• EightBitBlood@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    16 minutes 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.

  • faythofdragons@slrpnk.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    4 hours 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.

  • ickplant@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    5 hours 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
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        5 hours 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.

  • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    4 hours 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.

      • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        3 hours ago

        They don’t even love life. They want to die.

        The USAmerican death drive is real. Not unique, but more prevalent than in any other country. It’s all just a suicide-murder pact.

  • callouscomic@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    36
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    10 hours 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.

  • dmalteseknight@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    7 hours 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.

    • cheese_greater@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      3 hours ago

      They are fully willing to take completely unproven “Orange man good” recommended alternatives like bleach and horse dewormer. A good deal of them are chronic smokers as well. They don’t give a shit about nor any recognition of poisons, there’s something far stupider going on

    • otp@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      7 hours 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.

  • roofuskit@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    3 hours 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.

  • shaggyb@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    20
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    9 hours ago

    Christ man, we’re screaming about it and have been for decades. Nobody will listen.

      • guy@piefed.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        11 hours ago

        Yes but that was so he could absolve us of our diseases! Maybe. I’m not so knowledgeable of Christianity, I’m Republican.

    • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      6 hours ago

      As an example of the deeply ingrained disinformation and brainwashing, see a comment I made earlier today regarding Liberals continuously blaming progressives for Trumps win — without evidence — instead of the statistically verifiable, and multi-decade ratfuckery by the fascists… not to mention the ~100 million American adults who refuse to vote in every election (aka. the 100 million adults Liberals continuously fail to motivate), or the ~80 million voters who support fascist authoritarianism, or the corporations who have corrupted the political class and propagandized the entire population for 5 decades, or the political class who continuously serve the oligarchy.

      War is peace! Freedom is slavery! The political class, bought and paid for by fascists, will save us from fascism!

      • lemminator@lemmy.today
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 hours ago

        Honestly, I just block the people who keep repeating that kinds of BS. They aren’t worth my mental energy.

        Does that mean I miss out on a bunch of discussions on .world? yes, but not wasting my mental energy on bad-faith arguments is worth it.

  • AFK BRB Chocolate@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    21
    ·
    13 hours ago

    Science showed things like climate change, which was hurting the bottom line of giant corporations who donate huge amounts of money to Republicans, so Republicans convinced their base that science is against God, and that it’s all part of the evil woke liberals thing. So now anything that comes from science, including vaccines, is tainted.

  • fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    11
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    11 hours ago

    Probably the same reason Europeans drink and smoke too tbh

    The risk seems worth it. Either because the see it as lower than it is or that the loss of life less valuable than others see it.

  • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    47
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    16 hours ago

    Because

    1. taxing the rich is a partisan stance

    2. people are unaware that the government would spend less on singlepayer than it spends currently dealing with middlemen

    3. a non-negligible number of people don’t believe in micro-organisms, nutrition, or cancer as it is understood by doctors

    TLDR: decentralized education with zero funding makes a whole country of dumb assholes.

    • remer@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      10 hours ago

      Congressional democrats have no interest in actual taxing the ultra wealthy either. It’s bipartisan to not “bite the hand that feeds.”

      • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        10 hours ago

        Well the last tax bill was written and passed by the GOP in 2017, it got 0 DNC votes in the house the first time and it passed but with 3 congressional violations which would otherwise protect budget bills from filibuster at the time and so it was filibustered, then it passed the house again with changes and then the Senate 51 to 48 with 0 DNC votes and this time was immune to filibuster.

        Now they get to write the new bill again this time because it is about to expire.

        We DO have an idea of the DNC tax plan from the Kamala Harris Campaign promising to tax unrealized gains over 1M and to remove the upper limit that rich people pay to Socia Security Taxes, while also keeping or lowering taxes on anybody who made less than 400k.

        We also know that the previous Biden Administration supported the IRS and gave them every resource and incentive to Audit the Rich, which they absolutely did.

        So I guess if you ignore literally everything that happens then you can make that claim. Take your pick: ignorant or liar, which do you claim to be?

        • remer@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          10 hours ago

          It’s all posturing. When they actually have the power to fully pass tax bills they don’t. It’s only when they know it won’t become law that they pander to their voters. It’s all a show.

          • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            3
            ·
            edit-2
            5 hours ago

            They have not had that power. We refuse to give them that power.

            With that power we have every reason to believe they would tax the rich. Any incentive to stand against this policy would be on the campaign trail: and they don’t use the card even then.