New York Times Reviews The Greater Good Movie Tells Vaccine-Injured Children to Drop Dead
By Anne Dachel
The New York Times has sunk to a new low in their consistent attacks on anyone who dares to talk about what vaccines are doing to our children. The Times has just released a review of the new movie, The Greater Good and reporter Jeannette Catsoulis didn’t like what she saw. Her review was short and damning.
The Fight Over Vaccines and Autism Continued
Personally, having seen “The Greater Good,” I find it hard to dismiss anything it brings up regarding vaccine damage. The review featured a photo of Gabi Swank but not a word is said about her in the story. Nothing about her being a varsity and competitive All-Star cheerleader, gymnast, Honor Roll student involved in leadership at her high school—until she was vaccinated. The National Vaccine Information Center told us what happened to Gabi as a result of the Gardasil vaccine. It’s clear her health was destroyed, something her doctor also talked about on the film.
The stories of damage and even death from vaccinations shown on this film don’t seem to bother Catsoulis. Instead she concentrated on her definition of the term “greater good.”
Catsoulis wrote, “As this emotionally manipulative, heavily partial look at the purported link between autism and childhood immunization would much rather wallow in the distress of specific families than engage with the needs of the population at large.”
“[A] cost-benefit analysis is completely ignored. Also elided are the mostly forgotten horrors of measles, mumps, chickenpox and polio: instead of lingering at a graveside with grieving parents who believe vaccines killed their baby girl, perhaps the filmmakers could have unearthed some footage of children encased in iron lungs.”
Regarding autism, Catsoulis wrote, “But while the film acknowledges that science has so far been consistent in its refutation of a vaccine-autism link, it fails to point out that even were such a link proved definitively, all that matters is that its victims number significantly fewer than those of the diseases vaccinations are designed to prevent.”
Phrases like, “needs of the population at large,” “cost-benefits analysis,” and “all that matters is that its victims number significantly fewer than those of the diseases vaccinations are designed to prevent” are really frightening to me. It makes me think of things like “peripheral damage” and “acceptable loss.” Catsoulis isn’t troubled by the fact that there’s no way to tell WHOSE CHILD IS VULNERABLE. It’s just the chance we all have to take---for the good of the herd I guess.
It makes me afraid that in the end, when “a link [is] proved definitively,” to use the author’s words, we’ll be told that what happened to our kids is justified by the claim that vaccines prevented lots of other kids from getting sick.
--
Anne Dachel is Media Editor of Age of Autism
Yes, the article was cut. I read it and sent a letter to the editor expressing my outrage at Catsoulis' review and the lack of compassion for our kids. Maybe other did the same and they pulled it?
Posted by: Julie Leonardo | November 23, 2011 at 08:07 AM
@Jen: "I think the public is really sick of deception and corruption- Wall Street, partisan politics, judges who abuse their children, institutions who cover up horrific child abuse, loopholes where criminals get off on technicalities, Kardashians etc etc."
On a local radio show last week I heard the morning cut-ups doing their usual spoofs and take-offs on the news headlines. One story referred to a new strain of single-cell organism "...discovered deep in a crevice at the bottom of the ocean. Scientists were stumped as to what useful purpose it served, and at a loss to come up with any plausible theories to explain its existence. So they named it the Kardashian strain..." Gawd, that was funny. And then suddenly it was sad. Not because the little voice in my head told me they might have stolen it from Letterman or the like - but because it made me think of our incredibly voracious appetite for Krap.
The "real" news isn't much better - "Another soldier dies in Afghanistan - Britney Spears shaves her head - Justin Beiber scratches his Ferrari - Lindsay Lohan is back in - uhmmm - no, back out of jail - Judy has the scoop on all this, plus a sneak peek at the new Paris Hilton show, and we'll chat with the latest survivor to get voted off the island - all coming up right after the break..." (cue the Abilify ad). Makes me think about the old Sesame Street song "One of these things is not like the other...". How f$cking sad are we (collectively)? Feed us enough Krap and we don't really seem to care too much about what's really going on around us. We just want more Krap. More Krap. More Krap.....
RIP, soldier.
Posted by: Shiny Happy Person | November 21, 2011 at 05:51 PM
Sarah and Angie, you've hit on something important. A visual campaign to counteract the 'smart- geek' view of autism may be just what is needed lately. That would speak to people.
