Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Shields


J&M on the ball as usual. This cartoon puts me in mind of the recent outcry regarding the serious outbreaks of Measles that have been occurring in various cities around the world recently. Only this week the state of New York has declared a state of emergency as numbers of cases of this potentially life-threatening disease have increased alarmingly, particularly in young children. Un-vaccinated children are now barred from public places (although how you know seems challenging!) When you scratch deeper into this story you quickly find that the majority of cases have been coming from a community of ultra-orthodox Jews who for whatever reason haven't been vaccinating their children and who now put them at risk of death or life-changing side effects from this rampant virus. I suppose it's easy to apply confirmation bias to questions like this when you've been told your whole life that believing things against all evidence is actually a "virtue" and not just gullible and irresponsible as it so blatantly is to the rest of us; an unintended consequence of this kind of life-style and, as if often the case, one that mostly harms the uneducated and the innocent.

No comments: