused to be vaccinated with a new and untested drug.
As it happened, we were returning from a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we saw a fascinating show about the Medicis. In order to enter the musum, we had to show proof that we were fully vaccinated.
I didn’t feel sorry for Ms. Anti-Vaxxer, but I realized that many doors are closed to her, and the number of closed doors will grow.
So the anti-vaxxers may talk about their “freedom,” but the reality is that their refusal to get vaccinated is limiting their freedom.
To go to a new doctor, I had to show the vaccine card that documents that I have had all my shots (Moderna). Some shops wouldnt let me in without it. Some restaurants won’t let you in without it. The number of employers requiring that their employees get vaccinated is constantly growing. Broadway plays require them, as do other performance spaces.
The world is closing its doors to the anti—vaxxers.
They say they are waiting for more evidence, as if they regularly read The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine. I doubt they do.
In every state, the hospitals are overflowing with the unvaccinated. The unvaccinated are 10 times more likely to get sick, to be hospitalized, and to die from COVID, compared to those who got two jabs.
I don’t understand their reasoning. I don’t understand why they demand the ”right” not to protect themselves and their children from a deadly virus. I don’t understand why they willingly accept many other vaccines but not this one. Why dont they take this pandemic seriously? Why are they not convinced by 700,000 deaths?
They are losing their freedom by refusing the vaccine. I feel sorry for them but also angry at them for perpetuating the pandemic.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
You are too kind. I feel that doctors/nurses should refuse to risk their own health by treating unvaccinated people, and hospitals should refuse to admit same patients due to their choice to remain unvaxxed and denying care for people who need help through no fault of their own. The science is clear from everything I read. The drugs are safe and very effective.
I don’t feel sorry for them….not one little bit! They get what they deserve. I do not care what happens to these people. “Actions have consequences”, “freedoms have responsibilities” is something that a lot of people never got schooled on. Even inaction is an action and has it’s own consequences.
I’m tired of living my life with the daily/weekly changing of Covid guidelines /policies because these fools have let the virus mutate and continue to spread. I’ve played by the rules, gotten my vaxx, still wear a mask indoors or in crowds and I DESERVE a return to a new-normal kind of post Covid world without these fools making it hard for everyone to enjoy life. I’m tired of dodging the invisible boogey man of Covid.
My comment in moderation was a lot harsher than yours . However we will not defeat this virus till worldwide vaccination rates are very high. As I said; if a right winger bites the dust, “ask me if I care”. .However 48% of Blacks in NYC are not vaccinated and that aggravates the hell out of me. A community hit harder than most in the Nation and for inexplicable reasons they have lower vaccination rates than the Trumpian suburbs of the City.
Joel – there are somewhat legit reasons that 48% of Blacks in NYC are unvaccinated. Consider that it was Blacks who were experimented on in the Tuskeegee Experiment, given Syphilis. Would you trust a government who did such a thing. Now., that said, there are plenty of Blacks across this country that are vaccinated. Changing the vaccination rates becomes a personal thing – with LOTS of patience and lots of conversations.
jlsteach:
What you report is true for some blacks. But consider: Blacks in the Tuskegee experiment did NOT get the medical treatment, and died of syphillis. Now those who reject the medicine that white people take, prefer to have no treatment, like the untreated blacks in the Tuskegee experiment. This is very bad logic.
I’m tired of reading the sob stories on CNN/USA Today etc. Maybe it makes me a terrible person, but I just don’t care anymore. I’m sick to death of reading the “we were waiting for more information before we got the vaccine” garbage. They made a bad decision for their family situation and now they have to suffer the consequences. If they didn’t want a vaccine, they had/have the opportunity to socially distance and wear a mask….and they won’t do that either. People like that are not worth my time anymore and if that makes me cold and hard hearted….so be it!
jlsteach
The other part of my comment that was put in moderation mentioned a
public service ad that could have been written by Huey Newton in the 60s and I loved it. The theme was don’t be a pawn. The right is well aware that the Black Community lags in vaccinations. Blacks may not be driving the numbers of unvaccinated but they are disproportionately affected North and South.
I am well aware of the inhumane treatment of the Tuskeegee Experiment. I am not buying it is responsible for the vaccination rates in NYC. There are other social reasons that may be responsible. A false sense of invincibility generated by dealing with other social issues may be far more responsible. If you survive economic hardships, crime and or the NYPD , addiction, lousy housing conditions ….. whats a virus.
jlsteach
Now my response was thrown into moderation.
So if it doesn’t post the short of it is other social factors are driving the low numbers.
Re “. . . because she refused to be vaccinated with a new and untested drug.” Untested? Name another class of drugs tested upon a majority of the world’s population. Untested my ass.