Posted by: Jen | November 21, 2011 at 10:20 AM
Great idea Angie! Since our kids are natural artists working in their own unique medium, we could send them down to the CDC to redecorate the walls.
Posted by: Sarah | November 21, 2011 at 09:03 AM
Oh, I think the article was chopped much further than just the part about the iron ling/polio...does ANYONE have the original article? I mean, looks as though MOST of the awful, ignorant, and "greater good" stuff is cut out now?!?!
And I agree with Sarah, we should put some nice pics up there too! Modernize the place a little bit, huh!?!! Sme pics of the poop smears, the various rainbow of poop styles for some nice color and texture..and of course, copies of the various UNCOVERED medical testing and treatments oir kids need to survive,,,oh, and also, for some drama, the copies of all of our kids IEP's compared against WHAT REALLY HAPPENS during the school year!!! I could go on, but I do believe the budgetary "crisis" our country is going thrum we couldn't justify much more in the redecorating budget...althoughg i am willing to bet we would all chip in for this project, wouldnt we!!!
(excuse poor attempt at humor, it's super late and it's like the 8th night in a row one of my injured sons has been doing the "sleep for 3-4 hours at night and think its OK to get up and STAY up, wide awake" thing.....arggh!!
T Minus 14 days til we leave for our service dog training! It can't come SOON ENOUGH! Heard they do a great job of helping kids either stay in bed snuggling or getting kids back to sleep when they go thru these phases of needing ZERO SLEEP to "function" !!!!!....and so many other life changing awesome things!!!
Angie
Proud Mom to Ethan, Alex, and Megan
See why I will NEVER stop Paying it Forward:
www.LoveDrop.us/Ethan-Alex
Posted by: Angie | November 21, 2011 at 02:13 AM
Angie,
I bet she never even watched the movie when she initially wrote this review. Someone tipped her off. That iron lung comment is a dead giveaway and she has the gall to talk about the movies "emotional manipulation" no, that's Pharma's M.O. Whenever an outbreak happens and vaccination come up, they cue up the iron lung pics. From what I understand, the CDC has blown up pictures of iron lung patients hung on the walls in their office in Atlanta maybe we should go down and redecorate with pictures of our vaccine damaged kids.
Posted by: Sarah | November 20, 2011 at 07:11 PM
Do your words taste good, New York Times? The newspaper just made a correction in the Catsouli film review. It originally read:
..perhaps the filmmakers could have unearthed some footage of children encased in iron lungs.
Such images would have been consistent with their strategy, though not their emotional agenda, which relies heavily on fudging, anecdotal evidence and blatant grandstanding. Carefully excluding critical information that might challenge its sympathies, “The Greater Good” does a disservice both to the suffering of the few and to the public health needs of the many.
Now it reads:
A film review on Friday about “The Greater Good,” a documentary that looks at what some people say is a link between autism and childhood immunization, referred incorrectly to its depiction of the effects of diseases, including polio, that can be prevented by vaccines. The film does in fact show children in iron lungs.
Poor Jeannette wasted all that time spinning a conspiratorial scenario about why the filmakers didn't include footage of iron lungs - when they did. She just "missed" it. I think she also must have missed this:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-376203/Former-science-chief-MMR-fears-coming-true.html
And this:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4088138n
Posted by: First Do No Harm | November 20, 2011 at 12:48 PM
Ok, I DO believe this article has been severely chopped on the link you provided!!!
There IS a "correction" posted at the bottom, but it's missing over HALF of the quotes/paragraphs you quoted here?! I think they figured out what she wrote was so terrible that they pulled most of it!?!
Anyone have a saved copy of what it said before? Am I missing a second page or something, becau all I am seeing is a few short paragraphs, with HALF of what was quoted here....doesn't put it past me, I mean, this is a SAD piece of "journalism" especially of she was trying to make the sick point of the greater good, which is the EXACT reason why the film was made to begin with, to show that's the WRONG WAY to do this,,,DUHHHHH!
