• ickplant@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    I’m concerned but I don’t know what I can do about that other than make sure my whole family is vaccinated.

      • ickplant@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        This will make you see red. My nephew cannot get vaccinated for legitimate health reasons. His parents were always pro-vax until it came time for the Covid vaccine. Then they became all “mRNA is a new technology, we don’t have enough research.” We basically stopped talking to them after my husband yelled at his brother (nephew’s dad) that he is risking killing his own son if he gets Covid. So fucking stupid. Yes, they are conservative although they claim not to support Trump.

      • TootSweet@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        Every cult has as one of its core tenets that only evil, terrible people wouldn’t want to be part of it.

        The U.S. is currently being run by a cult.

        Not everyone in the U.S. is part of that cult. But a damned lot of the population of the U.S. is.

        Source: Am american.

  • snooggums@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    Most of us are concerned.

    The minority are concerned because the US government has done unethical and malicious medical stuff to minorities, which makes some level of hesitancy for those groups understandable. Not the cod oil instead of vaccines bullshit white middle class and up promote, that is pure snake oil propaganda.

    • Singletona082@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      Intentionally infecting black airmen with syphillus and giving them placibos instead of treatments so they could track long term effects.

      As an example.

      • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        They weren’t intentionally infected, they were just deliberately not given the cure. It doesn’t make a difference at the end of the day, but it is important to distinguish because that is probably part of how those involved in the study justified their actions.

        E.g.,

        I didn’t give them the disease, so I’m not responsible for what happens to them”

  • EightBitBlood@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    Our educations system has been in decline for the last 20 years. Instead foreign money has combine with private interests to blast us with complete made up bullshit propaganda 24/7. Almost all of our major news sources are now owned or operated by MAGA donors, who care more about money than public well being. Basically, half this country is now too stupid to determine if the information they’re viewing is corporate propaganda, or foreign government propaganda. Both are exploitative, and both want Americans sick because it’s profitable to them. So despite having a president that publicly threw out our pandemic response killing more Americans than in all the wars we’ve ever faught in combined - 4 years later we reelected him. That’s how bad the propaganda is here. Combined with poor education, we can no longer agree on how basic cause and effect works.

    TL:DR - We’re now too stupid and hopped up on propaganda to understand how preventing diseases works.

  • callouscomic@lemm.ee
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    9 days ago

    Americans are not a monolith. Tons of Americans are concerned. Tons are not. Also many Americans have lives where these issues the news typically stirs up don’t really actually impact their daily lives. Others are dramatically affected. It really depends on location and status, among so many factors.

    Various news and online channels might have you thinking all Americans are basically the same and experiencing things the same, but they are definitely not.

    • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.ca
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      8 days ago

      And yet every state has the same leading causes of death. Nearly any two states are more alike than either of those states and another country.

  • ssillyssadass@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    Because, quite frankly, Americans are idiots. They would rather scarf down misinformation given by their news anchors than open a book and/or think for themselves.

  • roofuskit@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    If you think there are no anti-vaxxers in your country, you’ve got another thing coming.

    Many of the anti-vax groups at the center of outbreaks are members of religious minorities. Menanites, Amish, and Hasidic Jews. The reason it’s become more of a problem is that some upper middle class families have joined in and created more unvaccinated pockets in communities in the last decade.

    For decades the conservative movement in the US has fostered a distrust in government and it has permeated just about everything.

    Edit: I would also like to point out that these communities exist in the US because their ancestors likely fled religious oppression in YOUR country. Assuming you live anywhere in Europe there’s a high chance that is true.

  • dmalteseknight@programming.dev
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    9 days ago

    I mean anti-vaxxers believe vaccines to be essentially poisen, hence why they are opposed to them. They believe there are other remedies to cure diseases.

    So to answer your question, yes they are worried but woefully misinformed.

    • otp@sh.itjust.works
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      9 days ago

      In a way, they’re right that there’s an alternative. But the alternative is death, and most sane people wouldn’t prefer that.

  • Hemingways_Shotgun@lemmy.ca
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    8 days ago

    50 years of cuts to the education system and the demonization of the Liberal Arts (history, sociology, etc…)

    A country that would rather keep a football program than an arts program is always going to suffer.

  • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    For a disease to be prevented from spreading, you need a certain percentage of people to be immune. It’s different from disease to disease and also depends on the vaccine itself. Some diseases like Covid can still be spread to people who are vaccinated (though obviously the worst of the symptoms are mitigated).