Exactly my reaction. 405million doses administered, 188million fully vaccinated in US alone– in less than a year. And the clinical trials included several bunches of 40k-50k subjects each! That’s what you call tested . I suppose people who say “untested” must believe that CDC’s adverse reaction website page is a pack of lies.
while I agree that it is both sad and infuriating that some people are still protesting vaccination and endangering everyone else, it is worth considering that distrust of the government exists on both left and right. Talking to a very left wing friend recently, I learned that she, a frequent traveler, will no longer get on an airplane. She distrusts the handling of investigations into the Boeing 737 planes, two of which crashed a few years ago, and were thought to have mechanical flaws. Different groups, in different places, at different times, had different reasons to distrust the government- the Tuskegee experiments on African Americans, Watergate, Vietnam, Iraq War, and more. The polio vaccine arrived before such distrust was pervasive. As did other child protective vaccines.
Good morning Diane and everyone.
Do you trust the food you eat not to make you sick? Do you trust the bridges and roads and tunnels you use not to break? Do you trust buildings you enter not to collapse? Do you trust the aspirin and other over the counter medicine and prescription medicine not to make you sick? Do you trust the car you get into every day not to have a malfunction and cause your death? Do you trust your surgeon to try to save your life? Do you trust the government to send you your social security check or do you refuse to take that? My point is that we “trust” in things every day that could be detrimental to our health (government run and otherwise) but we still get out of bed and LIVE every day. So this whole, “I don’t trust the government” bit is really a cover for something else that is going on. Sometimes it’s not about what it’s about.
We’ve had plenty of bridges collapse. As for buildings, you remember the high rise in Florida that collapsed just a few months ago? Fact is, infrastructure in this country is crumbling before our eyes, something both parties acknowledge, but they’re fighting each other to see who can spend the least doing anything about it (while making sure as much of it as possible goes to the very private contractors that cause the problems in the first place). The fact is, the government has given people plenty of reasons not to trust them, especially when it comes to COVID.
“So this whole, “I don’t trust the government” bit is really a cover for something else that is going on. Sometimes it’s not about what it’s about.” –Mamie
“The fact is, the government has given people plenty of reasons not to trust them, especially when it comes to COVID.” D77
I find these two statements instructive in the ongoing discussion of the disunity of our era. Some of us feel that we cannot trust. Others feel that we must trust. Some feel that we have not had the assurance of the industrial and governmental leadership of government at a local level. Others mistrust the broader, national movements in industry and government.
Why did we trust the Polio vaccine? Why did all of us have those scars on our arms? Why did we not throw away our trust in the government that told us there was provocation on the Mexican border in 1846 when there was none. Why do so many people take Trump at his word, but feel Biden is corrupt? Why do others feel the reverse of this?
Trust is a necessary ingredient of government. It is often given, sometimes deserved. We trust the other drivers to follow traffic laws, often at the risk of our own lives. So we watch out. We trust our neighbors to leave our stuff alone. But we lock our doors.
I think this trust thing is complicated.
Well observed, Mamie!
Yep, those private contractors all have looked for ways to cut corners on our roads and bridges, not to mention our buildings. EVIL through and through! Heck, that’s their main purpose, to squeeze out whatever they can for themselves, isn’t it? Yeah, there are problems, but I would wager that more of them have arisen because we have not adequately funded maintenance/inspection. Maintenace ain’t sexy and probably doesn’t get the votes like,… I can’t think of much we all agree on. there will always be somebody screaming. It seems to be a perennial human failing–to react rather than be proactive.
I love your summarization of congressional infighting. I’m sure if they manage to get legislation passed, you will be in there complaining about what they didn’t do rather than what they did. What happened to you? You used to have something to contribute beyond this constant negative narrative although we can all have our bitch and moan moments.
Well, it certainly is the case that the two parties spend most of their time fighting one another. The country is getting close to being ungoverned and ungovernable. A chasm between them, and a cataclysm for the country.
Ever hear the phrase “Trust, but verify”?
I find there is a huge amount of hypocrisy among those who write and say things like “the government has given us all these reasons not to trust them” who then completely trust strangers on the internet and Attorney General William Barr who told them that the entire Russia investigation was a “nothing burger” and the Mueller investigation exonerated Trump. There is a lot of hypocrisy among those who say they trust Bernie Sanders except for all the times Bernie Sanders says something that discredits what is most important to them – defending Trump and attacking Democrats.
There is a lot of hypocrisy among those who “don’t trust the untested vaccine” but do trust the untested medicine some right wing stranger on the internet tells them to trust.
I have noticed that some people’s definition of “trust” is closely connected to whatever they want to believe. It isn’t about weighing different facts. It is about “verifying” their own biases or justifying their hate by finding someone who tells them they are right.
For the record, doctors get it wrong sometimes. Science gets it wrong sometimes. People who lack critical thinking believe smart people are ones who – like Donald Trump – always tell them they know the truth. They think smart people always get it right. While those with real critical thinking skills understand that the people you should believe the most are the ones who acknowledge that they make mistakes and are not always right, but they follow the evidence and are always open to new evidence.
There is so much hypocrisy by those who are determined to normalize vaccine hesitancy by the very same people who have no hesitation taking untried medications or believing the election was stolen because someone on the internet who “is never wrong” told them so.