And seriously, I have so many other comments, I want to save them til I read what the original sorry was.....and this story that's posted now, really DOES look "cut" to me, because in the few short paragraphs that are there, it reads like an elementary student wrote it and not a "professional"...i mean, starting a paragraph with its opening sentence is the one that sets the subject up for that paragraph, if I remember the basics right?? And there are a few out of the article I see, that start off with a sentence and have a few following it that have nothing to so with the first sentence (ie: the paragraph starts off with Gabi's info, then the next 2/3 sentences speak about autism..and Gabi's info relates nothing TO autism?....looks chopped up to me!)...
Ok, I would LOVE TO SEE the original story, hopefully someone has it??
..OT does say a "version" of this was published IN the actual print copy...could this be the difference or am I correct in that the article that's posted now is different than originally posted?
Angie
Proud Mom to Ethan, Alex, and Megan
Posted by: Angie | November 20, 2011 at 02:30 AM
@Barry:
You are correct, however, the US is unique among developed countries, as it forces killer vaccines on its own children (no vaccines, no public school, even though you are paying taxes for public schooling). In western EU countries very few people vaccinate their children, and their populations are much healthier. It is unthinkable to force any medical treatment on anyone there. The same is with Chinese, who are winning big with the US, because they have healthy, smart people, who receive a few vaccines, if any. In the US the government, congress and public officials (CDC, FDA) collaborate with pharma mafia in killing its own population, because in the US corruption is systemic, written into law (lobbying is a sanctioned bribery).
Posted by: veritas | November 20, 2011 at 12:37 AM
@Rachel:
You are right! Poisonous vaccines destroy mostly the potential geniuses and turn average children into retards. Recent publication in the PNAS showed that at present time most important discoveries in science are made by older scientists, as the young generation of scientists has lost creativity and genius. In past generations, the young ones were generally most creative and scientifically fertile. Other studies show dramatic decline of IQ of American children. This is a disaster for America, and has been planned by the master race and insane people like Bill Gates and other depopulators. However, the major blame should be put on our corrupted politicians and CDC, FDA bureaucrats, who are working for big pharma mafia in vaccine concentration camps to destroy the US.
Posted by: veritas | November 19, 2011 at 10:16 PM
@ Donna L -
"I think we SHOULD do a cost/benefit analysis".
Good idea! An unbiased, properly conducted study would undoubtedly show that Pharma has caused vastly more death and disability than it ever prevented. The cost in lives and productivity lost is off-the-map outrageous.
The myths of "vaccine-preventable" disease and "herd-immunity" are much harder to overcome than an outright lies. To perpetuate these myths, Pharma employs the finest PR shills that money can buy. Sadly, many of them call themselves physicians.
Posted by: patrons99 | November 19, 2011 at 08:13 PM
Catsoulis refers to the "mostly forgotten horrors of ... chickenpox" WTF?
Is it possible that the NYT readership can be fooled by this gross exaggeration? Chickenpox, for the vast majority of American children, is a week off from school. To pretend that it was some kind of scourge that cried out for eradication is disingenuous. Surely the NYT reviewer herself experienced the dreaded varicella, and lived to tell the tale.
Posted by: Theresa O | November 19, 2011 at 07:59 PM
In North America , and in most other industrialized nations, vaccines are a profitable form of genocide. Pharmaceutical companies know that vaccines will kill you slowly by debilitating your immune system, and they also know that there's an enormous amount of money to be made from treating the symptoms of all those vaccine induced autoimmune disorders.
In other parts of the world however, where populations simply cant afford all those expensive pharmaceutical treatments.... vaccines are for genocide only
Posted by: Barry | November 19, 2011 at 06:43 PM
I agree Rachel.. I can't help but feel sad about the lost potential. Think of the brilliant people in history who may never have been born but for a genetic difference.
Here are some:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajmg.a.10158/abstract
Posted by: Sarah | November 19, 2011 at 04:20 PM
Rachael, I agree with you about the best and brightest minds. Honestly from the people I've seen around here and in my work with kids, I'm afraid you're right. Great minds are being destroyed.
Posted by: Jen | November 19, 2011 at 12:15 PM
Media Scholar, I enjoyed the song looking out onto the snowy morning. It would be good to have the likes of Bernadine Healy back. I think the public is really sick of deception and corruption- Wall Street, partisan politics, judges who abuse their children, institutions who cover up horrific child abuse, loopholes where criminals get off on technicalities, Kardashians etc etc. Old fashioned values like justice and truth seem to be what people are finally after.
