Summary
Donald Trump plans to discuss potentially ending childhood vaccination programs with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his nominee for Health and Human Services.
Trump expressed openness to revisiting vaccine policies, citing concerns about autism rates, despite scientific consensus debunking links between vaccines and autism.
Critics warn reducing vaccinations could lead to outbreaks of preventable diseases like measles.
Kennedy, known for questioning vaccine safety, would oversee the CDC if confirmed.
Public health experts remain concerned about the implications.
Suddenly it’s an elective procedure and no longer covered by insurance.
Though I guess it may get more expensive for insurers to cover the unvaccinated so the market might actually win out with that one…
I have to wonder how many unvaxxed kids are out there right now where their parents have lied and said the kids are vaxxed. I wouldn’t put it past some unscrupulous doctors (and savvy parents) to forge vax docs where required.
If true, I would imagine what Trump and team are doing is only going to embolden unvaxxers to be more open and honest, rather than hiding it away.
Regardless, it sucks that kids are being used as pawns in their nutjob parent’s conspiracy theories. They don’t deserve it (the kids).
Other countries: “Oh no our birth rates.”
America:
Maybe that’s the Republican’s plan to combat global warming kill off a large part of the population with preventable illnesses. I really haven’t heard anything else from them
Many nearly extinct diseases are already planning their great comeback tour in the US.
Wonder what will happen when the rest of the world denies entry to Americans for health reasons.
Compulsory quarantine for people coming from the US into EU is gonna happen very fast
The fool gets more ignorant by the day sheesh
So, what do we DO? Quick vacations abroad to get vaccines and prevent our kids from dying? Or just accept life as long as possible before the 2027 polio outbreak causes a lovely descent into chaos?
Much like women seeking health care across state lines, it may be required to travel to another state for vaccinations, and depending on supply and cost, perhaps traveling to another country would be practical.
As for outbreaks, either wear a mask and avoid crowds, or have a passport and find a country not embracing insanity.
… have a passport and find a country not embracing insanity.
I can’t imagine any country is super excited for American refugees
Enjoy your wiggly kids Republicans
I guess Trump wants to eradicate the American population? How does this make them money?
A new period of prohibition begins. How do I buy vaccines illegally?
Well, if America is no longer a superpower, then Putin and all his oligarchs buddies are planning on sweeping up the spoils of its ruin for themselves.
Likely Elon Musk and some other people are covert eugenicists. A lot of eugenicists work with Lysenko-style “genetics”, and think generations surviving deadly diseases will bring forward a smarter and stronger humanity,
That makes sense. Musk is the poster child of pusedo-science.
Holy shit, is this for real?
Why the fuck are people still surprised?
It’s been anticipated throughout the campaign, but kind of got overshadowed by all the other horrible stuff about Trump. RFK Jr. is the biggest anti-vaxxer in the world. Trump ran with him openly to get his cult on his side. This is the obvious result.
It seems like every horrible thing about Trump never gets any attention because of the other horrible things about Trump.
I hope at least a sizeable chunk of Trump voters regret voting for him. It breaks my heart to know that there are legitimately people who have paid attention to all his lies and already broken promises and still want the guy to lead the country. I don’t know how to salvage someone like that.
I researched this exact question. There is a way called deep canvasing https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-to-change-a-voters-mind-is-deep-canvassing/
It’s scientifically proven. Try having a one on one conversation with someone. Listen to what they say and respond with empathy. Then gradually and calmly introduce your message that is related to what they said. For example if the person you are talking to said they are worried about grocery prices and specifically egg prices you could mention that bird flu was the root cause of the price increase and that Trump’s tariffs will raise prices on groceries. Building trust helps your message get across. I’ve had personal conversations with Trump supporters who trust me and you’d be surprised how much success you can have.
Wow! Thanks for the link. You’ve brightened my evening a bit.
This is correct, I use this method a lot in my work with the disabled. Often with clients that struggle with mental health, it’s important to redirect negative thoughts and feelings, but you have to do this without jumping to condescending or infantilising language.
The easiest way is to empathize with <negative thought or feeling> acknowledging it as worthy of the space it’s taking up and offering up something related that I might worry about. Then redirect with a similar subject, but framed in a way that gives more power over it. Maybe a news article that pointed out how <related thing> is being solved by someone, or overcome, or even simply made fun of.
If you can laugh at something for being ridiculous it has less power.
You don’t need to change their belief in <negative thought or feeling> you just need to redirect it and reframe it, they will then have a different mental relationship with it later, and over time change.
it’s important to redirect negative thoughts and feelings, but you have to do this without jumping to condescending or infantilising language.
So much this! I used to be a Trump supporter myself and I’ve made some people angry because of my previous political views. I got yelled at for what I said. Even though in hindsight their reaction was somewhat justified all that did was reinforce my views and dig a deeper hole.
This is true in my experience. People are extremely mimetic and validation driven. If someone respects you, they listen and imitate. It can actually be frustrating to me as an adult, because I don’t find the aphorism “imitation is the finest form of flattery” to be flattering in many cases. It can start to look manipulative or lazy when it’s middle-aged adults floundering for approval.
But your point stands: respect is an effective platform from which to share ideas. So many folks close off their minds, because they are lonely or otherwise insecure. If you can positively move either of those needles, they listen. From there, the only question is whether they truly internalize the idea, or whether they are chasing the feels of socialization.
You have to age them out there’s no other way, their brains are rot.
I’ll sound like Google, but I think you’d like The Brainwashing of my Dad.
I don’t think this is going to work. There are just as many younger trump/cultist/conservative voters now as there have been. Church attendance is not falling off and megachurches are getting more and more popular. People have been saying the same thing about the right-wing die-off as long as I’ve been a voter, and as much as I’d love to see it, I don’t see it happening.
Church attendance is not falling off
It is, but far too slowly.
And it’s falling off faster in the more moderate churches than it is in the noisy evangelical megachurches
You can’t. They are lost causes who simply can’t be trusted to make the right choice for themselves or the rest of the country.
Look at you mister! You are the smartest guy in the room, aren’t you! So smart yes you are! Adorable!
Unfortunately, the majority of them are incapable of that regret (or at least admitting it).
“trump to discuss bringing back ever terrible disease we got rid of or mitigated in the 1900s with RFK Jr.”
We’re gonna party like it’s 1899
Covid was just a warmup
Congrats. You reap what you sow
Anybody with half a brain can see the collapse of the U.S. coming from a mile away based on what’s happening right now. Our institutions are at an all-time low in trust, all bcz of this orange dickhead, and Russian/Chinese disinformation campaigns.
We elected TFG… twice. Humanity is doomed
TFG
That Fucking Goon?
“The Former Guy”, refers to Trump.
What’s this “we?” I take zero responsibility for the election of that idiot. I tried as hard as I could to get everyone I know to not vote for him.
Eh. It’s “we” whether you like it or not, unfortunately.
Do we really differentiate between the good and bad Germans in Nazi Germany? Not really. History paints with broad strokes. In the future we’re all going to look like the bad guys, whether we fought back or not. It’s a shameful time to be an American.
What? There are quite a few Germans who rebelled against against the Nazis and are recognized for it.
And people think that most Germans rebelled? You are missing the point.
Nobody said “most Germans”. They said “all”, which is not only untrue, it’s a malignment of those who did resist and serves to discourage future resistance, which is entirely unhelpful. If that’s truely where the US is headed, the last thing people need to hear is, “Everyone will think you’re a piece of shit no matter what you do.”
Thinking in absolutes is a childish thing to begin with, it has nothing to do with maligning the people who resisted.
Of course there will be varying accounts for those involved, but as a whole, Americans shoulder the responsibility of their country just the same as Germans shouldered theirs. I wouldnt hold it against someone who felt involved or responsible, and deciding at some point to rebel.
But that doesnt mean they still weren’t part of something awful for some period of time. Just like Americans are part of something awful right now, and for quite a long time.
all bcz of this orange dickhead, and Russian/Chinese disinformation campaigns.
I mean yeah. But also because Americans are profoundly stupid. No excuses. As a whole, we’re stupid as fuck.
Politicians do not benefit from an educated populace.
Our schools have been under attack by the usual shitheads ever since we won to get them integrated.
Smart comfortable people don’t obey. Uneducated, poor people with two jobs and three kids don’t have any energy left over to crack a book and be disruptive.
So you’re saying we should blame the rich and oligarchs. Agreed.
You mean that?
Decades of republicans cutting education and lying will do that.
And I swear you guys are going to take us down with you (as a Canadian). The Trump “jokes” about annexing Canada are really starting to get to me.
So much for being good trading partners and friendly neighbours I guess
Edit: this isn’t really directed at you in particular, it’s just that as Canadians we didn’t even get a say in this but somehow you voted overwhelmingly for him again and now he’s threatening to invade us before he even takes office. I’m fucking tired man (and a little drunk)
Tell me about it. I can feel the rumblings of something awful coming for Canada. All because if this bullshit down south. Our rights are being threatened because of reactionary politics. Half the people I work with can’t seperate Canadian politics from American. They think it’s all the same.
Drives me up the wall.
We did not vote overwhelmingly for him. He barely won.
Fair, but he did win the popular vote which I really wasn’t expecting. I realise very little US Lemmy users are happy about it either, but the Canada rhetoric Trump is spouting is still freaking me out.
he did win the popular vote
Frankly I also don’t believe that for half a second either. We had over a full year’s worth of “I am going to cheat in this election.” ‘He’s going to cheat and we’re gonna help him!’ “Mike Johnson and I, we have a nice secret surprise, it’s a secret, can’t tell you anything, but it’s going to guarantee I win the election.” ‘Hi, my name is Mike Johnson and I intend to help Trump cheat the election.’ “If Kamala wins the election is rigged no matter what happens. We’ve rigged it in our favor so obviously if we lose the Democrats have rigged the election.”
And then, lo and behold, he wins, by an ass-hair percentage of a degree in exactly the states he needed to in order to take the presidency.
Unless I’m the one counting those ballots by hand I don’t believe a fucking word of it. All trust in all branches of government has evaporated. But what can we do now.
i swear if he really tries to annex us i would be defending our borders. But do you know what bothers me more? the Canadians who would defect and help the US annex us.
Thank you USA if you do this, it will most likely show our crazies here in Europe why exactly it is we do it.
Of course I feel sorry for the children that will get needlessly sick.
We may see Darwin awards on a national scale for the first time in history.First time in history? Did we forget about the Herman Cain awards already?
You are right, it already happened during Covid. I made an edit.
Ubekibekibekibekibekistanstan