I don’t trust Trump and the Republicans and the anti-science folks because they double down on their lies whenever they are presented with evidence to the contrary. The more evidence of their lies, the more they invent more lies and the more they try to demonize and punish those who question them.
I trust people who welcome challenges and can defend against them with reason and fact. Anti-science folks too often want to attack anyone who challenges them instead of defending their position.
I’m witcha on this one, Roy. Trust must be earned and in this case it has
“Why are they not convinced by 700,000 deaths? ”
Some people are feeding them statistics like
“700K means that only 0.2% that is, of the population dies of covid, which mean 2 out 1000 people, while 10% of those vaccinated get covid, so vaccines actually increase 50 fold your chances of getting sick ?”
Or how about the lies that it’s the vaccinated who are keeping this going because they get asymptomatic FROM the vaccine and knowingly spread it to those unvaccinated (to kill them) OR that the the vaccinated are super spreaders because they contract asymptomatic covid and go out in public without wearing their masks and unknowingly spread it to the unvaccinated. This garbage is crazier than Scientology! These people are absolutely insane.
Now I am a pretty terrible person. I feel no sympathy for a right winger who gets Covid or dies. Sorry its this lefties way of “owning the right” .
But as a recent article in the NY.Times pointed out (and I have been saying for months), the unvaccinated extend far beyond the ideological right. While 90% of those over 65 have been vaccinated, this demographic that leans right has the sense to do what is right for themselves while they repeat the nonsense from the right wing anti vaxxers on Fox and Facebook.
Out front the Black population in America is not large enough to shift the numbers on vaccination and Covid too much Nationally . But those right wing lunatics marching across the Bridge are not the problem in NYC. Although the vaccination rates in NY and in Down State NY are high. The Black population in NYC is only 48% fully vaccinated . When you go to the more White more Trumpian suburbs the rates of vaccination are much higher. A case perhaps of do as I say not as I do . 90% of Fox employees are vaccinated they all wear masks off screen in the studios. Yet their hosts push this criminal nonsense.
The other day I finally heard a Public service announcement aimed at the Black community that cheered me up. The gist of it could have been written by Huey Newton in the 60s . In not so many words ” don’t let these Ho—— make a corpse out of you” .
So if only 48% of Blacks in NYC are vaccinated, how does that play out in the South. Republican Governors are well aware of who is impacted disproportionately in their states. Even if those victims are not in a majority.
Republican Governors are also well aware that uninformed voters just see headline numbers . They do not break these numbers down to state and local levels nor analyze the whys . This goes for the virus and the economy. Anti public health Republican Governors are attempting to tank the Biden agenda and the economy.
As I said in the past the quickest way for Biden to increase vaccination rates on the right would be to thank them for dropping dead.
not being fluent in stat is a disease that is widespread.
Worse they never get beyond a headline to understand a number.
No feeling sorry for those deliberately contributing to the mass death of others. Time to Get A Grip! And it seems a school district near Houston, TX did just that recently.
The Katy school district near Houston said Thursday that it had RETURNED an award-winning children’s book to its library shelves and RESCHEDULED a virtual appearance by its author after a review committee had determined the book’s “appropriateness” amid parents’ claims that it espoused critical race theory.
The book’s illustrator and writer, Jerry Craft, whose books tell stories about Black children struggling to fit into unfamiliar settings, had been set to appear virtually this month at Roosevelt Alexander Elementary School until the Katy Independent School District scrapped the event after some parents objected.
Craft’s graphic novel “New Kid” was awarded the John Newbery Medal last year. It tells the story of seventh-grader Jordan Banks and how he navigates his worlds at home and at a prestigious private school where he is one of the few minority students.
The school district said in a statement to NBC News on Thursday afternoon that its review committee had met this week and “determined the appropriateness of the book, ‘New Kid.’”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/school-district-reinstates-book-at-center-of-parents-fury/ar-AAPx4El
Time to Get A Grip! Amen to that.
What a disgrace that some teachers would be anti-vaxxers, I expect better from teachers.
I got the 2 Moderna shots in May and I keep the vaccine card in a very safe and secure place. So far, I have not had to produce it to get medical service. I’ve made multiple copies of it and even stored images on my computer, assuming my computer doesn’t self destruct at any given moment. I will get the booster shot whenever it becomes available; it looks like there is more latitude with the booster shot: Moderna or Pfizer seems to be OK.
I assume most Americans, and probably most unvaccinated Americans, have never been ordered to get a shot as an adult, let alone a shot of a new vaccine. I don’t think it requires a massive leap to imagine why some people are reticent, and when pushed, grow hostile or paranoid.
I had to have a physical and numerous blood tests to work in a hospital in the early 80’s. It was a secretarial/monitoring job in a cardiac unit….not much contact with patients. It was found that I did not have immunity to measles. In order for me to continue my job, I was “required” to get a measles shot and I did as I was instructed. As it turns out, there was a bad batch of measles vaccine in the late 60’s that produced no immunity for those who got the shot.
