Generating a story is not new. Creating a crisis out of an event is as old as time. In our society’s conspicuous consumption of information (with little digestion), the pressure is always on to gin-up something tantalizing and scary. Today’s media blitz is focused on how dangerous people are who are not vaccinated are. I have seen parents creating “NOT IN MY SCHOOL” campaigns on Facebook to pressure school boards to block out unvaccinated children. Several politicians are tossing around the idea of mandatory vaccines. John Boehner, Speaker of the House, stated that he doesn’t think that a law forcing vaccines is necessary – yet. Child Protective Services in Tennessee and Florida have taken children from parents who choose not to vaccinate their children and forcefully vaccinated them.
The notion of freedom is completely abandoned and those, for whatever their reason (personal choice, religion or philosophical) who wish to not vaccinate themselves or their children are quickly being relegated to pariahs that must be dealt with and removed. I am reminded of a scene in Monty Python’s, The Holy Grail, where a person is accused of being a witch. The village’s emotions are stirred up and the people in the town want to burn her because of the voracity of the claim. The argument against her is comically presented that she must be a witch because she weighs the same as a duck on a scale that couldn’t discern the weight difference between a semi truck and a feather. The logic is so absurd, no one in their right mind would agree she is a witch. But they fail to see the obvious and convict her of being a witch.
That is how much faith people are placing in the effectiveness of vaccines and how dangerous an unvaccinated person is to the vaccinated. Did you get what I just said? If vaccines were effective and worked, why would a vaccinated person fear an unvaccinated person? If they worked, how could they contract the disease? But, let’s not dwell too much on that because the argument is that presented to combat being unvaccinated is herd immunity. It is postulated that herd, as in cattle or sheep, immunity only works when there is a 100% vaccinated population. If everyone is not vaccinated, then thousands are at risk. Wouldn’t the only ones who were not vaccinated be at risk? If they have not been vaccinated, then they have accepted that risk. It is their responsibility and no one else’s.
Maybe part of the problem is that we have allowed the government’s nose into our personal lives and attempted to insulate our culture from personal responsibility. Just let big brother take care of you. The counter argument is that one person can impact a village by not being vaccinated and contaminate everyone else and then the government is left to deal with the mess. Again, I will refer to the argument that if vaccines were “safe and effective” then the vaccinated would have nothing to worry about.
So are vaccines safe and effective?
I will reference the CDC and VAERS to answer this question. From 2004 to 2015, there are zero cases of deaths from measles in the U.S.(CDC). During that same 10 year period, the Department of Health and Human Services Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reports that 108 deaths are directly related to the MMR vaccine. Please note, this is only deaths and does not include other problems that impacted hundreds of other people from adverse reactions. These numbers speak for themselves and are indisputable. While 108 deaths are incredibly small compared to the population in percentages, it is still higher than 0.
Did you know that chronic long-term
How about effectiveness?
In 2014 there were 506 reported cases of measles in the US from ~320,000,000 residents. 19% of the 506 were vaccinated. (Provisional reports through June ’14 CDC) Effective? That is your call. Remember, zero deaths in both the vaccinated and unvaccinated populations from measles. But, there were deaths from vaccine reactions in the vaccinated populations.
Let’s look at recent history and the story of vaccine failures:
-The Journal of the American Medical Association (1990:(263): 2467-2471) reported that 235 cases of measles in Dane County, Wisconsin, 94% were fully vaccinated.
-American Journal of Epidemiology, 1989;129(1):173-182., An Illinois high school with a 99.7% vaccination rate reported 69 cases of measles of a 3-week period.
-American Journal of Epidemiology, 1987;126(3):438-449., An out outbreak of 137 cases of measles in a student population of 98.7% fully vaccinated students.
These are just a few published reports from a short time period of 4 years I am sharing with you. And, I only focused on measles. If I had included mumps and pertussis, the list would be much longer. I am not trying to stab a knife in vaccines. I am illustrating how false it is to feel like you are immune from a disease because you have had a vaccine. They are far from 100% effective. Furthermore, if you do get the disease after you have had the vaccine, you are more likely to get far worse symptoms. Long-term, vaccinated people are up to 500% more likely to get long-term chronic conditions later in life than an unvaccinated person. I would much rather deal with an acute vial infection than a long-term chronic problem!
* please note, “,” are used instead of “.” in the stats.
The Patriot Act that was passed to try and ensure our safety from terrorist acts; we had to give up freedom for our perception of safety. Was it worth it? That is a decision we must each make on our own. I fear that there are those who are going to try and force martial law and people will be forced to be vaccinated. This Gestapo-esque tactic will only cause unseen consequences that extend far beyond a shot in the arm. Why do I say this? Because I know history. I study. I know the human heart. I have one. I know human emotions. I feel. I am willing to take in the big picture and connect dots. I am not a conspiracy theorist. Quite the contrary. I think behavior never lies. If you just watch, you can see what is happening. Can I be wrong? Sure. But, the best of intentions in the short-term can have difficult long-terms consequences.
But, I thought Measles was eradicated!
In 2000, the CDC declared Measles eradicated in the United States. In fact they state “measles elimination was documented in the U.S. in 2000.” So if it has been eliminated, why continue to vaccinate for it? They didn’t do the same thing with the Global pandemic of Small Pox in which only 10% of the population was vaccinated. They also didn’t continue vaccinating for Scarlet Fever. So why after the elimination of measles is the vaccine mandated? Especially, when it is not a deadly disease in a healthy population like the US. (Most deaths from measles are in poverty stricken areas where sanitation and proper nutrition are virtually non-existant and almost exclusively in Pacific Rim Nations.)
As I have already documented, vaccinated populations can get the disease!
Through the 1970s, measles was considered “normal” and on the same level as chicken pox. Today, it is garnering the same attention as Ebola. This is absurd. Actually, both are astounding to me. In no way am I minimizing the impact of measles, Ebola, or any disease on any person. Rather, I am considering the perspective in relation to other more statistically significant serious life threating events that are preventable. It seems to me that we have discarded wisdom. We have lost the ability to synthesize information and rationally make decisions and accept the consequences for our decisions. We let experts sway our emotions and disregard our neighbor.
It is my hope that freedom, in all of its glorious and painful components, is exercised with thought and action, in our population. Furthermore, I hope it is celebrated and held in deep regard above fad or fear. So if you make the educated decision to vaccinate, I will applaud our freedoms to make that decision and even help you roll your sleeve up against those who say you can’t be vaccinated. Likewise, I hope you would stand with me as I elect to not be vaccinated.
Chad Hawk, DC