The annals of “I’m not anti-vaccine,” part 13: Nobody wants to admit to being “antivaccine”

[HuckleB]

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2015/02/10/the-annals-of-im-not-anti-vaccine-part-13-nobody-wants-to-admit-to-being-antivaccine/

"Sometimes, in order to understand advocates of pseudoscience, such as antivaccinationists, it’s a useful exercise to look at their most extreme elements. Admittedly, in focusing on such loons, one does take the risk of generalizing the nuts to everyone a bit much, but on the other hand I’ve often found that the extremists are basically like the less loony versions on steroids. The advantage, to me, is that they are unconcerned (for the most part) with hiding the craziness at the root of their beliefs. While, for instance, SafeMinds of the merry band of antivaccinationists at Age of Autism (well, most of them, anyway) can strategically hide or at least downplay the conspiracy theories at the core of their beliefs (and make no mistake, virtually all antivaccinationists—witness Bill Maher last Friday—have conspiracy theories at the core of their beliefs), the extreme ones can’t.

...

The bottom line is that very few antivaccinationists will admit they are antivaccine. They either delude themselves (like Jenny McCarthy and Bill Maher) into thinking that they are not antivaccine, or they lie. So rare is it to find people who are antivaccine who will proudly proclaim that they are antivaccine that I tend to find such admissions oddly refreshing. As odious, ignorant, and misguided as such people are, at least they know what their beliefs about vaccines are and are willing to state them plainly, rather than deluding themselves into believing they are something they aren’t or strategically lying because they know the reaction of society to antivaccine views is (correctly) not kind and want to camouflage them for general consumption. (Antivaccine “dog whistles” are particularly effective at this.)

In any case, the arguments made on Maher’s show last week would have been right at home on antivaccine websites such as Age of Autism, VaxTruth.org, The Thinking Moms’ Revolution, or even Whale.to. Heck, they would have been right at home on Mike Adams’ website NaturalNews.com, because sometimes Adams posts articles by other people that don’t amp the crazy up to 11 and beyond. But, again, let’s back it up. Let’s look at Age of Autism, where press coverage is explicitly criticized as being too pro-vaccine and Anne Dachel proclaims that the distrust of vaccines is fed by distrust of the media.

Few people want to be viewed as advocating something harmful to society, such as antivaccine views, which is why so few antivaccinationists will admit they are antivaccine. Bill Maher is no exception. Jenny McCarthy is no exception. Instead, they spin themselves as “pro-safe vaccine” and construct elaborate conspiracy theories about big pharma and the government in order to justify their views. In this behavior, Bill Maher and Jenny McCarthy are far more alike than Maher could ever bring himself to admit. In believing Bill Maher when he says he’s “not antivaccine,” skeptics defending him are more like Jenny McCarthy’s followers and admirers than they would ever be able to bring themselves to admit."


----------------------------------


It is amazing that these folks refuse to take responsibility for the very outcomes that had to be expected if their advocacy was successful enough, but the pretense that they're not anti-vaccine is just about the silliest thing in the world.


Cheers!

[3catwoman3]

1. Very well stated.

I know someone very high up in the NVIC (National Vaccine Information Center, and this is precisely the angle she takes.

[Badass Liberal]

2. Maher is typically a pro-science kind of guy...

And I enjoy him. But I do get that vibe when he talks about vaccines. He's "not an anti-vaxxer, but." Well, there's no "but's" about time-tested vaccines at all.

Edit: 99% time-tested. I don't like absolutes. But one gets the gist.

[HuckleB]

3. He actually pushes all kinds of pseudoscience, even denying germ theory.

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Bill_Maher

[Badass Liberal]

9. Okay I read that.

And I wouldn't call that "all kinds" by any means. Maybe a "few." He's a committed atheist, believes in evolution, a strong advocate for fighting climate change, and frequently has guests like Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye.

[HuckleB]

10. It's hard to find anything related to health care where doesn't go in for pseudoscience.

And he uses all the usual anti-science strategies to push his views. The reality is that his other views are in line with science because of pure accident.

[Badass Liberal]

11. I don't want to challenge you...

Because I'm the "noob" here, as the kids call it.
But could you give me a couple examples? I've been a Maher devotee since Politically Incorrect. And I can rattle off the things I disagree with him on: unions (I'm very pro, and he seems to be moving that way now), the greatness of marijuana, marriage. But he doesn't have a pseudoscience agenda. Not by any means.

[HuckleB]

5. Welcome to DU.

BTW, posting links to anti-vaccine pseudoscience pages doesn't really help whatever cause your trying to promote.

[HockeyMom]

7. CDC Tracking Site

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/iis/index.html

They are tracking vaccinations. Doctors have to put in claims for the free vaccinations? So if a patient (not just for children) refuses, their refusal is put into the data base?

Medicare has a similar one. You can actually go online, put in a zip code, and see how many Medicare Beneficiaries are up to date on their vaccinations for flu, pnemonia, and shingles. Damn. That is crazy.

I know a woman who called Medicare about a claim and had to listen to a 10 minute lecture on not getting her free flu shot.

[HuckleB]

8. Thanks for the kick, the explanation that doesn't match up to the link, and the anecdote.