The yearly flu shot is an “educated guess” by those involved with it’s manufacturing, yet many people get the shot. Some still get flu because there are many different flu strains and the science may have been “off” that year.
It’s just BS that people won’t do this yet they will gladly chug down their Oxycontin for minor back pain.
I think there is a clear difference between taking painkillers and being mandated to take a new vaccine. And again, regardless of your own experience, I think it probably is significant that many Americans have never in their adult lives been ordered to get a shot (again, let alone of a newly developed vaccine). The psychology doesn’t seem that difficult to understand, at least not to me. Frankly I’m actually impressed at how many people have chosen to get vaccinated in 10 months.
Have you ever read the ingredients of a Twinkie? If one can’t pronounce anything on the packaging, why would one eat it? How about all the information on the cancer causing effects of artificial sweeteners in diet soda/foods? Eating at McDonalds when a hamburger can sit out for weeks and show no signs of rot? I see these anti-vaxxers vaping and smoking cigarettes while waving their signs.
It’s BS that they won’t get the shot! It’s because they have made it political. They are oppositional/defiant. These people have cluster B personality disorders and need mental health services….which they likely wouldn’t trust either….so maybe they just need a white strappy suit and a visit to a padded room. To H__L with them! If they don’t care about the greater good, then I really don’t care what becomes of them.
Wow, Lisa, I was one of those people who got the “bad batch!” I caught measles at age 37 (&, when you get a childhood disease as an adult, it could prove to be fatal). I was sick as a dog for WEEKS, went to a dr. twice (long story), then ended up w/my husband carrying me to the car & to the doctor’s office, which was located IN a hospital, & I was immediately hospitalized. The next day I broke out in spots: measles! It was determined that I had probably caught them from an unvaccinated (!) child while on a field trip w/my daughter’s (only 22 mos. old at the time, & I was in the midst of toilet-training) former home day care (during summers, I volunteered on their field trips, even though daughter was home w/me in the summer). So, the cautionary take, & lucky I didn’t die.
&, FLERP!, if you haven’t read “Dopesick” or the latter “Empire of Pain,” I highly recommend them. Also, Netflix (or Hulu?) has an excellent ltd. series based on the book, “Dopesick.” & HBO’S outstanding documentary, “Crime of the Century,” a powerful companion to “Empire of Pain.”
So, the taking painkillers as a + comparison to vaccines (JUST.NO!!!): mixing 🍎🍎s w/🍊🍊s. &, BTW, my daughter developed a 🖤 d clot btw. her skull & brain luckily, for all of us, this was after 3016, when the truth was coming out about Oxycontin/the evil Sacklers & Purdue Pharma: whereas before she would have easily been prescribed oxy, so severe was her pain, it was absolutely not at that point. Thank G-d for those who pursued the Sacklers/Purdue so doggedly.
Willingly vaxxed 2x w/Moderna, & eagerly awaiting my booster.
&, not, there’s NO comparison btw. vaccines and painkillers.
Have never been ordered to get a shot? Every public school system in the country requires a list of vaccinations that kids must get.
I said never ordered to get a shot as an adult.
I believe the only times I’ve been required to get shots is when traveling internationally. But a lot of Americans don’t travel internationally.
You did. I stand corrected.
To avoid a serious illness, I would gladly get a jab. And I did: three times.
You got your booster, Diane! Awesome!!!! I did too, yesterday.
I think the main reason people oppose vaccinations is political. Here, the left is in power and most people who oppose vaccinations and masks are on the right. In Hungary, the right is in power and most people who oppose vaccinations are on the left.
The “left” is hardly in power. The left is who the Democrats who are in power spend their time spitting on. And there is plenty of distrust of the vaccine on the left and the right. A significant percentage of the unvaxxed are poor people of color.
By the way it is possible to combine a Covid booster or vaccination with the flu shot doctors are advising people to get. It is possible to get them at the same time.
@ retired teacher….my pharmacist won’t give the flu shot and Covid vaccine at the same time.
Lisa, I got the booster and the flu shot both at the same time two days ago at my local Walgreens. I’ve had no problems.
Can you explain the lack of such reticence concerning the Polio vaccine? Indeed the extreme popularity of Jonas Salk in the 50s (more people recognized his name than knew the name of Dwight Eisenhower) suggests a sort of love affair with this vaccine. I think vaccine reticence is a part of the zeitgeist of a nation torn apart. The fact of those who benefit from this rending is hardly deniable.
I don’t know that the two are on all fours—the polio vaccine rollout was much slower and hit some serious snags, and I don’t think it was fully adopted until years later when another polio vaccine came out.
But I do think you’re right that there is something peculiar to today. Politics are more polarizing, institutions are less trusted, mass media is completely different—I think these are all big differences that have been developing and increasingly accelerating since the 50s.
I’m sick of the polarization.