Posted by: Jen | November 19, 2011 at 12:05 PM
She just managed to restate what the film hopes to refute: that damage is justified for the greater good.
The "greater good" argument holds no water on many fronts, but here's one. If other countries vaccinate less than we do (and they do) where are all the epidemics they are so afraid of? The greater good argument works only when the alternative is disastrous. No proof that a world without vaccines would be disastrous.
Posted by: Cynthia Cournoyer | November 19, 2011 at 11:02 AM
Sarah said: "Pharmaceuitcal companies have strong historical ties to the Nazis. In fact they are fullfilling the Nazi dream of a master race only in a much more sophisticated way."
******************
The problem with this master race theory is that they are actually destroying some of our best and brightest minds; the canaries in the coalmine. Many who were born with more reactive immune systems, than the average person are sensitive, acute introverted minds; great minds. Think of the many children who have developed autism, who have also demonstrated signs of giftedness (artists, musicians, scientists, writers, mathematicians). What has been stolen from this world because of their blindness?
Posted by: Rachael | November 19, 2011 at 10:28 AM
I grew up in a time of many fewer vaccines and the population at large was just fine. It's the population at large now that worries me, riddled with allergies and learning disabilities as they are.
Posted by: Carol | November 19, 2011 at 09:38 AM
You're right Veritas and I'm glad you see the connection too. Pharmaceuitcal companies have strong historical ties to the Nazis. In fact they are fullfilling the Nazi dream of a master race only in a much more sophisticated way. Now that the Autism Genome Registry is established, I predict we will see an increase in genetic screening using the DNA info collected from our kids. We also see a demand for pre-genetic diagnosis (PGD) of embryos for those parents who want the genetically perfect child. A GATTACA future for sure.
Posted by: Sarah | November 19, 2011 at 08:00 AM
I think Ms Catsoulis is a prime candidate for Offit's 10,000 a day vaccine program.
Posted by: owntruth | November 19, 2011 at 02:14 AM
German people do NOT vaccinate their children, because they know that vaccines are designed to kill and cripple; they know Nazi work on vaccines. All vaccinations are voluntary in Western Europe. Only Americans are forcefully being killed and crippled by vaccines. All major US pharma companies were created with Nazi money by Nazis to destroy Americans and the US. Recent reports show that fertility of young women in US has dramatically declined (most likely due to vaccinations with HPV vaccines). We see massive depopulation and crippling of Americans in making.
http://www.whale.to/b/nazi_allopathy.html
Posted by: veritas | November 19, 2011 at 01:58 AM
As you can see with Penn State football and their incredibly lame total lack of action response to the Jerry Sandusky allegations, they did nothing to stop what was going on thinking it was for the "greater good" just like the vaccine-injury anti-litigation racket has been doing to decades.
Times like these I wish we still had Dr. Bernadine Healy with us? Essentially, while fighting her own critical battle for life, the former head of the National Institutes of Health called for a new sheriff in town.
Folks when you see the likes of these kooks out there after our children, it's time to put a bounty on the heads of these vaccine kooks abusing our children.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZfItlZG97Q
Posted by: Media Scholar | November 19, 2011 at 12:58 AM
I do believe that picture is rita skeeter -- how very fitting!!
Posted by: Twyla | November 18, 2011 at 11:15 PM
"...perhaps the filmmakers could have unearthed some footage of children encased in iron lungs."
But, there IS footage of children in iron lungs, less than five minutes into the film.
This raises the question: Did Ms. Catsoulis actually see the film?
@Fred King
She didn't have to see the film. She writes for the New York Times. Seth Mnookin filled her in.
Posted by: 5 rotten tomatoes for Jeanette Catsoulis | November 18, 2011 at 09:23 PM
What a lame review by NYT. This movie is historic and represents both sides extremely well... really has little to do about Autism and much to do about vaccine injury, disease management, personal rights and informed consent. It reflects our times realistically and impartially - describing what is so and the conversations of our day regarding the health and well being of our children. Thank God this movie was produced.
Posted by: MotherOfPossibility | November 18, 2011 at 08:47 PM
@ shiny happy person
I posted this awhile back. It resonates w/ your comment.