    For the sake of example, let’s say you need 90% immunity for a disease to not spread. Maybe 5% of the population cannot be vaccinated due to immune conditions, being too young, etc. That gives 5% of wiggle room.

    Then there are acolytes of the fraudster, Andrew Wakefield, who faked data to get a flashy headline to get published in a prestigious journal. That includes RFK jr., Jenny Mccarthy, mayim bialik, etc. Clinging to their views for so long makes them unable to change them even if you show them proof that they are wrong. That might be another 1% of people.

    There are a very small percentage of people who shun vaccines for lets say “true” religious reasons. Most of the people who try to claim religious reasoning for refusing vaccines are members of religions that are completely fine with vaccines. They are usually just really stupid people who are scared of needles and/or don’t think it’s that big of a deal with modern medicine. That’s probably another 1% of people.

    Then there are people that are homeless or otherwise outside of the system. Vaccines are one of the most cost effective methods to improve health of a country, so despite the nightmare that is our healthcare system, you typically should never have to pay for a vaccine. It may be a bit more work than someone who is homeless and/or has substance abuse or mental health problems can prioritize. That might be another 1%.

    All together, that would put us at 92%, above the threshold for a widespread epidemic, but all of those categories of people who don’t get vaccinated tend to be in communities, and so we can have outbreaks in those communities.

  • faythofdragons@slrpnk.net
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    9 days ago

    Because “totally preventable” is financially unaffordable for most of us. My insurance won’t help pay for vaccines unless I get them done during a PCP appointment, but those are scheduled months in advance. I normally go to my local pharmacy and pay $20 for a flu shot, but covid vaccines are like $100-300 without insurance.

    I’ve had gastro problems for a few years now, but because insurance and bureaucracy, I JUST got a scope done yesterday and they found a bunch of ulcers in my intestines that I’ve just been living with, untreated, because there’s no option to speed things up without money. It COULD have been caught years ago, but getting prompt medical care is too bougie for me.

    • Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.worldOP
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      9 days ago

      I know your pain. Well, no, but I know a similar pain. Years of getting root canals at the dental school. Years and years of untreated adhd lending to my poor impulse control which would get me in even more trouble. It wasn’t until I became profitable to society that society would invest back into me. Great society you have there. Really.

    • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.ca
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      9 days ago

      The leading cause of death is not viral infection, it’s heart disease. And heart disease is 100% preventable through diet that is cheaper than the SAD. There are more examples. Just go down the leading causes of death of Americans, they are largely preventable.

      • faythofdragons@slrpnk.net
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        9 days ago

        And heart disease is 100% preventable through diet that is cheaper than the SAD.

        I need a source on congenital heart disease not existing.

        • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.ca
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          8 days ago

          Lol got me. I am of course referring to atherosclerosis, which is on its own the leading cause of death of Americans. Now what?

            • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.ca
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              8 days ago

              Note that says reverse, not prevent. This means that if you are on the verge of a heart attack, you may wish to consider additional interventions. CVD takes years of bad behaviour.

              Atherosclerosis is acquired from diet. There is no other way to get it. The components of diet that lead to atherosclerosis are entirely avoidable. They are not just non-essential, they are harmful.

              I have a resource I can check for a source, but I don’t think you’re fully acting in good faith. You keep trying to deny the premise rather than actually engaging with it. Like I’m trying to pull one over on you or something. Or, like 99% of other Americans, you are desperately trying to avoid processing the truth of the matter.

              I get that you are skeptical. I also see that you are not informed. So maybe just take a minute and consider, what if it’s true? What would that discussion look like?

              (Here is a collection of links to research showing that CVD is both preventable and largely reversible: https://pmri.org/research/heart-disease)

              • faythofdragons@slrpnk.net
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                8 days ago

                I just have trust problems whenever somebody says a medical condition is 100% one thing and nothing else could ever cause or cure it. I’ve had too many doctors tell me that my GI problems are just anxiety and couldn’t possibly be a real thing. I’ve had doctors tell me that my GI problems are actually an eating disorder and I need more antidepressants. I’ve had doctors tell me that I should be happy about my GI problems because a lot of people struggle with losing weight.

                So yeah, diet is a tricky subject for me right now, because all I want to do is eat a normal meal, and the main response I’ve gotten has been “have you tried eating normal meals?”

  • mrcleanup@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    5th stage of grief… Acceptance.

    We know we’re fucked and the government believes it’s role is to wield power, not help people.