Flerp: You are not alone. I feel as though I started life as a centrist and have watched as Pangea drifted away from me, largely to the East. Let’s pull the continents back together. Get me some dinosaurs.
There is polarization on one side only. I am sick of people blaming the left for not being more conciliatory with people who have spurned every attempt to be conciliatory.
There were no vaccine mandates at first because the Democrats went to great effort not to politicize the vaccine! They just wanted people to take it.
The far right politicized the vaccine. Biden tried hard to be conciliatory for a long time and waited until those who politicized the vaccine caused another hospital and ICU crisis in the states where the right wing politicizers of the anti-vax movement were most powerful.
This is not a “both sides” issue. This is one side politicizing the issue and the other side being accused of politicizing an issue because they are following science.
NYC public school parent
Few issues are both sides issues. Certainly not the ones the corporate media will highlight . They would never want to highlight the issues that affect their bottom line.
Joel,
But people who say they are sick of the polarization are also blaming the Democrats equally for that polarization.
The main reason we are polarized is that the one side that needs polarization and wants polarization – the far right – knows they will always have complicit “helpers” who will amplify their dishonest propaganda that “both sides” cause polarization.
In fact, if those right wing propaganda pushers in and out of the so-called liberal media weren’t helping to legitimize and amplify the false narrative, the far right would have to stop causing polarization.
If the ONLY narrative that was amplified was “why are the Republicans trying to polarize this country when the Democrats are working so hard to bring us together?”, the Republicans would stop polarizing it – especially if every Republican was forced to defend the ugly things said by the far right.
You know the world is polarized when someone says they’re sick of polarization and the immediate response is that that’s a right-wing talking point.
NYC public school parent
I’ll keep it short I agree.
FLERP!,
Your anti-vaxx, anti-mask, pro-Republican “the pandemic is just a bad flu and schools must remain open” have been duly noted. Not interested in a snide discussion with COVID-deniers.
So why are you addressing me? Go to bed.
I recently posted this to Facebook (I know, the ubiquitous tracking system), in response to a not-so-bright acquaintance who is convinced that the Covid vaccines and wearing masks are dangerous based on “science” from a chiropractor who bills himself as a “doctor” and spreads dangerous propaganda.
Hmmm. Let’s see. Which do I believe about vaccines and their efficacy? The nation’s foremost medical scientists or that guy named Ray who was on the football team at my high school and now works at Meineke Muffler? It has been shocking to me to discover how many people, including acquaintances and relatives of mine, are incapable of rational thought about these matters. The more they say, the dumber they sound.
It’s breathtaking what American adults are capable of believing. There is nothing so stupid that millions of them won’t say of it, “Yeah, that makes sense to me.” Jewish space lasers? Soros caravans? The dangers of masks? And this is especially true with regard to health-related matters, in which people are capable of all kinds of utter fantasy about their own discomforts turned imagined illnesses, about supposed vast conspiracies among our nation’s doctors, and about the efficacy of hundreds of quack treatments–some that have lingered on since the 19th century heyday of quackery as parallel “alternative” medical “disciplines.” Fortunately, leeching is not one of these. Speaking of which, the 19th century was the golden age of the snake oil salesman with his traveling medicine show. (John D. Rockefeller’s grandfather was one of these Wild West Professor Marvels.) Well, here we are again. But now it’s horse tranquilizer and hydroxychloroquine and advice about medical matters from a guy who sells pillows. Oh, and did you hear what my hairdresser said to me about her cousin Ralphie? . . . And have you tried colloidal-astro-psycho-aroma-hypno-chiro-quantum-chakra realignment, which is so much better than medical science?
Seriously. Stop believing total b–sh-t. Get vaccinated. If you don’t, you are endangering yourself and others.
The anti-vaxxers have made it political and have dug in and won’t go back. Forget going to museums—they don’t care about that. If these misinformed people are willing to walk away from decent jobs with benefits, pushing their children down the economic ladder, maybe even leaving them orphaned, they are beyond reason. But hey, freedom! I listened to them last night at my school board meeting last night. Human wrongheadedness no longer surprises me. Not after the last five years.
The sound you hear? I am playing the world’s tiniest violin.
LOL
Tinny too!
lol
Impressed, as always, by the wisdom of Diane Ravitch and the posters on this blog. Thank you, all.
As a teacher of students from other countries, I regularly have nurses enter my classroom and say things like, “Maria, you have to get vaccinated by next week or you won’t be able to return to school. I fail to see why we are so precious and privileged that we should be excluded from such mandates. I also see the anti-vaxxers dropping out of the union and supporting the right-wing anti-vaxxer conservative mayoral candidate even though he likely hates us and everything we stand for (not that that distinguishes him from the two major candidates). Texas and Florida are doing exactly what the anti-vaxxers want, and things aren’t working well for them. I very much hope the mandate is extended to eligible school-age children ASAP.
In June 1987, Congress attempted to preempt the FCC decision and codify the Fairness Doctrine, but the legislation was vetoed by President Ronald Reagan.