Let me be clear. I believe autism is a disease of toxicity not just some sad anomaly of nature and we should do all we can to help reverse this. But I thought this was important to share.
I read this while researching the extraordinary health of the Native Americans as seen and documented by George Catlin an american explorer of the mid 19th century of the country beyond the Mississippi especially concerning the Native Americans. They had almost non existent infant mortality (usually by trauma) and their women gave birth easily and usually unattended. Rarely did they have a child with a mental or physical deformity but when they did Catlin wrote.......
Some writers upon whom the world have relied for a correct account of the customs of the American Indians, have assigned as the cause of the almost entire absence of mental and physical deformities amongst these people, that they are in the habit of putting to death all who are thus afflicted; but such is not only an unfounded and unjust, but disgraceful assumption on the part of those by whom the opinions of the world have been led; for, on the contrary, in every one of the very few cases of the kind, which I have met or could hear of, amongst two million of these people, these unfortunate creatures were not only supplied and protected with extraordinary care and sympathy, but were in all cases guarded with a superstitious care, as the probable receptacles of some important mystery, designed by the Great Spirit, for the undoubted benefit of the families or tribes to which they belonged.
George Catlin 1870
And WE called THEM primitive savages.......
Posted by: Adam M | November 18, 2011 at 08:21 PM
On Oct 14, 2011, the LA Times reviewed The Greater Good and it was a much different story.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/14/entertainment/la-et-capsules-greater-good20111014
It was short and it didn't have such profound bias.
Movie review: 'Greater Good'
"How and why potentially — and historically — life-saving vaccinations, especially those mandated for children, have become a 21st century medical and political tinderbox is deftly examined by producers and co-directors Kendall Nelson and Chris Pilaro in their provocative documentary 'The Greater Good.'
"The filmmakers put human faces on this polarizing issue by focusing largely on three American children devastated, it is believed, by post-vaccine side effects. They include Gabi Swank, an inspiring teen who suffered neurological damage after taking the much-hyped HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer (this same vaccine put advocate Gov. Rick Perry in the cross hairs during a recent GOP presidential debate); 12-year-old Jordan King who, as a toddler, regressed into autism after routine inoculations; and infant Victoria Christner, who died at 5 months, her parents maintain, of vaccine injuries."
The NY Times is telling us that Gabi Swank, Jordan King, and Victoria Christner don't really matter if your child didn't get measles. They're the inconvenient truth, so let's not talk about them. The NY Times doesn't really know what to say about the "human faces [in] this polarizing issue." They just want them to shut up and go away.
Anne Dachel, Media
Posted by: Anne McElroy Dachel | November 18, 2011 at 08:07 PM
@ Garbo
"Too bad, so sad, check out Merck's full page ad." love that LOL!
Posted by: Adam M | November 18, 2011 at 08:01 PM
RE: It makes me afraid that in the end, when “a link [is] proved definitively,” to use the author’s words, we’ll be told that what happened to our kids is justified by the claim that vaccines prevented lots of other kids from getting sick.
Anne , I do believe you just identified their final talking point/propaganda piece. Wicked, wicked, shameless people.
Posted by: Adam M | November 18, 2011 at 07:57 PM
I would never in real life wish this on any child or parent, but it would be interesting to see how much Catsoulis would support the herd, were she to be "blessed" with a vaccine-injured child.
Posted by: Cindy | November 18, 2011 at 07:19 PM
are they figuring the cost of caring for these kids?
Posted by: Autism Doctor | November 18, 2011 at 06:25 PM
Of course, the projected cost of autism in the UK economy went up by approximately 20 times between 2001 and 2008, from >£1b to £28b without the faintest curiosity about what caused the estimates to rise so much. Also they seemed to be working on an average figure of about £50k per head per year (about $80k). But the great thing about vaccines is that the officials can alway walk away saying it wasn't them (with only the smallest chance that more than few citizens will be able to take them on legally), so the bill always ends up elsewhere.
Posted by: John Stone | November 18, 2011 at 06:23 PM
I think we SHOULD do a cost/benefit analysis - has anyone ever attempted to compare total cost to society for educating and providing for a vaccine-induced brain injury victim versus the total cost to society for taking care of a measles or polio (or HA! chickenpox) victim?
