Vaccines are a plot by big pharma!

[TaraJo]

It depends on whether, in the final reckoning, enlightenment can overcome ignorance.

My money is on stupid.

Stupid may be strong; fear can be stronger. When more and more people start to suffer and die from these diseases, more and more people will abandon the stupid ideas and just do what they have to do to survive which, in this case, would wind up being vaccines. I'm just hoping people learn enough about herd immunity and the impact non-vaccinated individuals can have on a groups immunity.

Anyway, I'm also reminded of another one of this guys claims about vaccines: The illnesses we've eliminated (pretty much just smallpox) or nearly eliminated via vaccines were on the decline anyway, and their elimination had nothing to do with vaccines.

If you're going to believe that, you're going to have to believe a lot of coincidences. All these diseases just happened to decline just after their respective vaccines were used.... gosh, if you'd just take off the tin foil hat for a minute, you might see the connection there.

[Jacob(smooth)]

I very much hope you're right!

But I suspect that stupid is even stronger than fear!

In fact, many people become even more stupid when they are afraid.

I'm not sure anything trumps stupid.

[Optimistic Mysanthrope]

Greed. I reckon that trumps stupid. If you started paying people to get themselves and their kids vaccinated, I very much doubt they'd be many unvaccinated people left.

[Jacob(smooth)]

Ooo, well played!

Greed might, just might do the job. Close run thing though.

[Whateverist]

You should have included a poll on who here thinks there is good reason to avoid vaccines. Atheists are not immune to stupid.

[Jacob(smooth)]

There are a few good reasons. Allergies to components of the vaccines mostly.

I'd say the question would have to be "have you ever avoided or declined a vaccine against medical advice."

[Optimistic Mysanthrope]

Would that include pervy doctors that want to give you a beef injection?

[TaraJo]

Greed. I reckon that trumps stupid. If you started paying people to get themselves and their kids vaccinated, I very much doubt they'd be many unvaccinated people left.

You're probably right, but I have my own worries about implimentation of this idea. I can't help but think that the organizations in charge of such a program would horribly corrupt it to the point that we might have a legitimate reason to say "Y'know, polio doesn't look that bad."

You should have included a poll on who here thinks there is good reason to avoid vaccines. Atheists are not immune to stupid.

Very true. In fact, the person who started off telling me all this vaccine paranoia garbage, I think he was an atheist. Just because you don't believe in God doesn't mean you can't believe in a whole other host of batshit conspiracy theories. He sounded like a liberal Alex Jones.

[NoraBrimstone]

Gahhhh. I couldn't even read all that. It just infuriates me. lol

People like that just make me rage. Just yesterday, in fact, this guy at work was saying medication doesn't do anything because your body knows how to fight anything. I think the rant I had at him about it scared the living shit out of him.

[Anomalocaris]

Greed. I reckon that trumps stupid. If you started paying people to get themselves and their kids vaccinated, I very much doubt they'd be many unvaccinated people left.

If you attempt to put money to such a good use, rest assured someone else's greed will intervene to divert it from under your nose to a bad use.

If you put money on the table to entice people to get vaccinated, in the end there will still be many unvaccinated people, plus a few "vaccination skeptics" vacationing on their private yachts.