June 1987 should be another day of infamy equal to December 7, 1941, and September 11, 2001.
“The fairness doctrine had two basic elements: It required broadcasters to devote some of their airtime to discussing controversial matters of public interest, and to air contrasting views regarding those matters. Stations were given wide latitude as to how to provide contrasting views: It could be done through news segments, public affairs shows, or editorials. The doctrine did not require equal time for opposing views but required that contrasting viewpoints be presented. The demise of this FCC rule has been considered by some to be a contributing factor for the rising level of party polarization in the United States.[4][5]”
Since June 1987, the religious and/or political lunatics in our nation have been busy 24/7 churning out lies, misinformation, and conspiracy theories on an assembly line. Many fortunes have been made lying to people. Rush Limbaugh arguably the king of misinformation and spreading hate was worth $600 million when he died, earning $85 million annually.
“Rush Limbaugh made a name for himself as one of the best-loved and most-hated radio celebrities, hosting the widely syndicated Rush Limbaugh Show on AM and FM radio stations from 1988 until his death. His earnings peaked at $85 million a year between salary, bonuses, profit participation and personal appearance fees, says Celebrity Net Worth.” His house in Palm Beach was worth $26 million.
Rush was loved by fools and haters and hated by rational people.
Greedy, lying, monsters like Rush have had more than 34 years to program a legion of lunatics like the anti-vaccine fools that are so stupid they do not know that there are only 5 freedoms that the U.S. Constitution protects, and refusing to get a vaccine or wear a mask are not on that list.
Sadly, many states are NOT requiring vaccines for anyone and are opposing the possible OSHA mandates coming out. And not just the obvious Texas and Florida. Utah is planning a special legislative session the minute the OSHA regulations come out in order to stop them. Masks are not required anywhere in the state (unless it’s a private business, and who knows how long that will last), kids can come to school even after exposure unmasked as long as they show no “symptoms” (I put that in quotation marks because I have kids with symptoms all the time who we can’t send home), and one of the teachers in my school just the other day said they’d lost their sense of taste but weren’t going to get tested because their spouse had tested negative. Craziness. I no longer trust the vast majority of my faculty. I’m outside in a trailer, and I almost never come in the building because of this. It’s a lonely (but less disease-ridden) place to be.
I think people and the media are missing one HUGE category of anti-COVID vaxxers. It’s because it doesn’t fit into the typical demographic markers of race, gender, religion, income, or political party. It crosses political lines. This is akin to the Democrats pushing punitive standardized testing and charter schools.
What is this group of anti-COVID vaxxers? Health and wellness nuts. I’m not talking about the people who take generally good care of themselves but the ones who are more hardcore. They buy nearly everything organic. They may even refuse to drink water out of a plastic bottle. They may spend hundreds of dollars each month on an array of supplements (that are NOT FDA evaluated or approved by the way), trainers or boutique/upscale gyms. They don’t use the typical mainstream Proctor & Gamble or Unilever products for hygiene or household cleaning, but things that claim to be natural. (I guess this would be more of a high income group as your average Joe is not going to spend $70-100/month on a 30-day supply of “immune boosting” superfood juice powder from Organifi or Athletic Greens.)
There’s a health influencer/podcaster I followed for about 7-8 years that i finally gave up on earlier this year because I couldn’t deal with his change in rhetoric since COVID. He says that “fear” is driving the COVID policies, but will then put out episodes claiming that your household name toothpaste may give you cancer.
These people say their good state of health is their best defense against COVID. The comorbidity data is their main talking point. I believe their stance is rooted in selfishness. Yes. They will likely survive an infection, but their refusal to follow protocols put people who won’t or could have long-term complications at risk. These are probably the same [expletive]s who haven’t been re-racking their weights at the gym all these years.
I have the best of both worlds. I am in good health and I am vaxxed.
Although I would be certain that there are enough unvaccinated NYC Teachers for a small demonstration. I am betting there was a lot of astro turf on the bridge.
Amazing how Houston keeps infiltrating Brooklyn!
Nah: Smithtown Alabama( as my friends call it) located 40 miles due east of the Empire State Building supplies all the infiltrators needed. And if they fail Staten Island has plenty of recruits .
Wow, Lisa, I was one of those people who got the “bad batch!” I caught measles at age 37 (&, when you get a childhood disease as an adult, it could prove to be fatal). I was sick as a dog for WEEKS, went to a dr. twice (long story), then ended up w/my husband carrying me to the car & to the doctor’s office, which was located IN a hospital, & I was immediately hospitalized. The next day I broke out in spots: measles! It was determined that I had probably caught them from an unvaccinated (!) child while on a field trip w/my daughter’s (only 22 mos. old at the time, & I was in the midst of toilet-training) former home day care (during summers, I volunteered on their field trips, even though daughter was home w/me in the summer). So, the cautionary take, & lucky I didn’t die.