Articles like Catsoulis's...as well as all the current news stories describing treatment of our children in schools seem to be pointing to the fact that after all these years of dancing around the issue, people are just flat-out stating now that they just plain don't give a sh*t about our kids. Maybe if we reduced the whole issue into dollar amounts and economic impact, someone might just believe we can't afford to continue with this disastrous vaccine experiment.
Posted by: Donna L. | November 18, 2011 at 06:00 PM
I wonder if her cost/benefit analysis would include how all this autism stuff is going to bankrupt school districts and states and disability insurance if it keeps up at this rate.
Posted by: Garbo | November 18, 2011 at 05:13 PM
HOLD THE PRESSES! A wind is blowing, the NYT slips and reveals its newly hedged bet. After years putting its eggs in the "shut up vaccines are safe" basket, they are MOVING THE GOALPOSTS to admit that even if/when vaccines are inevitably shown to be linked to autism and other injuries, they will still not stand up for the injured. They will still never investigate how safety data were fudged for so long under their noses, nor consider whether public officials broke laws to do so, nor agitate on the public's behalf for safer vaccines. Instead we get "Too bad, so sad, check out Merck's full page ad." All the news fit to print, my a$$.
Posted by: Garbo | November 18, 2011 at 05:10 PM
WOW ... did Ms. Catsoulis just write a press release for the vaccine industry, or review a movie?...I can't tell !
Hey Jeannette, don't forget to go get your free flu shot, and oh, BTW... you can have mine , too !!!!
Posted by: DownWitTheSickness | November 18, 2011 at 04:26 PM
I thought I would share this status update on my facebook page today, which illustrates all of this...occured to me how all these autistic kids are basically beaching themselves on the shores of humanity, how, can anyone, say, that we have healthy children in our society today when you see so many beached whales on our shores? And when the tidal waves and earthquakes happen, it will be at your front door step, in your very lives, and in the lives of your loved ones!
Posted by: kathy blanco | November 18, 2011 at 02:56 PM
Catsoulis wrote:
"“[A] cost-benefit analysis is completely ignored."
I wholeheartedly agree with Ms. Catsoulis that a truly independent "cost-benefit analysis" has been completely ignored.
Indeed .. the only way to determine the true "cost-benefits" of vaccines is to conduct a scientific, independent study of "vaccinated v. unvaccinated" populations to ascertain .. once and for all .. if the "benefits" of vaccines outweigh the "risks".
Ms. Catsoulis should have asked Dr. Offit why such a common sense "cost-benefit analysis" hasn't been done to prove vaccines are as safe and harmless as he and public health officials insist they are.
Indeed, if Ms. Catsoulis were truly interested in learning accurate "cost-benefits" of our vaccines and the policies by which they are administered .. she would be demanding .. as parents have been demanding for years .. urgent change to the passive, voluntary compliance Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) .. now receiving less than 10% of adverse event reports following vaccinations.
How can anyone pretend to know the "cost-benefits" of vaccines .. including Ms. Catsoulis .. if no one knows .. or .. in Dr. Offit's case .. doesn't care to know .. why so many adverse events following vaccinations are NOT being reported?
Posted by: Bob Moffitt | November 18, 2011 at 02:41 PM
naturally this review is not open to comments...cowards. She shows blatant disregard for the kids in the film who are injured yet expresses concern over polio outbreak what if's ...stupid woman
Posted by: Sarah | November 18, 2011 at 02:32 PM
But she loved the movie Contagion...
"Contagion unfolds as an engrossing, believable search for patient zero and an effective vaccine."
...calling the movie "grounded in science," "plausible" and "meticulous."
How does Catsoulis know what is and isn't grounded in science? Did they teach her that at film critic school?
Posted by: 5 rotten tomatoes for Jeanette Catsoulis | November 18, 2011 at 02:11 PM
Perhaps the most revealing quote from the review is this one:
"Also elided are the mostly forgotten horrors of measles, mumps, chickenpox and polio: instead of lingering at a graveside with grieving parents who believe vaccines killed their baby girl, perhaps the filmmakers could have unearthed some footage of children encased in iron lungs."
But, there IS footage of children in iron lungs, less than five minutes into the film.
This raises the question: Did Ms. Catsoulis actually see the film?