&, FLERP!, if you haven’t read “Dopesick” or the latter “Empire of Pain,” I highly recommend them. Also, Netflix (or Hulu?) has an excellent ltd. series based on the book, “Dopesick.” & HBO’S outstanding documentary, “Crime of the Century,” a powerful companion to “Empire of Pain.”
So, the taking painkillers as a + comparison to vaccines (JUST.NO!!!): mixing 🍎🍎s w/🍊🍊s. &, BTW, my daughter developed a 🖤 d clot btw. her skull & brain luckily, for all of us, this was after 3016, when the truth was coming out about Oxycontin/the evil Sacklers & Purdue Pharma: whereas before she would have easily been prescribed oxy, so severe was her pain, it was absolutely not at that point. Thank G-d for those who pursued the Sacklers/Purdue so doggedly.
Willingly vaxxed 2x w/Moderna, & eagerly awaiting my booster.
&, not, there’s NO comparison btw. vaccines and painkillers.
“NO comparison btw. vaccines and painkillers”
Pfizer doesn’t give the high
Like the Oxy you can buy
Vaccine shots are simply flat
Little pills are where it’s at
“Die Free or Live”
They made their bed
And there they lie
May soon be dead
But free they’ll die
700,000 dead…and imagine how many more but for the lockdowns, social distancing, masks, and, finally, the vaccine.
Much of this, in my view, has been about leadership. Had Trump and others like him (both in office and in the media) taken the virus and their responsibility to contain it seriously (publicly) from the start, I believe the outcome would have been very different.
As is; they allowed (and/or took part in) the spread of disinformation. People had been told not to trust “The Deep State” since Trump took office. Distrust of the worldwide medical and scientific responses to the pandemic were (and continue to be) a tragic extension of this propaganda campaign.
Deep State Deception
We don’t need no stinking vax
Distancing or even mask
All these measures? Cruel jokes
Covid virus is a hoax
All we need is Ivermectin
Anti-worming is protection
Parasites are everywhere
In the Democratic lair
My niece lives in northern rural Vermont. She is one of only 2 students in her school of 120+ (K-9) who’s been vaccinated. It’s a requirement for the teachers.
Her “peers” tell her that the vaccine actually GIVES you Covid. Or that it will slowly drive you insane. Or that its’ Gate’s plan to control the world. And, of course, Big Pharma is behind the entire show and is making a killing.
I’m impressed that, at 13, she’s quietly sticking to her guns.
“it will slowly drive you insane”
The definition of “insanity” is “getting vaccinated over and over and expecting different results each time.”
Diane and supporters of these medical mandates—It amazes me how you’ve spent the large majority of your professional career studying how millionaires/ billionaires have exploited public education but can’t make the connection between how these same millionaires/billionaires have exploited and corrupted the medical industry/field and have tricked the public into believing that their “solutions” are what’s best for society because of course, they’re just so “benevolent”… To begin, the pharmaceutical industry has its origins in Nazi Germany where I.G. Farben (Bayer, Hoechst, etc.) competed with the Rockefellers to dominate the global drug market. In order to thrive, I.G. Farben had to receive support from Hitler… During the Nuremberg Trial the I.G. Farben executives received little punishment for their crimes (as is the case with many powerful and rice people) against humanity and instead worked alongside the Rockfellers to influence world affairs along with monopolizing the healthcare industry through use of patented drugs. We see here where a crusade began to outlaw vitamin therapies and other natural, non-patentable health approaches (these approaches by the way have little to no side effects unlike vaccines) … Here are some sources that backs up these claims: http://www.profit-over-life.org/main.html & the book entitled Rockefeller Medicine Men by Richard E. Brown…
Thus, being tied to the old vices of greed and control, the modern pharmaceutical and healthcare industry’s main focus is creating lifelong customers and dealing with symptoms, not getting patients off drugs and treating the root cause. It’s under this context that we must analyze vaccines…
The major pharmaceutical company’s and the healthcare industries corruptive and lethal practices can be found here:
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/the-bill-gates-effect-whos-dtp-vaccine-kills-more-children-in-africa-than-the-diseases-it-targets/
https://ethics.harvard.edu/blog/risky-drugs-why-fda-cannot-be-trusted
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/fda-nearly-half-funding-companies-it-regulates/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2875889
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-largest-health-care-fraud-settlement-its-history
https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/unwanted-sterilization-and-eugenics-programs-in-the-united-states/
There’s much more I could cite but the bottom-line is these companies care more about profit than your health… So, when you mention that the refusal of so-called “anti-vaxxers” is limiting their freedom this assumption is not accurate at all… It is the coordinated effort by the pharmaceutical lobbyists along with international imperialist executives like Klaus Schwab (who published a book entitled— “COVID-19: The Great Reset”; a very interesting title) that are trying to coerce every American, everyone in the world to take an experimental vaccine that is still undergoing clinical trials denying the human right of informed consent and this is a criminal act….What are your thoughts on the fact that if people get injured or die from vaccines the manufacturers are immune from liability? You make another assumption that so called “anti-vaxxers” don’t regularly read the “prestigious” medical journals of the day. There’s actually a growing body of well-respected doctors and scientists such as ex-Pfizer scientist—Dr. Michael Yedon and cardiologist—Dr. Peter A. McCullough who are speaking out against the dangers of this mRNA vaccine…
These scientists, once lauded in professional circles, are now having their livelihoods threatened because they promote the concepts of informed consent, medical freedom and bioethics. Even the term “anti-vaxxer” is a misnomer because many so-called “anti-vaxxers (such as parents) used to diligently follow the vaccine schedule until their child got injured or died from a vaccine. When these parents sought answers they were ridiculed, shunned and humiliated… There’s so much more I could say—such as how these mRNA vaccines are vastly different from old-school vaccines, how the pharmaceutical companies produce bias efficacy outcomes, the serious conflicts of interests between government agencies (such as the FDA, EPA, CDC) and Big Pharma, how the number of deaths & injuries from this covid vaccine outweighs all other vaccines…but I’ll leave some more resources for anyone looking to do research on the real reasons why a growing body of people are refusing to take the jab. I will not get caught up in the divide and conquer strategy that the powers that be have orchestrated pitting the unvaccinated vs. the vaccinated, Dems vs. Repubs, etc… I’m better than that… What we need is to have all the facts out there on the table but unfortunately the mainstream & social media are engaging in a heavy censorship campaign…Is any of this democratic?…
Dr. Ravitch, as an educator and academic I was expecting more scholarly and thoughtful responses from you and not so many assumptions. Take care…
https://rumble.com/vnlxum-against-the-wind-with-dr.-paul-episode-020.html
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-university-of-california-has-put-me-on-leave-for-challenging-their-vaccine-mandate/
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=pandemichealth%2Fkzuyihyu
https://rumble.com/vm8glv-ethics-professor-threatened-with-dismissal-for-refusing-vaccine.html
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/covid-vaccines-menstrual-changes-nih-awards-grants-study
I would note in reply that those who are unvaccinated are ten times more likely to be hospitalized than the unvaccinated and ten times more likely to die than the vaccinated.
That’s good evidence for me. I was vaccinated twice with the Moderna medicine–for which I paid nothing, and received a third Moderna shot as well, at no cost.
I don’t recall which drug companies profited from the polio vaccines, but I was very glad to get it, as I was happy to get many other vaccines–for measles, diphtheria, smallpox, and chicken pox, to name a few. Unfortunately there was no mumps vaccine when I was a child, and I suffered through the mumps.
I have never regretted any of the vaccines I received, nor do I care if the developer and manufacturer of the vaccine made a profit.
Diane Ravitch, Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine have been very effective for people who are being treated for Covid-19. Just because the idiots like Rachel Maddow, Brian Stelter, Don Lemon and Rachel Maddow, speak out against it, does not make what they say true. You accused me of violating your no conspiracy theories rule with my Alex Jones reference, which was clearly taken out-of-context, however, you get information from your own set of conspiracy theorists, e.g. Don Lemon, Brian Stelter, Rachel Maddow, so your point about no conspiracy theories is moot.
I get my information from the CDC. Where do you get your information?
Even Trump is vaccinated. He didn’t take the horse deworming pills or the hydroxy..
“you get information from your own set of conspiracy theorists”
My favorite conspiracy theorists are Galileo, Einstein, Darwin and Marie Curie.
Let’s not forget Edward Jenner, Mate.
Using pox from cows! COWS!! To create immunity from those little small poxes.
If I could only get my hands on that guy…
Yes. He invented the vaccine only to enable Gates to install chips in everybody. Reliable research shows that he was funded by the Gates foundation.
Diane Ravitch, many people have died or suffered permanent injury from these so-called safe and effective vaccines. Look up the information.
I’m not going to allow you to continue spouting nonsense and misinformation.
People who are unvaccinated are at least 10 times more likely to be hospitalized and at least 10 times more likely to die than those who are vaccinated.
Diane Ravitch, in the videos I shared, every bad vaccine-related story that was told came from people in their own words or from their family members. Look it up and stop paying attention to CNN, CNBC, CBS, MSNBC and other historically non-credible networks.
I am posting Ragnarsbhut for the last time. He is in moderation, where he will forever stay. He regularly writes comments attacking science, Fauci, and me while praising the individual testimony of unvaccinated people. I have deleted dozens of such comments. I now urge him to stay true to his beliefs. No need for him to wear a mask or get vaccinated. He doesn’t believe the lies of scientists, the media, or anyone who urges him to get vaccinated.
Please stop sending me comments expressing your opposition to vaccines for COVID.
Please stop touting Ivermectin, the horse dewormer, as a cure for COVID.
I have deleted many, many such comments written by you.
Stop wasting my time.
Your comments will never appear on my blog.
Send them to Steve Bannon or Marjorie Taylor Greene.
They would love to have your support.