Posted by: Fred King | November 18, 2011 at 02:05 PM
The true measure of a society is how well it safeguards and cares for it's most vulnerable individuals, not how efficiently it uses a few of them as human shields. This reviewer considers some kids to be collateral damage, the fallout from a cost benefit analysis. Kids are numbers. 2 > 1. Some have to pay the price. It's necessary. It's so simple. 2 > 1. 20 > 1. 200 > 1. And so on. Eventually you get to some magic point where 1 doesn't matter. The wonder of statistics.
Science is a process fueled by passion and curiosity. And a "community" is fueled by caring and compassion for each other, all, and not just a gathering of the more fortunate majority. It's not necessary to harm anyone. It's just cheap and easy, especially when kids are numbers, numbers become statistical data points, and "science" becomes the blunt instrument for hammering it all home.
What if this reviewer found her kid dead on the road, run over by a fire truck racing to same my 2, and was handed her own line of reasoning? What do you think she would do? What if it was 3 other kids that were saved? What if this same crew of fire fighters saved hundreds of other kids over the years? What if all the fire fighters in all the trucks in the country saved hundreds of thousands of kids? They probably do. When would it be considered acceptable to kill the occasional 1?
I believe the firefighters (I know a few ) would always stop if a kid was in the way. No other parent would ever blame them. They would get out and lift the truck over a kid before they would harm one.
Anyone who uses words like "cost-benefit analysis" or even the word "science" as an excuse for the destruction of 1 innocent individual, suggesting that we can't do any better than shotgun policy, is a lazy fascist a$$hole, regardless of their pedigree.
Posted by: Shiny Happy Person | November 18, 2011 at 01:16 PM
“Also elided are the mostly forgotten horrors of measles, mumps, chickenpox and polio...”
Horrors of polio? Granted, but the disease has been eradicated in developed countries for forty years with the only recent cases caused by the vaccine itself.
Horrors of measles? Maybe, but my mother somehow managed to treat four children with measles simultaneously in the 1960’s with no medical training whatsoever.
Horrors of mumps and chicken pox? Absolute nonsense as these diseases are harmless in children. Inconvenient yes, but horrors?
This statement makes it clear the author has an agenda as opposed to being naïve. What’s next, the “horrors” of the flu? How about the “horrors” of all that Hep B children used to experience from IV drug use and promiscuous behavior? Of course, it never even existed, but that won't stop them from trying to claim it did.
What about the horrors of scarlet fever or typhoid, are they coming back too? That would be quite a trick as these horrors disappeared with no widespread vaccination whatsoever.
Funny how ten cases of measles sets off a nationwide panic, but no one cares about autism, ADHD, asthma, anaphalaxis, and the overall dramatic increase in autoimmune disorders.
Posted by: Jeff C | November 18, 2011 at 01:03 PM
I just cannot even read it. I am long past tired of seeing children who were once normal. It has to stop. Our society has no way of supporting our babies as they grow up. We will be overwhelmed in 10 years. Schools are already suffering.
People need to stop, look, and act.
Posted by: Missy Olive | November 18, 2011 at 12:33 PM
I never signed up for sacrificing my kid for some stupid science, and subject them to long term chronic seizures, gut problems, and inability to progress neurologically, never. There is no greater good in my house.
Posted by: kathy blanco | November 18, 2011 at 12:31 PM
A thorough refutation of the "greater good" defense used to justify harming the weaker elements in our society can be found in Chapter 9 of "The Vaccine Epidemic."
Posted by: Tom Clark | November 18, 2011 at 11:59 AM
I don't understand the 'need of the population at large' and the 'cost-benefit' justifications of the vaccine program.
Following this logic, why are we spending hundreds of thousands dollars on advanced cancer patients instead of terminating them and investing the money elsewhere, e.g. finding a cure or prevention? That would just be collateral damage for the Greater Good, right?
Why don't we just terminate children and people who fall ill with first with an infectious disease? That would be effective at stopping the spread, I would think. Imagine all the lives that could be saved down the line by just sacrifying a few. For the Greater Good.
And with enough brainwashing, people wouldn't even see anything wrong with the above. Just like they don't see anything wrong with the collateral damage of the vaccine program.
Posted by: Karin | November 18, 2011 at 11:55 AM